Orion Browser by Kagi: Privacy, Speed, and Extension Support Combined

HN discussion

• Kagi's reliance on Yandex for its search index draws sharp criticism from users who refuse to support a company perceived as funding the Russian government, despite Kagi's pragmatic argument that no other open, comparable index exists.
• While the Orion browser offers a welcome WebKit-based alternative on Windows with built-in ad-blocking, many privacy advocates reject it as a non-free product, arguing that source code transparency is a mandatory dependency for trust in such a high-risk attack surface.
• Long-term iOS users praise Orion for its zero telemetry, Apple Pay integration, and ability to handle thousands of tabs, though some report historical battery drain and visual glitches that previously forced them back to Safari.
• The trend of embedding ad-blockers directly into browsers is viewed as a necessary evolution to combat an unusable web, with users noting that only conflicts of interest prevented ad-reliant companies like Google from implementing such features themselves.