DuckDuckGo is bringing its privacy-focused web browser to the desktop in 2022

DuckDuckGo is a name associated with privacy, and it is best known for its tracking-free search engine. But the company has other strings to its bow, including a privacy-focused web browser for mobile devices.

Now there are plans to bring things to the desktop. With DuckDuckGo for desktop, the company is looking to give users a fast, simple and private alternative to the likes of Chrome. Interestingly, DuckDuckGo says that the desktop browser will not be based on Chromium, but that it will be built "around the OS-provided rendering engines".

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The company says that the desktop version of its browser will "redefine user expectations of everyday online privacy". A focus on simplicity means that there will be "no complicated settings, no misleading warnings, no 'levels' of privacy protection -- just robust privacy protection that works by default, across search, browsing, email, and more".

DuckDuckGo says that this is should not be thought of as a "privacy browser", insisting that it is simply "an everyday browsing app that respects your privacy".

But there is another interesting snippet of information about the upcoming browser. DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg writes:

Instead of forking Chromium or anything else, we're building our desktop app around the OS-provided rendering engines (like on mobile), allowing us to strip away a lot of the unnecessary cruft and clutter that's accumulated over the years in major browsers. With our clean and simple interface combined with the beloved Fire Button from our mobile app, DuckDuckGo for desktop will be ready to become your new everyday browsing app.  Compared to Chrome, the DuckDuckGo app for desktop is cleaner, way more private, and early tests have found it significantly faster too!

The company has not really given much indication of when we can expect to see the desktop version of the browser, but says "there's never a bad time to stop companies from spying on your search and browsing history".