Why You Should Try Out Floorp Browser in Linux

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As a Linux user who is concerned about privacy and ease of use, do you find yourself sticking with Mozilla Firefox because of its privacy benefits and ease of use? If you also crave the customization features of Google Chrome, then you must try out the Floorp web browser.

Floorp is a new Firefox fork that offers the best of both worlds: advanced security and privacy features, combined with extensive customization options to perfectly tailor your browsing experience.

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What Makes Floorp Browser So Special?

Floorp is an open-source Japanese web browser based on the Firefox engine, with UI and customization features similar to Vivaldi. Additionally, it offers many advanced security and privacy features and customization options to facilitate a user-first policy.

Here is what makes it stand out from other browsers:

It offers advanced security features that aren’t available in many browsers, including Firefox, such as built-in tracker and ad blocker. Additionally, it offers more granular control over privacy settings.
Floorp prioritizes user privacy. Unlike some browsers that collect user data for targeted advertising, it does not track user’s personal information and ensures their browsing activity isn’t monitored.
It has a faster browsing speed than Google Chrome and Firefox when tested via benchmarks.
Floorp offers built-in features like split view, vertical tabs, and workspaces that aren’t available in Firefox, providing users with a more user-friendly interface.

Installing Floorp Web Browser

Floorp is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. You can install the Floorp on your Linux system using the flatpak command.

Note: You must have Flatpak installed on your system before executing the command.

flatpak install flathub one.ablaze.floorp -y

If you’re a Debian-based distro (or Ubuntu) user, you can install Floorp by adding its PPA to the list of system repositories and then installing it.

Execute the following commands to add the PPA’s GPG key and repository of Floorp:

sudo curl -fsSL https://ppa.ablaze.one/KEY.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/Floorp.gpg
sudo curl -sS --compressed -o /etc/apt/sources.list.d/Floorp.list 'https://ppa.ablaze.one/Floorp.list'

Update your system repositories and install Floorp on your system:

sudo apt update -y
sudo apt install floorp -y

You can even install Floorp by building it using its source code.

On Arch Linux, you can install it using AUR helper:

yay -S floorp

Setting up Floorp

After installing Floorp, you can run it from your Applications menu. On the first run, you can sign in to your Firefox Sync to sync your Firefox settings, bookmarks, and passwords, or if you just want to try it out, click the “Skip to Start Browsing” link to start using the browser.

If you want to get familiar with Floorp, click on the Ready to dive in option. It’ll prompt you to import your data from your old browser.

Then, you can select a browsing template according to your preference.

Lastly, click on the Start Browsing the Web option to start using it.

Features of Floorp

Let’s explore the features of Floorp to better understand what it offers.

Dynamic Background

Once you begin using Floorp, you’ll experience a new wallpaper appearing every time you open a new tab. This is because, by default, it shows random wallpapers from Unsplash. You can change this setting according to your preference.

You can customize the background by navigating to the Settings -> Home tab.

Browser Manager Sidebar

You’ll also notice a browser manager sidebar on the right side of the Floorp browser. This sidebar offers numerous options to ease the user’s browsing journey.

You can customize the position of the items that appear in the browser manager sidebar or add items to it. Moreover, you can hide this sidebar.

You can modify the sidebar by navigating to the Settings -> Browser Manager Sidebar tab. This feature empowers you with a streamlined and organized browsing experience.

Floorp Notes

Another interesting feature Floorp offers is Floorp Notes, located in the browser manager sidebar. You can add, edit, and delete these notes while browsing the internet.

Furthermore, It enables users to sync and back up these notes using the options available in Settings -> General tab.

Browser Appearance

Floorp offers various themes, website appearances, and color options to customize the appearance of your browser as per your liking. For example, you can enable an experimental feature that shifts the navigation bar to the bottom of the browser.

Additionally, Floorp offers a custom CSS option to further tailor the browser’s appearance.

Tab Bar Style

Floorp allows you to modify the position of the tab bar as per your liking. It even supports the vertical tab bar position. To do so, change the tab bar style available in Setting -> Design tab.

This feature provides you with a sense of more personalized browsing experience.

Tailored Browsing Experience

Floorp enables you to customize your browsing experience by adjusting various features such as font, language, scroll behavior, recommendations, tab behavior, and more.

To tailor these settings, head to Settings -> General tab.

Furthermore, it offers features like pin tabs and split view to enhance the user experience. You can find these options by right-clicking on a specific tab in the Tab bar.

Although Firefox offers a pin tab feature, it still doesn’t offer a built-in split view feature. This feature increases your productivity by allowing you to view several tabs on your screen simultaneously.

Enhanced Privacy and Security

Floorp does not track the user’s personal information. It offers three levels of Tracking Protection packages, which you can customize to your own needs.

Consequently, it offers other security and privacy features such as protection against fingerprinting, disabling WebGL, blocking dangerous and deceptive content, enabling secure DNS, and more:

Many of these security and privacy features are already available in Firefox, such as enhanced tracking protection and DNS over HTTPS. However, Floorp offers some additional features, including strong protection against fingerprinting, disabling WebGL, and blockers for ads and trackers.

Installation of Web Apps

Floorp has recently introduced an experimental feature for macOS and Linux, which was already available on Windows. This feature allows users to install web apps directly within the browser. To enable this feature, go to Settings -> Web Apps tab.

Once enabled, visit any website that offers a web app, such as YouTube. You’ll notice the installation icon in the address bar, which allows you to install this web app.

This feature is inspired by Google Chrome. However, Firefox still lags in offering it.

Floorp View

Interestingly, Floorp allows you to view your current tab on your mobile device using the Floorp view feature. Simply use the share button placed in the address bar of the tab, and scan it with your phone to view it:

Workspaces

There is a Workspaces feature to streamline your workflow. You can create multiple virtual desktops (workspaces) to manage your browsing activities.

This feature isn’t available in Firefox. However, it aids you in managing browsing like a pro, separating work, personal, and other tabs.

Configure Keyboard Shortcuts

It supports configuring keyboard shortcuts to increase user productivity.

Even though Firefox offers keyboard shortcuts, Floorp provides additional unique shortcuts for its specific features.

Updates

Lastly, Floorp automatically updates itself, so you don’t have to worry about manually updating it:

This sums up our discussion. Although, Floorp offers many other useful features, do give it a try and explore all the features yourself. Also, don’t forget to share your experience in the comments.

Create Your Own Browser

If you don’t like Floorp or any other browser and have something particular in mind, it’s always a good idea to create your own web browser. Luckily, Floorp allows you to use its source code to build your fork.

_{Image credit: Nimrach Chaudhry. All alterations and screenshots by Nimrah Chaudhry.}

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Nimrah Chaudhry

With 2+ years of experience, I’m a technical writer holding a Bachelor’s in Software Engineering and Cyber Security Certification. I’m passionate about simplifying Linux complexities into bite-sized wisdom for the community.

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