Kagi brings its human-curated 'Small Web' to mobile devices

Palo Alto-based search engine company Kagi is bringing its handpicked collection of non-commercial, human-authored websites to mobile devices. The expansion brings the company’s “Small Web” initiative to mobile apps and browser extensions, allowing users to navigate a curated index of more than 30,000 independent sites. In March, the company announced the expansion of its Small Web efforts, introducing browser extensions, mobile apps, and a way to filter results by category. The mobile applications, available for iOS and Android, allow users to filter content by categories such as blogs, webcomics, independent videos, or code repositories, while offering a distraction-free reading mode.

The search startup first launched its idea for a “Small Web” initiative in 2023 to promote independent, human-created content. The platform functions similarly to the web discovery service StumbleUpon, randomly displaying selected sites and allowing users to browse through different categories of content. To expand the index, users can suggest new websites for inclusion via the software development platform GitHub. This setup is designed to help users discover parts of the web they might otherwise miss in an ecosystem dominated by ad-supported business models and large corporate platforms.

While the project aims to make independent web content more visible, it has faced some criticism from users on the discussion forum Hacker News. One person on Hacker News reported that Kagi is limiting its selection to sites with RSS feeds—a web feed format used to publish frequently updated works—that have recent posts. This limitation reportedly rules out single-purpose or experimental pages. Additionally, another user on the forum expressed frustration after encountering a featured site that sounded suspiciously like it may have been written with AI.

Despite these critiques, the concept of a human-curated web of content could be something worth building. As search results are increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence, a curated index of human-authored pages offers an alternative for users seeking non-commercial content. This effort could serve as a potential alternative if Kagi’s original concept of becoming a Google competitor by offering a premium, paid search engine does not pan out.

Why it matters

Kagi is positioning its “Small Web” as a direct counter-narrative to AI-saturated search results, aiming to preserve human-authored, non-commercial content for mobile users.