Arc Search Comes to Android in Open Beta

Almost 9 months after it delivered Arc Search on iPhone, The Browser Company shipped an open beta of the app on Android.

“Arc Search on Android is now officially in open beta,” The Browser Company notes in a post to Threads. “Search ‘Arc Search’ in Google Play Store [and then] opt-in for beta updates.”

Arc Search is a bit confusing: Where Arc on Mac and Windows is a full-featured–one might say, a bit too full-featured–web browser, Arc Search is described as a companion app that seems to be aimed more at Google Search than Chrome. It’s a standalone app, of course, but it’s not so much for browsing as it is for finding the things you’re looking for online as quickly as possible. That is, it “browses for you.”

Arc Search raised some eyebrows when it was first released, with content creators grousing about theft and attribution. But the app is more nuanced than that, and just as Arc on desktop is a different approach to the web browser, Arc Search is a new approach to the needs of browsers on mobile. When you search for information, it presents links to online content in graphical blocks, not text links, and it provides a nice AI-based list that summarizes what it is you’re looking for. Humorously, it also has an Arc/Google toggle so you can quickly see the difference between the two approaches.

In any event, you can find the Arc Search open beta on the Google Play Store. It’s an interesting app.