Arc browser's mobile app recently came out, and it's not a typical browser.
It's completely changed how I use my phone. Let me show you what it can do.
Hey, how's it going? My name is Shu.
I've been a huge fan of Arc browser for a while now. Its sidebar,
splitscreen and the stunning design made me fall in love with it.
And now, its mobile version is finally out for iOS, and it's not like a typical browser you know.
If you're a Mac user, you might be using an app launcher such as Alfred and Raycast. They
let you open any apps and files and do lots of other magical things in an instant. To me,
Arc browser on mobile is kind of like that, but with an ability to organise apps and bookmarks.
So, when you install Arc on your phone, it automatically syncs with your desktop
Arc and recreates your sidebar which is these groups of websites,
notes and canvases you have at the side. This is essentially how you organise your
internet life. You can make multiple spaces for different projects or areas of your life.
For example, I have a space called "Base" which is where I do general browsing and curate my
favourite websites and tools. Then I have another space called "Inbox" which is a list of articles,
videos, websites that I want to check later to read or share with my friends.
And then I have a space called "Tokyo" which is where I check what's happening in the city
like events and new restaurants. Finally, I have a space for research. For instance,
I made a folder for this video in which I collected relevant articles and websites as
well as a canvas where I curated highlights from those articles so I can use them for the video
script. Lastly, this is where I actually wrote the script. Of course, writing stuff is much
easier on the desktop app because you can use the split screen which makes writing a breeze.
Anyway, the best thing about having the access to the sidebar on mobile is that you
can instantly open a specific part of any app and websites. What I mean by that is,
for example, I can open my favourite playlist or podcasts on Spotify with just a few taps.
I know you can do something similar by holding the app icon. But you can customise which page
you want to open easily with Arc. Also, many apps still don't offer this menu feature,
whatever it's called, on your home screen. Let me show you other examples. I can
quickly navigate to my Amazon wishlist or the order history page.
Also, I can open the Watch Later list on Youtube in just a second which is awesome. Or
my favourite playlist on Youtube that I want to watch when I'm stressed.
If I see my business folder, I can open my emails or things like my content calendar
on Notion right away. This is very useful because I can access this specific page in
an instant. So if you have favourite pages in Notion or any app, it's going to be helpful
because it lets you access them super quickly. Also, if you use ChatGPT, you can create a link
to a specific thread. For example, I just created this thread called Stardew Valley Expert Bot which
is literally where I ask questions about Stardew Valley which is a super popular relaxing video
game, in case you don't know. Likewise, if you have a specific thread you use often,
you can access it from Arc instantly. Anyway, I can go on and on, but you can see
how this is great as an app launcher because you can create a link to a specific part of an app,
and organise them with folders and spaces. So if you want, you can even delete most of
the apps on your home screen and just have Arc instead because you can use it to open
most of the apps. That's what I did actually -- I got rid of Spotify, Notion, Twitter,
Instagram and few more, and added some widgets because they are useful and aesthetically nice.
Oh by the way, this is one of my favourite app, Aura, who is the sponsor of today's video.
Aura is a new all-in-one mindfulness and sleep app. It offers a massive library of meditations,
stories, breathwork and life coaching sessions by experts
and therapists. It's like Spotify for your mind. There are many ways to use it like helping you
fall asleep and calm your anxiety. But in my case, I do lots of breathwork to control my glucose
levels. I've been tracking my glucose levels since I read some books about it and learned how
it affects your mental and physical health. And breathwork is surprisingly effective to stabilise
your glucose levels, especially this one called Bees Breath which is only available on Aura,
as far as I know. Every time I do this, I can see a drop in my glucose levels or more steady levels.
Anyway, of course, it's not just breathwork. It offers a lot of more tools to improve your
well-being. So check it out-- I'm sure you can find something useful. Plus,
they gave me a special discount code for us. The first 500 people will get a free
trial and 25% discount. I leave the link in the description so you can start using it right away.
Cool! Back to Arc browser. Another way to use this on my phone is as an inbox. Like I mentioned,
I have this space called "Inbox" where I save all the things I want to visit later to read or watch
or share. You can save any item to this list using the iOS share sheet. So when you find
a cool website you want to check later, you can directly save it to Arc. Then, you can access it
later either on your phone or on your Mac. Oh this is another thing I love about Arc.
The sync speed is insanely fast. It literally takes a second to sync the data between your
phone and your Mac. So if you want to share a link, it's probably even faster than AirDrop.
By the way, I forgot to mention, since this is a web browser,
you can of course do some googling as well. Then, continue on your laptop if you like.
But unlike typical browsers, you cannot have more than one tab open at the same time. Once
you're done browsing, you have close the tab to start the next one. But I don't find this
a problem because you have an option to pin the page if you want to keep it. I think it's
actually a great idea because it stops you from having too many tabs open and creating a mess.
But of course there are some things that I miss. For example, it doesn't have an ad-blocker,
so you have to go through tons of ads and popups which makes me not want to use it for browsing.
Also you cannot create a new note or an easel. An easel is that canvas thing that I showed
you earlier. It'd be great to make a quick note and take memos and stuff on the phone.
And then, you can't rename the pages on your phone, so you have to do
it on the laptop. Also you can't change the icon for the folders,
which is why I had to include an emoji in the titles to make it easier to distinguish them.
But even though Arc might not have some of the features that usual browsers have, it's already
powerful enough to have completely changed how I use my phone. It's still an early version,
but it's already such an incredible tool. If you're an iPhone user, you should definitely
give it a try. It's free and combined with the desktop app, it's the perfect duo.