DuckDuckGo’s Windows browser is not available as a public beta release

DuckDuckGo announced the release of the first public beta version of its DuckDuckGo Windows browser today.  Ashwin reviewed the first version of the web browser back in March 2023 when the company released it using a private beta invite system.

Features that were not part of this initial version, like Duck Player or email protection, are now included.

The beta version of the DuckDuckgo browser is now available for all users. The download of the net installer is quick and the browser installs quickly on Windows devices. Options to import data, including passwords and bookmarks, are shown on first run. Imports from Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox are supported. There is also an option to import passwords via CSV files, which many password managers support.

DuckDuckGo has selected Microsoft Edge WebView2 for rendering web content. The company highlights some of the browser’s main features on its Spread Privacy website.

Integrated Duck Player, which lets users watch YouTube videos without “privacy-invading ads” or fuelling YouTube’s video recommendations engine.
Tracker blocking that DuckDuckGo promises “goes above and beyond what’s available from Chrome and other browsers”. The company explains here why it believes that its browser is doing better by default. In short, it says that its browser includes many protections by default that “most browsers do not offer by default”. DuckDuckGo mentions protections such as “e 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, Global Privacy Control, Link Tracking Protection, CNAME Cloaking Protection, Google AMP Protection” explicitly.
Smarter Encryption, which upgrades unencrypted HTTP connections to HTTPS whenever possible.
Cookie Pop-up Management, which allows users to hide cookie consent pop-ups and selects the “most private option” automatically.
Fire Button, which erases “recent browsing data”.
Email protection, courtesy of DuckDuckGo’s email protection service.

The web browser displayed all websites just fine during tests. Prompts are displayed to users when they encounter their first cookie consent pop-up or load the first video on YouTube.

For cookie consent pop-ups, users get the option to enable the feature to have them handled automatically by the browser. On YouTube, DuckDuckGo’s Duck Player may be used to watch videos. An option to always use the player is provided as well. The player worked without any issues during tests and ads were not shown on a test system.

Experienced users may notice that the browser comes with just a small set of settings. In fact, a single Settings page of browsers such as Firefox or Brave offers the same amount of features as the entire Settings of DuckDuckGo’s browser.

Granted, the browser is in Beta and more options may be added at a later point. Some features, like the ability to install Chrome extensions, are not available, which limits the browser significantly for some users. This means, for example, that users can’t install password manager extensions, third-party content blockers, video downloads, or other types of extensions in the browser at this point.

Closing Words

DuckDuckGo’s browser offers some interesting features, but it is also limited in some regards. Most users may want to wait and observe how development of the browser progresses. Those who don’t customize their browser’s much may be the main target audience for the browser.

Now You: have you tried the DuckDuckGo browser?

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