Single-site web browsers

A hack for both privacy and convenience: Turn a website into a (sort-of) native app.

Here is a rationale: I could use a Single-site browser for spyware sites such as Facebook. because

• Otherwise Facebook would know even more about me than they do
• Facebook is a blackhole of timewaste that I don’t want to browse to by accident, so I should make it slightly easier to segregate that activity from other ones.

We can do this too, for social media, or for whatever other website we wish to.

UPDATE: Since I wrote that, it seems that all the options are now macos only. I’m not sure why.

• macos: Use Safari web apps on Mac via “Save to dock”. jwz summarises:

  The new “Save to Dock” thing in Safari 17 / macOS 14 is pretty nice. It generates a standalone macOS application that is a web view hardcoded to a particular web site. That app has its own context for cooke data that is not shared with your regular web browser, so you can stay logged out of tracking sites, except when explicitly using them in the web app.

  Also helpful if you have multiple accounts on one site: you can create a different app for each of them that stays logged in.

  And Safari gives you an “open in web app” link at the top when you are browsing a site for which you also have a saved app.

  I used to use Fluid for this, but this is faster and nicer.

• Flotato seems to do the same thing

• BZG - Unite for macOS is similar but sems to have extra features

• Coherence X by BZG: Turn Websites into Apps using Chrome on macOS

• nativefier/nativefier is I think a popular method currently? Cross platform.

• Epichrome (macOS): An application (Epichrome.app) and Chrome extension (Epichrome Helper) to create and use Chrome-based SSBs on macOS. So, full Chrome, custom configuration.

• WebCatalog Here is a walk-through.

• MacPin (macOS)

  creates macOS & iOS apps for websites & webapps, configured with JavaScript.

  The Browser UI is very minimal, just a toolbar (with site tabs) that disappears in Full-Screen mode.

  MacPin apps are shown in macOS’s Dock, App Switcher, and Launchpad.

  Custom URL schemes can also be registered to launch a MacPin App from any other app on your Mac.

  So, minimal browserlets.

There are more manual methods.

• How To Turn Chrome or Firefox Into A Single-Site Browser.
• Making Firefox into a “Single-Site Browser”
• Create applications shortcuts in Google Chrome for Macs with a shell script

Generally, I find the browser container feature of firefox much easier.

Choosy: A smarter default browser for macOS lets us switch between these for different purposes easily.