The Windows edition of the Arc browser has been refreshed with support for Windows on ARM, meaning you can now run the app natively on devices like the latest Surface Pro.
“We now support ARM processors for Arc on Windows,” according to release notes accompanying Arc’s v1.22.2 update. This version also fixes a bug where dragging a tab to create a new window or dragging a tab between two windows would crash the app.
Written in Swift, Arc leverages the same Chromium engine that powers Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and a few other browsers. You could already run Arc Browser in Windows on ARM, but only via emulation. That was a miserable experience, as apps built for x86 processors without native Arm64 versions exhibit a major performance penalty in emulation mode, especially browsers that are constantly compiling code for web apps.
Windows on ARM is the edition that shifts for laptops with Arm64 processors, like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite chips. Some of the best ARM laptops include the Surface Pro 11, Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, HP EliteBook Ultra G1q, and ASUS ProArt PZ13.
Built by The Browser Company, Arc is a relatively new browser released in July 2023 for macOS and Windows after about six months of beta testing. A version of Arc for Windows 10 arrived in August. Arc is billed as an “operating system for the web.” The fancy proclamation means Arc integrates popular web apps in its sidebar, but it’s got other tricks up its sleeve.
For example, the app allows you to change how specific websites look with no prior knowledge of HTML or CSS. Arc can transform your web browsing experience with other novel capabilities such as seamless split-view functionality and a command bar combining actionable commands, the URL address bar, and search.
You can download Arc from the official download page. An AI-enabled version with search as the main focus, dubbed Arc Search, is now available on Android phones as an open beta in the Google Play Store. The iPhone version debuted earlier this year. If you already have Arc installed on Windows, you just need to update to get the native ARM experience.
Source: Arc
