I almost ditched Chrome for Samsung’s new PC browser, but one missing feature is stopping me

Chrome has been my default browser for a long time, but recently I’ve been looking into alternatives that offer useful new features that Google’s browser can’t match. There’s always one sticking point that leads me to go back to Chrome,  and unfortunately, the same can be said for Samsung Internet’s Windows release. It gets a lot right, but one missing feature is preventing it from becoming my main browser.

The feature I love most in Samsung Internet is the split-view mode, along with the sidebar. Split-view puts two tabs side-by-side without having to open a new instance of the tab. The sidebar, as seen in the far right of the image, is a space where you can open a third page in a mobile UI. This has been great for researching and writing articles, as I can have my writing and two research tabs open all in one place without switching windows.

The sidebar becomes even more useful thanks to its ability to sync with Samsung Internet on your Android phone. Tapping the phone icon at the top of the sidebar will show any currently open tabs on your phone or tablet, as well as mobile bookmarks. You don’t need to use a Samsung phone, either, as Samsung Internet can be used on any Android device.

Samsung Internet borrows some of its UI design from Samsung’s tablets, too. When you’re in split-view, you’ll see a little blue bar at the top of the tab you’re currently using, just as you’d see on a Galaxy Tab S11 when you have apps open in split-screen. Clicking on that bar gives you the option to move the tab to a new window, the side panel, or to exit split-view.

Split-view and the sidebar aren’t new concepts. Arc Browser and many others have similar features, but this is by far the simplest to use in my experience. There aren’t any weird or confusing key combinations to learn, and overall, this is a familiar browser for those of us used to Chrome.

Also appreciated is the lack of AI features being shoved in your face all the time. There is an AI button in the top right corner that can summarize and translate a webpage, but that’s it. No chatbots, no AI search modes trying to hijack your usage. So, if there’s this much to love in Samsung Internet, why isn’t it my new browser of choice?

Samsung Internet has quite a few search engines to choose from, but you can’t add your own — you’re limited to the ones Samsung has included. I use custom search engines all day, every day, and it’s something Chrome makes easy. In Chrome, if I type “aa” followed by the tab key when in the URL bar, all of the search results I get will come from Android Authority. If I do the same thing and type “APK,” the results come from APK Mirror.

That makes researching articles much easier and outweighs the benefits I get from the sidebar or split-view. It may be more clunky and less useful, but I can use multiple Chrome windows to achieve the same thing, while Samsung Internet has no alternative to custom search engines.

Other pain points would make switching to Samsung Internet difficult for me. I store all of my passwords and login credentials with Google, and while Samsung Internet imports my search history and bookmarks, passwords don’t carry over. That’s not unique to Samsung’s browser, though, and swapping to any Chrome alternative would have the same struggle.

In the end, using Samsung Internet has been frustrating because it comes so close to perfection. It’s fast, all of my Chrome extensions work, and the split-view and sidebar are wonderful to use. I could overlook all of the minor annoyances if it allowed custom search engines, but I can’t let go of something I use so much. What’s more, Google is rolling out its own split view to Chrome, so it’ll be easier for me to wait for that to reach me than swap to a whole new browser.

Will you be trying Samsung Internet? Or are you happy with your current browser? Let us know in the comments.