Ever so often, I come across an app, I think I need, and it works perfectly, but I end up not needing it, at least not in the way I thought I'd need it. The latest app in the list is browser.horse, thanks to PascalPixel who very kindly allowed me to test the app a few months back. Browser horse claims to do one thing: create trail-like navigation structure to your tabs. And it does it perfectly.
On the worst of days, I have had 200+ tabs open in Horse; on the best, at least a 100. And it has been pretty stable for all of it. It is especially useful for situations where I open multiple references from a paper; if I'm deep diving into that paper. It feels like creating a flowchart, but in your browser.
So, why don't I use it? Tree-based navigation is not a new paradigm. SigmaOS and Stack_HQ are two other main browser apps that do something similar. And my lack of usage is not due to the shortcomings of browser horse; but rather due to my browsing pattern.
- Anything I browse does not get added to Google browsing history (and I want that - Yes, I know the privacy concerns; and I choose convenience and recall)
- Lack of extensions, so I cannot quick add to readwise, copy all links, quick add to todoist etc.
- But most importantly, I realized that I'm not really looking for an origin → tree structure when I want tab organization (aka trails).
Unfortunately, I am often deep diving into multiple parent papers/objects with overlapping concepts; and that is where the pattern breaks. I am looking for auto-organize and auto-deduplicate based on set of NLP kind filters.
If paper on A; ≤3 months, group it. I have multiple parent saplings and have overlapping leaves; with weird usage constraints - and if you don't have those; you'll enjoy Horse. It of course has some drawbacks - I wish it had full support for extensions + customizable navigation.
I, personally, won't pay for a browser, but if that is something that you're open to; and you often find yourself dead in 200 tabs, you should see if Horse is up your alley.