DuckDuckGo working on privacy-focused desktop browser

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo is working on a dedicated desktop browser that will be available on the Mac.

The browser will "redefine user expectations of everyday online privacy." It will ditch individual privacy settings in favour of an approach that enables privacy protections by default across search, email, and general browsing, the company claims.

"It is not a 'privacy browser'; it is an everyday browsing app that respects your privacy because there is never a bad time to stop companies from spying on your search and browsing history," the firm said in a statement.

The desktop browser will sport a clean and simple interface with the Fire button from the mobile versions, which instantly clears all tabs and browsing data with just one click.

The browser is currently in a closed beta test on macOS, but DuckDuckGo is getting it ready for Windows as well. There's no word on when the desktop browser will become publicly available.

According to the company, compared to Chrome, the DuckDuckGo app for desktop is cleaner, way more private, and early tests have found it significantly faster too.

Launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo's search engine is far behind Google but the latest controversies around user data privacy has helped it gain momentum like Telegram and Signal.

DuckDuckGo has been selected as the default search engine in the highly-secure chat platform Tor Browser, and is often the default search engine in the private browsing modes of several other browsers.