Skills in Chrome are great, but not enough to get me to go back

Usually, when Google announces its latest AI-powered feature in Chrome, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on much. But that changed when the company announced Skills in Chrome.

The feature, which lets you set shortcuts for specific prompts, is handy in a number of ways. And while I did feel envy for the first time in a long time, it wasn’t enough to tempt me back to the browser.

If you use Chrome on desktop in a supported region, you’ll have access to Google’s Gemini chatbot in the browser through an icon and a dedicated sidebar. This allows you to ask Gemini about the tab (or tabs) you have open through a dedicated chat where you can adjust the model and attach files.

However, if you run prompts frequently, this process is now a lot more convenient thanks to Skills. The feature allows you to save a specific prompt as a skill, which you can then access by typing a forward slash ( / ) into the Gemini chat and selecting the shortcut.

The feature is endlessly versatile. For example, if you frequently substitute ingredients in recipes, you can save a skill that includes what you would like to substitute. For me, I often look for vegetarian alternatives or ways I can make a recipe simpler.

You could also have skills for processing web pages, such as summarizing content or extracting text from images. You can even find related topics and sites to explore based on the article you’re reading.

A few use cases Google mentioned in its announcement include calculating protein macros for a recipe, generating spec comparisons while shopping, and scanning documents for information. Google has already launched a set of ready-to-use Skills that you can use.

Last year, I ditched Chrome in favor of Brave — and I haven’t really looked back since. The Skills in Chrome announcement is the first time I’ve felt any sort of envy since switching over, even though I tend to feel lukewarm about AI browser features in general.

However, this doesn’t mean I discount AI completely. I’m a big fan of scheduled actions in Gemini and have recently been using the Notebooks feature to help add context to my NotebookLM projects. I’ve also recently started using Claude to help me process certain spreadsheets since looking at documents for long periods can sometimes trigger my migraines.

But I’m not really willing to put up with Chrome’s drawbacks for a single feature. Since switching over, my browsing experience has been more private, and I don’t have to worry about Google always looking over my shoulder. Brave offers more privacy settings enabled by default, and I don’t have to wade through countless menus to prevent browser fingerprinting.

Chrome, on the other hand, requires me to sign into my Google Account to enable syncing, which opens me up to more of Google’s data collection. Chrome also collects information like my browsing history, even when I’m not using Google as my search engine. Even the privacy of incognito mode remains under question, which resulted in a class-action lawsuit against Google.

I’m also honestly concerned about how much access Gemini gets to my information when integrated into my browser. Gemini chats and uploaded documents are used for training data, and opting out means you lose out on essential features like chat history.

With Brave, I also get access to all the extensions I want and don’t have to worry about Chrome undermining extensions like ad-blockers in the name of Google’s business interests.

Brave does have an AI assistant — Leo AI. But importantly, it preserves privacy by not using chats for training and not requiring an account. Google’s announcement actually made me decide to see if Leo had any shortcuts built in. It turns out that it has had an identically named Skills feature since December 2025.

The difference is that I can select from a variety of non-Google models, including Claude Haiku. I also don’t have to worry about the AI tracking me across tasks. I’ve already used it to save a variety of skills that make it easier to run certain prompts.

While this doesn’t have the benefit of Gemini’s agentic skills, it works well for simpler tasks. However, for power users, the inability to complete certain tasks could be a dealbreaker.

As someone who mostly uses AI for brainstorming and research, I’d rather trade a bit of convenience to preserve my privacy. One of the drawbacks of Chrome’s integration of AI is that it further entrenches you in Google’s ecosystem.

With my current setup, I can move between the AI models and features that suit my needs the most. This isn’t always as seamless as going all-in on an ecosystem, but it also allows me to seek out the top-performing tools — rather than just those that are available to me.

If I were to switch browsers, I’d choose another privacy-focused option that gives me choices over the AI tools I use. Firefox is my secondary browser right now, and I enjoy its approach to AI features, which are entirely opt-in.

As convenient as Skills in Chrome are, I’d rather stick with an ecosystem that prioritizes my privacy.