Someone convince me to use Chrome

June 12, 2026

For the last couple of weeks I've been testing Chromium-based browsers on my M4 MacBook Pro, thinking I might switch from Safari or at least find a new backup browser. The truth is, I don't have a good reason to leave Safari other than a few minor irritations.

Firefox is currently my backup, but it has one drawback: it isn't scriptable. I use several AppleScripts to automate things I do regularly, and one advantage of Chromium-based browsers is that they can be controlled with AppleScript. I've tried Helium, Brave, and Vivaldi, but none of them really clicked with me.

I used Chrome for years before switching to a Mac. Even after I bought my first Mac, I stuck with Chrome for a while before eventually moving to Safari.

For some reason, though, I just can't bring myself to install Chrome again. Part of it is the privacy issue and all the things Chrome does in the background. Then again, I recently started using Gmail, Google Calendar, and Gemini, so pretending I have much privacy left is probably a joke.

I know a lot of you use Chrome. Someone convince me it's okay.