Baidu Browser is a free browser that also downloads torrents, videos from social websites, and a lot more. Based on Google Chrome, Baidu Browser includes a truckload of additional features to supercharge your web browsing experience, in addition to all the bells and whistles of a modern web browser. It features a built-in media downloader that can automatically detect the audio/video content being played on social media websites such as YouTube, Vimeo etc., and download it in one click. Apart from that, Baidu Browser also sports a full-featured built-in torrent downloader.
However, that’s not all. Baidu Browser (earlier known as Spark Browser) supports a number of mouse gestures, that make doing things like refreshing a web page, opening a new tab etc., as simple as moving your mouse in a specific pattern. There’s also a unique pop-up player feature, that lets you watch streaming videos in a pop-out UI that can be moved around on the screen anywhere. To top it all off, Baidu Browser includes cloud synchronization as well, which syncs all of your bookmarks, browsing history, settings and things like that to your Google account. And of course, then there’s support for extensions and skins as well. Sounds fun, right? Let’s see what Baidu Browser is all about.
Baidu Browser: Installation And Primary UI
Installing Baidu Browser is akin to installing any other regular software application. All you have to do is head over to the homepage, download the stub installer (although the full offline variant is also available), and run it. Here’s what Baidu Browser looks like, once launched for the first time:
The moment you take a look at Baidu’s user interface, the similarities to Google Chrome become apparent. And that shouldn’t be surprising, considering it’s based off Chrome. However, there are some subtle differences that set Baidu Browser apart. For example, it features a separate search box that sits right next to the URL bar (although you can directly search from the URL bar as well). In addition to that, there are also a number of icon based shortcuts that you can use to quickly access Baidu Browser’s utilities. These shortcuts can be used to access the trio of Baidu’s downloaders: media downloader, torrent downloader, and download manager. You can also access the clipper tool to quickly select a specific area and save it to the clipboard as an image. Apart from that, there isn’t anything special about the UI. Fairly standard stuff!
Using The Features Of Baidu Browser That Set It Apart From Others:
1. Media Downloader
The Media Downloader feature of Baidu Browser does exactly what it says, and that is to let you download media from websites. You can use it to download audio/video content from a number of social sharing websites such as Vimeo, Dailymotion etc. All you have to do is head over to the social media sharing network of your choice, and start playing the content. The moment you do that, Baidu Browser’s media downloader tool will automatically detect the content being played, and offer to download it. It can either download the video or download only the audio after extracting the audio from the captured video. Here’s a screenshot:
2. Torrent Downloader
Everybody uses torrents these days, and they are probably the most popular source of P2P downloads over the Internet. Now, there are a number of impressive torrent download clients out there, but why bother installing an extra application, when Baidu Browser can take care of that for you? That’s right, the built-in Torrent Downloader module of Baidu Browser can download all kinds of torrents, and supports features like simultaneous downloads, bandwidth limits, and even magnet links. To use torrent downloader, simply open it via its icon on the shortcut bar, add a torrent file, and Baidu Browser will take care of the rest. You can even click on the Other Downloads link on the top right corner to switch to the regular download manager.
3. Pop Out Player
Watching streaming video content on the web is one of the most popular activities today. And why shouldn’t it be? With the sheer variety of videos available on social streaming websites, it’s easy to get hooked. However, once you start watching a video on YouTube, Vimeo, or any other video sharing website, you can’t do anything else. But that ain’t the case with Baidu Browser. Thanks to its Pop Out Player feature, you can watch streaming videos from just about any video sharing website in a pop-out window, which can be dragged across the screen. So you can watch videos, and send an email, all at the same time. How cool is that?
Other Features Of Baidu Browser:
In addition to the unique features illustrated above, Baidu Browser also includes some other goodies as well. These are briefly mentioned below:
- Mouse Gestures: Accomplish the most common tasks (e.g. opening a new tab, refreshing a web page) via simple mouse gestures.
- Cloud Syncing: All of your bookmarks, browsing history, plug-ins etc. are synchronized to your Google account.
- Chrome Extension Import: Baidu Browser automatically detects a Chrome installation, and can directly import the extensions from it.
- Clipper: Define a screen area and save it to the clipboard as an image.
See Also: Firefox Based Browser With Horizontal Multi Webpage Scrolling, Cloud Sync: PolyBrowser
Closing Words
Baidu Browser is an extremely feature-laden web browser that has a ton of features to help you browse and enjoy the web better. Thanks to its handy selection of built-in utilities, it can single-handedly replace a couple of your existing applications. Give it a shot and let me know what you think of it in the comments.
