Most users have preferences regarding what browser to use for a given site. For example, web developers like to try their sites in different browsers. Likewise, you may prefer opening your work email on, let us say, Chrome, and reading your personal correspondence on Safari. In such scenario, Choosy can come in very handy, as this tiny unobtrusive application lets you pick the browser you want to open a particular link on.
Choosy runs in the background and can be set to start automatically with user logon. Most of the interaction with the tool is done via its Preferences window, accessible from the app’s icon on the menu bar. In this respect, there are various tabs called General, Browsers, Behavior, Appearance and Advanced.
From the Browsers tab, you can set a priority list. It means that the first browser in the list is your favorite and so on. This setting has a great impact when it comes to defining the default action. This way, for example, you can tell the program to open a link on the best running browser without even asking. Similarly, it can be configured to use your favorite browser even if it is not running at the time. Likewise, Choosy may be set to prompt you to select one of the running browsers or one from all the browsers installed In your system.
One of the best features of Choosy is the possibility of automating browser selection through the use of rules. A rule is made of two parts: the condition and the action. A single example could illustrate this quite clearly: if the condition that the URL is that of Gmail is true, the action would be to open it on Google Chrome. However, you can create a lot more combinations.
Another advantage of this application is the support of URL-based API, which developers can use to access Choosy. This feature can be used from any other tool that supports opening a URL.
Choosy needs specific extensions to be installed on your browser. Up to the moment, only the Safari extension comes in its installation bundle. Therefore, other browsers, except Chrome, require downloading and installing the corresponding extension manually.
In general, I truly recommend Choosy if you want to use your browsers for different purposes. The product can be tried for a limited time and then should be purchased if you want to continue using it. However, if you feel 10 bucks is too much, let me tell you that Safari allows doing something quite similar at no cost.
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