Crest field guide
A browser made of Spaces.
Crest gives work, home, research, and private browsing separate places to live. Switching Spaces changes the browsing context—not just the color of the window.
Spaces
A Space is both an identity and a boundary. Use the Space switcher to move between them; Crest restores the tabs and session that belong to the destination Space.
| A Space keeps | What that means for you |
|---|---|
| Signed-in sessions | Your Work accounts do not automatically sign you into the same sites in Personal. |
| History and archive | Research, recently closed tabs, and recovered pages stay with the place where you used them. |
| Tabs and pinned sites | Every Space opens with its own working set and familiar destinations. |
| Crest Passwords | Suggestions match both the current website and the Space you are browsing in. |
| Appearance and controls | Banners, permissions, website data, and other preferences remain contextual. |
Make a Space recognizable
Think of every Space as a banner. Open the Space editor to choose its colors and crest; the full sidebar wears that identity and carries it into the Space switcher, making a context change visible before you read its name.
Banner or Traditional Gradient
Banner mode uses distinct color fields and heraldic patterns for an expressive, unmistakable Space. Traditional Gradient mode preserves the familiar Arc-style theme: blend one to three colors into a smooth atmosphere, then adjust its direction, strength, readability, and optional texture.
Private Spaces
A Private Space is temporary. Its website data is non-persistent and it stays out of normal history, restoration, archive, and synchronization.
Tabs, pins, and the archive
Crest gives tabs different roles so the sidebar does not become one endless list.
Pinned and saved
Pin the destinations you return to constantly. Save tabs that should remain available but do not need to stay in the active working set.
Current, recent, and archived
Current tabs are what you are using now. Recent items make short-term recovery easy, while Archive keeps older closed work available without crowding the sidebar.
Tab identity
Tab icons normally follow the current website. You can pull and keep an icon, choose an emoji, or use Clear Icon to return the tab to automatic website icons.
Split View
Combine two to four live tabs into one durable sidebar group. Drag a sidebar tab onto the page, use a tab or link context menu, or run Split With Next Tab. The focused card owns the address and page controls while the other pages stay live.
Mac and iPad show resizable columns. Move focus with Control-Command-Left/Right, reorder cards with Shift-Command-Left/Right, or use Option-Command-U to separate the group. iPhone retains the same group as a focused pager; swipe horizontally on the compact toolbar to move between its cards.
Read the complete Split View guide.
Quick Window and Peek
Quick Window
Quick Window carries forward the idea behind Arc's Tiny Arc. On Mac, links opened from other apps can arrive in a lightweight browser instead of immediately joining your durable tabs. Choose the right Space and it uses that Space's signed-in session and Crest Passwords; close it when you are done, or keep it by opening it as a full tab.
Peek
Peek opens a link above the page you are reading. Close it to return immediately, or open it in the current or another Space when it earns a permanent place.
Link Routing
Crest carries Arc’s Air Traffic Control idea forward as Link Routing. Add exact or contains rules in Settings → Quick Window and Peek, choose a destination Space, and order narrow rules before broad ones. Matching external links route before Crest applies the normal Quick Window, Most Recent Space, or Chosen Space default.
Build and test a Link Routing rule.
Moving to Crest
On Mac, Crest can discover Arc, Zen, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox and turn their browsing data into a visual import review. Choose one or more sources, then work through every Space or profile before anything is committed.
| Source | What Crest can bring over |
|---|---|
| Arc | Spaces, tabs, folders, colors, icons, and passwords. |
| Zen | Spaces, Essentials, pinned tabs, folders, open tabs, and colors. |
| Chrome | Profiles, bookmarks, open tabs, and passwords. |
| Safari | Bookmarks, windows, and open tabs. |
| Firefox | Windows, open tabs, and pinned tabs. |
Review before anything moves
Keep or remove individual tabs and folders, choose whether a source becomes a new Space or joins an existing one, and include supported passwords only when you want them. The before-and-after preview updates as you make decisions.
Customize during setup
Open Customize Space from the review to rename the destination and edit its colors, crest, and Banner or Traditional Gradient presentation before importing.
Extensions
Install most standards-based extensions from the Chrome Web Store and Firefox Add-ons, plus Safari Web Extensions on Mac. Compatibility varies where an extension depends on browser-specific APIs, a native companion, or an Apple-managed capability.
Extensions belong to a Space and a device. Each installation keeps independent permissions, storage, enablement, pinning, and site access, so configuring a tool in Work does not silently change Personal or another device.
Ways to install on Mac
- Chrome Web Store: Crest verifies signed CRX3 packages, opens a native review sheet for permissions, website access, source, and compatibility, then installs the package into the selected Space.
- Firefox Add-ons: open an extension’s page on
addons.mozilla.organd select Add to Crest. Crest checks the download against Mozilla’s published checksum, size, identity, and signing files before opening the same Space-specific review. - Signed Safari Web Extension apps: use Scan for Apps or Choose App. A signed Safari app’s WebExtension resources can load without making its third-party native companion portable. Loading the bundle is not proof that its native features work in Crest.
- Unpacked WebExtensions: load an unpacked package as a developer and manual installation path.
Installed extensions can expose pinned actions, WebExtension popups, options pages, and keyboard commands. These controls stay with the Space and device that owns the installation.
Known limits stay visible
Crest separates package verification, installation, worker startup, and complete workflows. Known package limits appear in the review sheet before installation. If you continue, Crest uses an orange added with limited compatibility result and preserves the explanation in Extensions settings. Unexpected runtime failures show Needs attention. Technical JavaScript details remain collapsed unless you open them for troubleshooting.
allowed_origins identity matches a registered host. Firefox Add-ons, unpacked extensions, and Safari-app native handlers are not eligible.Direct 1Password for Safari result
Crest can load the UI and ordinary WebExtension resources from 1Password for Safari 8.12.29.1, but its background call to browser.runtime.sendNativeMessage for request-os-version is rejected by WebKit. That Safari route is not functional in Crest; signing in, unlocking, and filling cannot be promised through it.
1Password-BrowserSupport launch, and the additional-browser authorization UI. Its helper rejected the measured Apple Development build as BrowserSignatureInvalid. The official Developer ID release must now be validated end to end; unlock and autofill are not yet certified.com.apple.developer.web-browser.public-key-credential capability. The request is submitted. Direct distribution alone does not bypass the Apple gate, and pairing and autofill remain unavailable.Safari content blockers and legacy Safari App Extensions are not WebExtensions and are not supported. wBlock’s toolbar/userscript component is a Safari Web Extension, but its primary blocking engine depends on five Safari-only content-blocker extensions; installing the component cannot reproduce full wBlock behavior.
See the extension overview on the product page. For setup and troubleshooting, open Crest Help & Guides, including Chrome Web Store setup, Firefox Add-ons setup, and the measured compatibility matrix.
Passwords and privacy
Crest Passwords are saved in the system Keychain and suggested only for matching websites. Viewing, copying, or exporting sensitive information can require device authentication.
Website permissions are handled per site and remain tied to their Space. Private Spaces use temporary website storage and do not join your ordinary browsing record.
History, data, and sync
History that respects context
History belongs to the current Space. Opening History or Archive shows the browsing record for that context instead of mixing every part of your life together.
Move between devices
When synchronization is enabled, durable Space details and browsing organization can follow you between your Apple devices. Passwords remain protected by the system Keychain.
Bring data in—or take it with you
Run the visual browser migration from setup or Settings on Mac. Crest can also export a portable archive, letting you keep a validated copy of your browsing organization.
Tools and settings
Move quickly
Use the command palette to search the web, find an open tab, and move through Crest from the keyboard. Keyboard shortcuts can be customized in Settings.
Work with the page
Reader mode, find, content blocking, downloads, page sharing, export, popup handling, and failure recovery stay close to the address bar and page controls.
Permissions and site controls
Site permissions can be reviewed or cleared from Settings. Reader mode, content blocking, downloads, and page tools stay attached to the Space where you use them.
Shortcuts and gestures
Press Command-L for the command palette, Control-Tab for the most recent tab, Option-Command-Left/Right for Spaces, and Command-1…9 or Control-1…9 for numbered tabs and Spaces. The full Mac command map is searchable and rebindable in Settings → Shortcuts.
On iPhone, swipe vertically on the address capsule between page and tab viewer, swipe from the leading edge for the sidebar, and swipe horizontally on the compact toolbar to page a Split View. On Mac, right-click for contextual actions and middle-click a current tab to close it or a saved item to unload it.
See the complete keyboard shortcut reference and gesture and pointer guide.
Mac, iPad, and iPhone
The same Spaces and browsing model carry across all three platforms, while the controls adapt to the screen around them.
| Platform | How Crest fits |
|---|---|
| Mac | A spacious sidebar, two-to-four-card Split View, keyboard-first commands, direct releases, Quick Window, Peek, extensions, and multi-window browsing. |
| iPad | The full Space structure, resizable Split View columns, touch navigation, hardware-keyboard commands, and Peek. |
| iPhone | The web page stays primary while the full sidebar becomes a dedicated view and Split View becomes a focused card pager. |