Have you ever Googled something and thought, "the people watching my search history are going to scratch their heads at this one!" Whether that's a serious concern, or a part of your life that you've decided not to think about, you don't have to think about it any more thanks to Xayn.
Xayn is a decentralized, privacy-first web browser that keeps your data on your device, rather than poring over it like other search engine providers do.
What Is Xayn?
Xayn is a privacy-focused web browser downloadable on Apple and Android devices. The company plans on rolling out premium and enterprise price tiers with additional features but for now, it's all free.
How Does Xayn Work?
The search engine is powered by AI-run algorithms just like any search engine. However, Xayn processes your data on your device instead of online. Further, the search engine is based on end-to-end encryption and decentralized networks so Xayn isn't collecting, analyzing, or selling your data like other search engines.
To be clear, your searches still inform the AI that makes Xayn work (that is, unless you turn this feature off). It works by using a process called "federated encryption." Essentially, Xayn knows what is being searched, but it doesn't know who is searching.
Think of it like a cook filling an order: the cook knows what the table ordered, but not who ordered what. Further, if the cook is asked to recommend a meal (a fresh query from a new user) the cook can make a safe recommendation for the new user based on what everyone else has ordered—and enjoyed or sent back—all without knowing who anyone is.
To learn more about how Xayn works under the hood, you can visit its developer's page and check out its code on GitHub.
How to Get Started Using Xayn
When you first install Xayn, there is virtually no setup. You don't need to submit an email or even sign up with a profile. The default setting for your homepage is a search bar and a (refreshingly well-rounded) news feed. However, you can opt to make the home page display just a search bar or just a news feed if you'd like.
The toolbar across the bottom of the home screen lets you navigate all of Xayn. Or, at least, all of the front-end. The five buttons on the home screen toolbar are:
- The home icon, to bring you back to your homepage
- The stacked icon, for navigating tab groups
- The magnifying glass icon, to open a new search
- The book icon, for navigating your "collections" and announcements from Xayn
- The gear icon, to access your settings
Meanwhile, the search feature consists of four key icons:
- The globe, for searching web pages or entering URLs
- The image, for image searches
- The video player, for searching videos
- The newspaper, for searching news stories
These icons appear at the top of the home screen no matter what layout you've chosen for Xayn. If you have the news feed-only configuration, you can access the search bar by selecting the magnifying glass icon from the toolbar across the bottom of the screen.
Tap the brain in the upper right corner of the search page to toggle Xayn's AI on and off. With AI on, you get better results and help Xayn's algorithms learn. With the AI off, you get an added level of privacy but might not get the best results.
How to Use Xayn's Personalization Features
Because Xayn starts off knowing nothing about you, you can gradually personalize the home screen and the search results as you go.
Swipe right on an item, and you'll see a few different options. Tapping the thumbs-up icon tells Xayn that you'd like to see more of that type of article, while the other two icons let you bookmark or share the article.
You can also swipe left on an article that you didn't like seeing. Here, you can give it a thumbs-down, and open an optional settings menu to tell Xayn what you didn't like about the article (whether it was the topic or the publisher that you didn't like).
All other personalization options are in the setting menu, accessed from the gear icon on the main toolbar. From here, most of the options are pretty straightforward for anyone familiar with search engines. You can turn cookies and tracking on and off, manage your cache settings, change your language, and more.
Your search history is also easy to navigate from the search page, which is accessed through the magnifying glass icon on the main toolbar. Below the search bar, you can see your recent searches, as well as view or clear your entire search history.
Search Privately With Xayn
In addition to its decentralized and privacy-first nature, Xayn is a very user-friendly search engine. This is largely because the platform offers such a simplistic interface. It doesn't hold your photos and documents, connect you with friends and coworkers, or give you directions to the nearest restaurant.
Xayn tells you what you want to know, and it doesn't ask for information that it doesn't need. What more can a person ask from a search engine?