Occasionally, the browser market introduces interesting new concepts. Recently, a colleague introduced me to the Arc browser. At first, I didn’t see any features that made Arc superior to Safari. I was initially put off by the interface, with everything—tabs, address bar, etc.—positioned in a sidebar instead of at the top. However, I quickly forgot about the browser after the first day. A few days later, I read something about a new überbrowser on my iPhone and decided to give it another try. The app icon of Arc looked familiar, and I was instantly intrigued by its AI-supported features (Arc Max) and the presentation of search results.

With Arc, you type your query into the search bar and click on “Browse for me.” Arc then searches the internet and creates a live website with a summary of your search topic. This approach allows you to find what you’re looking for within seconds, without wading through ad-overkilled websites with SEO text and clickbait headlines. And if you browse the usual “Google” way, a mouse-over on the links will give you a short page summary, the so-called 5 second preview. As a marketeer, I wonder if this does count as a click? However, as a user I found this rather comfortable.

The clean, distraction-free interface is also impressive—just the content and the controls you need. The tab organization is just next level and a killer feature for everyone who has always dozens of tabs open. AI and ChatGPT integration

Arc has many well-designed features, but I won’t go into detail here. You can see for yourself on their website: https://arc.net/.

The one big minus for me is the lack of native support for Apple’s Keychain. Fortunately, I use a third-party password manager, so this isn’t a major issue. Since Arc is based on Chrome, the extensions I typically use work just fine. Although I haven’t set Arc as my default browser yet, I’m very close to doing so. But I can try the integrated “try Arc as default for a week” feature.

Sideloading is now available on iOS, and with it, the first alternative App Store called AltStore is here. As of now, the App Store contains only two apps: Clip (a clipboard manager) and Delta. While Clip is available only through a pledge, Delta (a Nintendo Emulator) is downloadable for free.

Installing the open-source AltStore only works through Safari and costs €1.50 per year + VAT. That is the amount to cover Apple’s Core Technology Fee. I think that’s a fair price. Furthermore, I’m curious to see how the emulator works. A few years ago, there was a website where you could upload a ROM file and play Game Boy games, and I had fun playing there. And now I wonder if I can do that again.

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: yes, but there’s always a “but.” On the plus side is to say that you can play NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy (Color & Advance), and even DS Games. For the DS, the screen is divided into two screens, and I can’t wait to play Zelda for DS because I never played that so far. Uploading and loading the ROMs is as easy as possible. Subsequently, the game library is filled with games and sorted by device. If you miss a game artwork in the library, you can download that from an integrated artwork gallery. Games start within a blink of an eye, and the performance is superb, but not surprising considering the original devices only had a fraction of today’s iPhones resources.

As a big fan of the Zelda series, I started Delta with my all-time favorite: “Link’s Awakening” for Game Boy Color. Back in the days, I only had the regular Game Boy, but color can’t add much more to the fun that game is. It was my first Zelda ever, and even though Ocarina of Time is on top of the most community rankings, Link’s Awakening will always have a special place in my heart because it took my Zelda virginity.

When the splash screen appears, and the 8-bit soundtrack intros the opening sequence, I feel shivers going down my spine, just like when I started it for the first time. I skipped the dialogues because I played that game like 10 times, and I know what they are saying anyway. When I walk around there, it just feels like coming home after you’ve been away for a long time. And I would love to play the Switch version of that game one day.

But, and that’s a minus, the controlling is not working to my satisfaction. My fingers are maybe too fat for such delicate non-flexible touchscreen controls. Despite the haptic feedback, it’s really difficult for me to master complex maneuvers. But the option to save the game at any given moment helps to reduce frustration. You can even add cheat codes if it pleases you. You can also turn the screen for a different gaming layout.

Of course, you can use a controller if you’ve got one. I don’t, but I think this is a good reason to get one. Despite the lack of a controller, I think Delta will give me a few hours of fun and desperation. I would wish for alternative on-screen controls, in addition to the classic control layout.

It’s been almost ten years – it was May 2014 – since TwoDots was released for iPhone. I think I discovered the game in autumn of that year, and I have been playing it daily ever since.

The gaming mechanism is as smart as it is simple: connect at least two matching dots with the same color vertically or horizontally on a board. If you can connect four dots to form a square, all dots with the same color will disappear. Sounds simple, but the game gets harder with different gaming mechanisms over time. And yes, it can even be frustrating, especially when it comes to coincidence-based features that outsmart your gaming skills.

Over time, the developers created side quests to the regular levels, such as a weekly treasure hunt, a weekly treasure hunt replay, a weekly arcade session, flip challenges, and scavenger hunts. Although all of the levels and most of the side quests are solvable, more and more pay-to-win features were added to the game, such as the much-appreciated scavenger hunts. Of course, the game developers want to earn money, and in that case, it’s well deserved, but in my opinion, it sucks to make the scavenger hunts pay to win only. So, I decided not to play these at all.

Nevertheless, the fun factor is still pretty high. And what’s also worth mentioning: the soundtrack of the game is really good.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5

Header image by: https://www.flickr.com/photos/holland-photography/15790434555/