Since search engines are queried with a URL with a parameter for the search term, browsers could simply allow "power users" to enter a custom URL. Voilà — support for every imaginable search engine and they can still make their billion dollar deals for providing default search engines. That's how Firefox does it.

I think thats how everyone but Apple does it.

I just tested Brave. It's possible to set anything as the default search engine, but the UI hides it really well. They sure don't want you to find out. You have to add it as a site search first (which is a different section), then you can make that "default", which moves it up to the search engines and makes it the default search engine.

And sure enough, Safari on macOS seems to not allow it at all (needs extensions).

I was completely surprised as soon as I read your post that you couldn't add search engines on safari, and then I was completely unsurprised a moment later.

This upsets me as well. I’ve sent Apple feedback[0] about it, I suggest others do the same.

I wanted to use Safari at work, but this proved too big of a barrier. I can’t use the App Store at work, so no extensions. I was more willing to give up Safari than Kagi.

[0] https://www.apple.com/feedback/safari/

Just submitted feedback as well. This is honestly what’s holding me back from buying a Kagi subscription at this point. Here is what I submitted:

I’m requesting that iOS Safari allow users to set any search engine as their default, rather than limiting choices to a pre-approved list. Currently, Safari only offers Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia, preventing users from choosing legitimate alternatives like Kagi.

While workarounds exist, they’re cumbersome and don’t provide a seamless experience. Please consider allowing users to add custom search engines as default options, similar to macOS Safari. This would enhance user choice without compromising security.

Thank you for considering this feedback.

> This is honestly what’s holding me back from buying a Kagi subscription at this point.

The extension is working really well for me. You could always try it out with the free version to see if it works for you as well.

Don't let this hold you back. Use a mobile browser that lets you use Kagi; it's worth it.

The problem is that I like how Safari works better than any other mobile browser I have used. Wish I didn’t.

When was the last time you tried Orion on iOS? It's gotten noticeably better, and works as well as Safari for me these days.

I tried it recently when the macOS version went to 1.0. Dealing with tabs felt more cumbersome than Safari and I ended up switching back. Safari is better at getting out of my why, which is probably why I always go back to it. This has been a pattern for a couple decades now.

Or even better, a computer that does things when told.

If you can tell me what phone can give me access to all the standard apps I would need, has good build quality, doesn’t funnel my data to Google, is backed by an entity capable of providing multi-year device support, has cloud storage integration that lets me keep my data securely offloaded from the phone’s storage, can handle modern apps and websites as far as performance, has a very good camera, and has the equivalent of AppleCare such that if/when I shatter my screen I can replace it for $30, I am all ears.

I haven't found one. I don't carry a phone unless I have a specific reason (ie: gps). I use my desktop or tablet (Daylight Computer) with a voip service (jmp.chat) when I need to use a phone number, and I carry a Sony ZV-1 in my pocket for my camera.

I have a Pixel 8 running GrapheneOS and it does most of the above: - slightly lesser build quality than my iPhone 15 Pro but comparable - doesn't funnel data to Google unless you explicitly let it, you can circumvent a lot of the Google Play stuff by restricting permissions and using Aurora Store - is backed by, well, Google and the Graphene team porting over security updated. They have a fairly good track record by now. - can use any of the N backup services that already exist unlike the iPhone's silly restriction on background apps - don't notice performance differences between it and my iPhone 15 Pro in day to day use. If anything, biometrics are way faster on the Pixel since iOS 26 made FaceID slow as molasses for me - the default camera is pretty good (uses all the Pixel fancy processing hardware) but if it's not good enough you can just install the stock Google camera which works fine. You can turn off network access if you don't want it snooping. Photos are neck and neck with the iPhone but the iPhone is way better at videos, no Android phone has cracked that yet IMO. - Yeah, but no other brand can give you an AppleCare experience. Best option is phone insurance and just getting a new Pixel if that happens. Graphene can do full device backups via Seedvault and it's not that much more of a pain to restore compared to an iPhone backup. Granted, it's jankier but it's not impossible. The other issue is that Pixels are not a thing in a lot of countries, Apple really has the edge here but I'd take that risk over the UX shenanigans they pull nowadays with their latest updates (god is it awful)

Oh that is quite interesting. How difficult was it to get Graphene on it? How difficult would it be for a non-technical person to do it and use it?

LTT did a video on GrapheneOS recently[0]. The conclusion was basically that it’s a trade off between privacy and convenience. It will require more tinkering and things that don’t “just work”. While I haven’t used GrapheneOS, it doesn’t seem like something a non-technical user would have the patience for, unless they were into the idea of picking up a new hobby of managing their phone’s OS.

[0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gDR6V5OdnYg

Arm macs are very hard to walk away from.

My dream is some of boot-to-Ubuntu setup, or even running it simultaneously.

Non-safari ios browsers are heavily kneecapped by Apple. It's litigation-worthy levels of anticompetitive behavior.

I gave Orion a real college try but some bugs (particularly around autofill) are a dealbreaker. I'll come back when it's ready.

> This is honestly what’s holding me back from buying a Kagi subscription at this point.

I am pretty that is exactly the point for Apple.

IIRC all are product placement/ads. Listing requires paying Apple.

Wild that my Huawei phone running Harmony OS allows to you customize the search engines in the default browser and iOS does not.

My pixel phone running stock android lets me change the search engine in Chrome[0] as well. It's kind of crazy that Apple still locks this down.

[0] Not on the home screen, but I'll take what I can get.

Move to Japan?