Orion 1.0

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Platform focus and engine choice

  • Many like that Orion uses WebKit instead of Chromium, seeing engine diversity as valuable; others say calling this an “act of resistance” is overblown given Apple’s control of WebKit and iOS.
  • Several note that WebKit is the only practical choice on iOS, so using it on macOS too is more pragmatic than radical.
  • Some users wish the 1.0 weren’t macOS-only, arguing Windows should be prioritized given desktop share; others counter that Mac users are more likely to pay for niche software and that Windows work is already planned.

Stability, bugs, and 1.0 readiness

  • Multiple users hit an “Update Error” on first launch; this was acknowledged as a server-side issue and quickly fixed, but several call it disappointing for a 1.0.
  • Longtime testers say Orion has improved a lot but still feels beta: memory leaks (tens of GB of RAM), slowdowns over time, UI glitches, and regressions on iOS (URL bar occluded by keyboard, tab-loss/ghost-tab issues).
  • Some find it now “rock solid” and use it as their daily driver; others reverted to Safari, Vivaldi, Brave, or Zen due to bugs and performance.

Open source, trust, and long‑term control

  • A large subthread argues Orion’s closed-source status is a dealbreaker, especially for a browser, citing:
    • Transparency (detecting telemetry/spyware, avoiding “enshittification”).
    • Ability to fork if the product is sold, abandoned, or changes direction.
    • Desire to contribute fixes and features.
  • Counterpoints: Orion claims no telemetry or accounts; behavior can be audited at the network level; open source doesn’t guarantee maintenance; Orion+ subscriptions are viewed as the business model that disincentivizes tracking.
  • Some propose third‑party security/privacy audits as a middle ground.

Performance, features, and comparisons

  • Users debate whether speed is really why people switch browsers today; many feel website bloat and ads dominate perceived slowness, so built‑in adblocking and uBlock Origin support matter more.
  • Opinions diverge on WebKit’s real‑world speed vs Chrome/Firefox. Some say Safari/WebKit “feels” fastest and most efficient on Mac; others find Safari and Orion sluggish on modern web apps (YouTube, Google Docs, GitHub).
  • Orion’s multi‑engine extension support (Chrome/Firefox/Safari) is widely praised, but:
    • Full uBlock Origin support is incomplete, especially on iOS.
    • Password manager extensions (notably 1Password) reportedly cause severe typing lag and degraded benchmarks, a major blocker for some.

iOS constraints and experience

  • On iOS, users like desktop‑class extensions and Kagi integration, calling Orion the only way to get “real” adblocking there; others report reliability issues, crashes, and broken layouts.
  • There’s confusion over how much “real” uBlock Origin functionality is possible within Apple’s WebExtensions limits.

Business model and “Kagiverse”

  • Some welcome Orion as part of a coherent privacy‑respecting stack (Search, Assistant, Browser, etc.).
  • Others worry about product sprawl for a small company and would prefer focus on Kagi Search, or question why browser “perks” are gated separately from search subscriptions.