Being (More) Productive with Browser-Based Applications

For many of us, cloud-based computing has changed the way we work with computers.  No longer do we need physical access to a specific computer to work with our documents.  We can read email and update our calendars from just about anywhere using just about any kind of device.  Better still, when we add an appointment on one device, it appears almost instantly on all others logged into the same account.

A Bit of History

In the early days of the modern Internet, web pages were static.  In other words, when you visited a website, you always saw the same content, and once it was displayed in the browser, it didn’t change.  Over time, servers gained the ability to provide content that was dynamically generated, meaning that the page might look different tomorrow than it does today.  Initially, the changes were subtle.  For example, the page might contain a message at the bottom indicating the date and time the page’s content was retrieved.  Regardless, once the content was displayed in the browser, it remained fixed.  If you've forgotten what early versions of Internet Explorer looked like, click here for a short walk down memory lane!

Gradually, servers learned to make more complex changes to a web page’s content prior to delivering it to the browser.  Additionally, browsers became capable of modifying the page’s content after it had been delivered and displayed.  They even figured out how to request content meant for just a small part of the whole page to minimize the bits that needed to be updated.  Together, these changes paved the way for today’s browser-based web applications.

Initially, these web apps were slow and often delivered a clearly inferior user experience when compared to their desktop-based siblings.  However, faster processors and more memory mean that using Microsoft Office in a browser can feel almost identical to using the locally-installed version.

One of the Biggest Challenges

While there are certainly many benefits associated with using applications inside the web browser, there’s one huge drawback.  Most of these applications need to know who you are.  In other words, you need to be logged into an account the service recognizes.  For example, to use Microsoft’s suite of online products, you need a Microsoft 365 account.  The same goes for Google.  What happens, though, when you need to “be” more than one person?  Try it now.  Open a browser tab and sign into Microsoft or Google.  Then open a second tab and access another product from the same service.  Most of the time, your login credentials are shared between different tabs in the same browser, so you can have, for example, GMail, Google Drive, and your Google Calendar all open at the same time without having to log in to each separately.

I work as a consultant and a contractor.  That means I have projects associated with different clients, and many of those clients either give me access to their systems or we set up an external system to which we both have access.  Therefore, depending on whose project I’m working on, I may need to “be” one of several different accounts.  Currently, I have at least three active Microsoft accounts and too many Google accounts to count.  Then there’s Dropbox, Scratch, Replit, Tinkercad, and the list goes on.

Managing Multiple Online Personalities

Use Multiple Browsers

One way to deal with the one-browser, one login issue is simple: use multiple browsers.  Generally, the account information your browser is using to “know” who you are is stored in what are called cookies.  Cookies are little bits of information the browser stores in its local cache so it can “remember” certain things.  What, exactly, has access to each cookie is a complex topic, but for most of us, it is enough to understand that each browser has its own set of cookies.  For example, Firefox can’t access Chrome’s cookie store. ("Store" here is essentially a synonym for “storage,” not a place to buy the cookies!)

I’ve set up a personal system where I try to do my own work in Chrome, and I use a different browser for different clients.  On most operating systems, one browser is usually installed by default.  On Mac OS, it’s Safari, and on Windows it’s either Internet Explorer (early versions of Windows 10 and previous) or Edge (later versions of Windows 10 and later).  Installing Chrome and Firefox is easy enough, so already you’re able to give yourself three identities.  These “big four” mainstream browsers tend to support things pretty evenly, so your user experience in one should be similar to the others.  Obviously, though, you’ll need to check to see if the application you actually need to use works well in the browser you’ve chosen to use it in.

If three isn’t enough, there are more browsers.  Usually, these are ports or forks of either Chrome or Firefox.  Opera is one I’ve used, as are Brave and Vivaldi.  A quick Google search for “browser alternatives” should get you started.  Beware, though, web browser tend to be resource hogs!  Running several, each with multiple tabs open, can eat up memory and slow down your system.

Use Private Browsing Mode

Another option for using the same service as a different account is to use private browsing mode.  In the version of Chrome I’m using, there’s an option on the three dots menu in the upper right corner to open a New Incognito Window.  In Firefox, it’s called New Private Window.  Similar options exist in Safari and Edge.

Private browsing mode is a good alternative for services and accounts you use less frequently.  In addition to not accessing the browser’s main cookie store, private browsing also restricts the storing of new cookies and other aspects of the browser’s history.  Suffice to say, private browsing has no long-term memory.  Whereas I can be the same account in Firefox without having to login often, no matter how many times I open or close the browser, with private browsing, I will always have to login again.

I tend to use private browsing if I need to quickly access a service I don’t use much, or when logging in is really easy.  For example, if the username is short and the password is one I remember and rarely mistype, private browsing may be quicker and less resource intensive than opening a second browser.

Preserve Your Sanity: Use a Password Manager

Speaking of usernames and passwords, keeping up with so many can also be a challenge.  Many modern browsers are able to keep track of login credentials for sites that you visit, and these can often be shared between the same browser on different devices (like Chrome on your laptop and Chrome on your desktop; of course, this requires that you are logged into the same Google account on all the devices).  The operating system, too, may have a facility for storing this kind of information, but that generally works only across different applications running on the same computer.  Therefore, neither of these approaches is a “one ring to rule them all” solution.

To deal with this issue, I use a password manager.  A password manager lets me put all my login credentials (and other sensitive information) into a single application where it is stored securely and retrieved with a single master password.  Many password managers are themselves cloud-based, and many can be integrated into most browsers.  I use Bitwarden, and I have it installed on my Mac, my Windows desktop, a Linux laptop, my iPad, and in Chrome and Firefox.  Now, when I visit a site, Bitwarden can show me all the accounts I have for it, let me pick which I want to use, and (most of the time) automatically populate the user id and password fields.

Of course, I had to accept that all this sensitive data is being stored and replicated across the Internet.  I’ve opted to trust that it is being responsibly managed and stored securely.  As with so many things, I’ve surrendered a little control for a lot of convenience.

Conclusion

For me, browser-based applications have dramatically changed the way I work.  I recently left my main computer at an out-of-town relative’s house.  It was several weeks before I could get it back (without resorting to having it shipped), yet I was able to go on more or less normally with another computer.  The primary computer was a Mac, and the replacement was running Linux.  For most of what I do, it made little difference.  I had access to everything: email, calendar, documents, Zoom.  Cloud computing is a game changer, and hopefully these tips will help you be just a little bit more productive as the paradigm shift continues.