There's finally a browser that I feel is worth paying for. And that’s Dia by The Browser Company, now infamous for abandoning its much-loved first browser product Arc as it faced adoption hurdles due to a steep learning curve.
I have now completely switched over to Dia (Chromium-based) from Chrome because the UI feels familiar and have witnessed a step-function unlock with their deeply integrated chat function.
One could argue that this is just Chrome with a ChatGPT extension and that’s exactly the point. Google has been too slow to make Chrome AI-native and OpenAI fumbled the bag by not launching its own browser. I look forward to Perplexity’s Comet. I love Microsoft Edge because it’s both AI-first and feature rich but it lacks minimalism.
AI chat tools today only see a small part of your life because they’re stuck inside separate chat apps. This limits their usefulness and personalization. Our lives are largely online and naturally the browser becomes our operating system. Embedding AI at the OS level means the AI can learn from everything you do online without us needing to change our behaviour or copy-paste information.
If you step back and ask why there is so much friction for users to switch browsers, you will realize that people tend to stick with what they know, especially if it “works well enough”. With Chrome, ecosystem lock-in plays a big part and switching to a new browser also introduces cognitive load.
Arc failed because it was disruptive and that’s why Dia is leaning into what’s familiar to everyone while adding thoughtful enhancements. The interface feels fresh but not foreign. The new features don’t disrupt established browsing habits.
It’s designed to feel like a natural next step for anyone used to Chrome, Safari etc. Arc had taste but it’s Dia that might have commercial viability.