Cairn

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An iPad browser for people who used Arc.

Arc is in maintenance and never shipped a real iPad app. Its two closest replacements, Cairn and Orion, take different bets. This page is honest about both, and about what Safari already does well.

Checked as of September 2026, against release notes and App Store listings, not marketing pages.

Cairn, Safari and Orion on iPad, September 2026
Feature Cairn Safari Orion
Spaces with separate cookies ✓ – –1
Freeze and restore a whole session ✓ ~2 –
On-device AI summaries ✓ ~3 –
Ad and tracker blocking built in ✓ ~4 ✓
Split view, two Spaces at once ✓ ✓ –
Apple Pencil highlights with notes ✓ – –
Sync without an account ✓ ✓ ✓5
Tab grid and command bar ✓ ~ ✓
Watch a page for changes ✓ ✓ –
Price $19.99 once free free, or $5/mo

✓ Yes ~ Partly – No

  1. Orion has profiles on the Mac, but not yet on iPad.
  2. Safari's Resume Browsing reopens recent tabs, not a named session.
  3. Safari's on-device intelligence covers text selection, not full-page summaries.
  4. Safari needs a separate content-blocker app.
  5. Orion also syncs through iCloud, with no Orion account needed.

Where Safari already wins

Safari is free, made by Apple, and its Resume Browsing and Notify Me in iPadOS 27 cover a lot of ground. If separating identities and picking a project back up by name aren't a daily need, Safari is the simpler choice.

Where Orion already wins

Orion is free with paid tiers from $5 a month, syncs bookmarks from Chrome and Firefox, and supports some browser extensions, which Cairn does not. If extensions matter more than on-device AI, Orion is worth trying first.

Where Cairn is different

Cairn is built around two habits research actually has: keeping identities apart, and putting a project down for weeks without losing the tabs. Its AI runs only on the iPad, with no account and no subscription, ever.

Try it for 21 days.

Every feature is unlocked from the first launch. No account, no trial card, no server.

Download on the App Store