A while ago, I made the switch away from Chrome after realizing that other browsers were offering a better experience. But often when I found a feature that I loved in one browser, I would find that it wasn't available in another.

Of course, you can use extensions to extend the functionality of your browser, but I try to limit these as much as possible for privacy reasons. As a result, I wish that these features were built directly into all browsers.

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Custom shortcuts

A great productivity feature

The most useful browser feature I've discovered recently is custom search shortcuts. While I was aware you could set custom search engines in different browsers, I didn't realize how flexible the feature was in Chromium browsers.

Firefox has custom search shortcuts, but they work a bit differently from those in browsers like Chrome and Brave. These shortcuts require a search string, which means you can't just use them as text shortcuts to specific sites.

That's why when I talk about custom shortcuts, I specifically mean those that are available in Chrome and Brave. With these shortcuts, I'm able to assign short text strings to specific sites. For example, "@docs" leads to my Google Docs page, "@xda" performs a Google site search for articles on the XDA website, and "@ha" leads to my Home Assistant dashboard.

Because my bookmarks bar is already cluttered, these custom shortcuts are also one of my favorite ways to save shortcuts to self-hosted services that doesn't require self-hosting or an additional dashboard.

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Adaptable tab management

I'm tired of tab chaos

While I've tried many different browsers, I haven't found one that has enough built-in tools to manage my tabs. Vertical tabs simply aren't as effective for me as they are for others.

Tab groups are pretty handy, but I do wish that they had more flexible settings. Firefox Multi-Account Containers are great for versatility but are more focused on browser compartmentalization.

I wish more browsers included a combination of tab management tools, rather than one or two features here and there. While there are extensions that can help you manage tabs, I try to limit the number of tabs.

Vivaldi has some of the most comprehensive tab management I've seen in browsers, and I wish more companies would follow suit.

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Forced dark mode

Especially overlooked in mobile browsers

Needing a mobile browser that allowed me to force dark mode on websites that didn't support it was the first thing that pushed me away from Chrome. I have chronic migraines, so it's an essential feature for me. But with the popularity of dark mode extensions, I'd argue that plenty of people would benefit from the feature.

On my desktop browser, I use flags to force dark mode without needing an extension. However, Brave's mobile browser allows me to do this as part of its experimental features.

I do wish more browsers made this possible, however, and that Chromium browsers removed the need to use flag settings. This would make it easier for less tech-savvy users to enable the feature and benefit from it.

​Read later lists

Simple, yet useful

While you can use apps for read later links, this is also a simple but useful feature that more browsers could incorporate. I've been using read later lists as one way to get my tabs under control, as I often leave tabs open if I plan to read an article later.

However, this is another feature that is not available consistently. While I use it on Brave's desktop version, it's not available on the Android version (for mobile links, I use Instapaper). Meanwhile, other browsers exclude it entirely.

It's honestly something I'm surprised I don't see more of. Most people I know don't use a dedicated app for reading articles except their browser. And if browsers can sync browsing history and bookmarks, it seems like it would be easy enough to sync these saved links.

It's also extremely convenient to use, and you don't need to trawl through your browsing history and closed tabs to find articles you glanced at. Even when you're done with an article, browsers like Brave keep a history of them under a Pages you've read tab in case you ever need to revisit them later.

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Customizable start pages and buttons

Forget AI assistants, give me this instead

Nowadays, it seems like every browser has an AI assistant, if it's not a full-fledged AI browser. And yet, truly customizable start pages seem to be something that many browsers lack.

I use Raindrop.io for my start page, because it makes it simpler to set certain bookmarks as my home page. When I used Opera, though, I enjoyed the ability to set which links I wanted available on my Speed Dial. The browser also has a sidebar with buttons you can add as shortcuts to specific services, like Spotify.

While many browsers do have a new tab page and sometimes even a sidebar, I find that customization is limited. Often these pages curate these shortcuts automatically, as well as pushing services that are a distraction (such as news links).

I'd like to see browsers give users real control over their start page with great customization features, rather than pushing sponsored products.

Hopefully, browser companies learn from each other

There are times when browser companies respond to user feedback and implement features that improve the overall experience. But right now, I feel like many companies are more focused on pushing through AI products or gimmicky features.

There will always be differences between browsers based on company priorities and the target audience. But I feel like these features are user-friendly and would appeal to a broad range of people.

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