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submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by LEVI@feddit.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

And what features and/or technologies you'd rather not see in a web browser

Lets make this interesting: you can imagine features ( there's no wrong answers ) , its not just about features that you already saw in other browsers

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[-] zelifcam@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The most basic, minimal, light browser ever built with a well thought out extension framework. I want almost nothing built in.

[-] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

So like back to the '90s with Netscape Navigatior and its plugins?

[-] zelifcam@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Or iCab of the late 90s.

Honestly I don’t think it’s much to ask to make the browser as lean as possible and have development focused on browsing and leave most of the rest to extensions. It’s kind more like where we were 14 years ago.

Edit: Features I wouldn’t mind built in would be much like what vibi suggested. Built in volume control , per tab. Stuff like that makes sense.

https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/10198327

[-] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

I agree it would be nice to have a product like that available as an option. I think the masses would still prefer a monolithic tool like Chrome for its convenience, though. I still remember all the annoyances of "You need a new plugin to view this content. Go get it and come back once it's installed."

[-] zelifcam@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

I do remember that. But I’m not saying it wouldn’t be capable of playing video out of the box. I’m saying having a built in terminal and photoshop is dumb. Focus on the thing you’re supposed to be doing well.

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[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 months ago

This is what gemini is about.

[-] Vibi 22 points 3 months ago

The thing I want natively is a built-in way to control volume per tab- not just mute, not through a plugin... Just a simple volume slider that works.

[-] zelifcam@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

This would be a nice feature.

[-] zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 14 points 3 months ago
  • Tab-organisation features (e.g. stacking, trees)
  • Synchronised history - so you can find something you were looking at on your phone on your desktop or vice-versa
  • Containers (Firefox) are great
  • Full-page screenshot (Firefox) is very handy
[-] marx2k@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago
[-] zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

'Multi-Account Containers': https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers

With it, you can open tabs in different 'containers', which have their own set of cookies, etc.. So, for example, you can be logged into two accounts for the same website, just in different containers, or keep all your shopping accounts in one container (and set those sites to always open in that container) to reduce tracking and targeting.

[-] marx2k@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Ah. Interesting. For work I log in to a bunch of AWS accounts and I'm only able to do two at a time. One in a normal window and another in a private window. But I can't open a 3rd private window. So this will be the answer, I think.

Thank you!

[-] Funkytom467@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Synchronized favorites is pretty nice too.

About synchronization, one i've never seen is tabs, being able to open any tabs on one device to another. Maybe the clipboard could also be useful to share link/text to another device...

[-] Nemo@midwest.social 12 points 3 months ago
  • built-in adblocker

  • ability to have JavaScript / sound / image loading turned off by default but with a whitelist of sites that can run / play / load them

  • built-in secure password manager

  • open-source, natch

  • native ssh and ftp

  • a button that autogenerates a metadata-free, archived link to the current page

  • bring back flash

  • can open any folder of folders of images as a slideshow

  • feeds false metadata to sites trying to fingerprint the user

  • rejects / autodeletes all but whitelisted cookies

  • built-in tamagotchi / virtual pets

[-] zelifcam@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
  • built-in adblocker
  • built-in secure password manager
  • built-in tamagotchi / virtual pets

I believe most would prefer a modular approach with a well built extension and addon framework.


  • can open any folder of folders of images as a slideshow
  • native ssh and ftp

I’d prefer the web browser to be good at web browsing. Excellent software already exists that does all of that.


  • bring back flash

Dear god no

[-] Nemo@midwest.social 1 points 3 months ago

out of curiosity, what might I use for the slideshow application?

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[-] Trent@lemmy.ml 13 points 3 months ago

bring back flash

There are really good reasons flash died. If you're desperate for flash content, use ruffle.

[-] Fleppensteijn@feddit.nl 2 points 3 months ago

ftp

It's crazy that Firefox was good with ftp until they just decided to not support it anymore 😕

[-] rozwud@beehaw.org 2 points 3 months ago

Upvoted for the tamagotchi / virtual pets. The other stuff, too, but mostly the virtual pets.

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 months ago

I really just want web browsers to die, and be replaced by one of the slimmed down options like gemini, gopher, or some markdown viewer.

The web just keeps getting increasingly bloated and ad-ridden, and filled with popups. Web browsers are as complex as entire operating systems now, so only 2 orgs (google and mozilla) have the resources and expertise to build a browser, and mozilla might throw in the towel eventually, leaving the internet as one big google ad.

IE move viewing of mostly static content into these simple variants like gemini, and move dynamic things to local apps with API access.

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 6 points 3 months ago

that's a quite pessimistic stance, yes I do agree that web browsers are complexe and hard to maintain, but they can do more than viewing websites, you can play games, draw art, video chat, PDF viewing and editing, you can do a lot with just one app.. that's the beauty of Web browsers.. The problem is in the Ad business model..

[-] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 months ago

they can do more than viewing websites

The question is: should they? There is a larger philosophical divide about whether software tools should be small and purpose-built, or monolithic. Having one do-it-all tool can be convenient but also creates a huge amount of overhead and complexity.

I go back and forth myself. I love the convenience of monolithic tools, but miss the way a small, purpose-built tool can really do its job well.

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 2 points 3 months ago

One of the best cases for building a versatile tool, is accessibility to less privileged populations, for example people who can't efford to have a reliable Internet because of their shady ISPs, they need a browser that renders web content as fast as possible, and also because they can't afford to download apps due to slow internet speeds, Flatpaks could take gigabyte of HDD space and you have to update them later, which is painful in other parts of the world

Even if the user had a reliable Internet and solid hardware, maybe they're a security minded individual, and want to keep their app installs to a minimum. To them many apps are considered bloat and that's dangerous.

I think the difficulty lies in wisely choosing what features to include, before your users start asking : hey, do we really need that ? Or : who uses that ?

that's why listening to feedback is so important

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

They shouldn't be doing any of those things, html should be for simple, static content only.

For dynamic / interactive things, programmers should write programs again like they used to.

[-] chottomatte@lemdro.id 7 points 3 months ago

Data saving option for mobile netwerk , and website's RSS feed finder , webpage translation too .... As for what I don't want to see : big installation size , ugly design and tracking

[-] Achyu@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

website's RSS feed finder

On Firefox, the RSSHubRadar extension is useful for that.
The feature being available by default in browsers would be cool

[-] birdcat@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 months ago

if i open a site that ive opened x times this week/month a popup appears that says "no" then the pc shuts down and cannot be turned on for 3 hours.

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 5 points 3 months ago

saying: "no" sounds rude.. maybe something like "no, go touch grass" that'd be better

I want the old animated Netscape logo in the corner back

[-] Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

Them were't dairz

[-] marx2k@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

On android...Firefox refreshes the page any time you go to another tab or app and come back. That drives me batshit.

[-] BlackEco@lemmy.blackeco.com 3 points 3 months ago

It rather sounds like too little free RAM or too agressive RAM management (frequent on Chinese phones) forcing Firefox to kill the tab as soon as you leave it.

[-] Funkytom467@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

For my own use RAM management shouldn't be a thing, i want all my apps to either stay loaded or just crash completely.

[-] Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

Can confirm it's not a thing that's happening on my pixel and hasn't happened on any of my android phones so far.

[-] corroded@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Personally, I'd be happy with a web browser that doesn't make me jump through hoops to access a HTTPS site with certificate errors on a local IP address.

I don't care if 192.168.1.1 is using a self-signed certificate. I just want to configure my fucking router.

[-] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Dark theme and accessible color contrast enforced by default.

If the site owner makes stupid choices, my browser should ignore them.

Edit: And an automatic switch to light theme if I decode to print something, obviously. I wasn't raised in a barn.

[-] bradboimler@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

I'd like to be able to link a web app and its mobile app (lemmy.world and Jerboa for example). And to set a limit to the amount of time I spend on the pair. And have that sync across all my devices.

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 2 points 3 months ago

that's interesting, I'm not sure I understand the idea, do you want the browser to monitor the mobile app time usage ( Jerboa ), I'm i correct ?

[-] bradboimler@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I spend too much time on Lemmy. And I do use an app timer on my phone. I need the website to take away from that same timer as well. When I use the website on my phone and on my laptop. I'm happy to make this clearer.

[-] ganymede@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 months ago

background/defocused tabs are 'paused' by default.

paused meaning no runtime execution of scripts or anything else.

firstly, there's always some security and plenty of privacy mischief around focus.

secondly, it's almost always wasting cycles, so its just wasteful of resources and energy.

ofc with some option for you to eg. right-click on a tab and mark it as 'runtime in background' or something, for webmail or messengers etc which you do want runtime.

but it should essentially be whitelisted.

i've actually played with this in the firefox debugger and it essentially appears feasible so really hope this feature comes oneday - or i finally get some time to look into making an addon for it.

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 1 points 3 months ago

firstly, there's always some security and plenty of privacy mischief around focus.

Oh, how so?

i've actually played with this in the firefox debugger and it essentially appears feasible so really hope this feature comes oneday - or i finally get some time to look into making an addon for it

that's cool, yes a browser should stop using resources when you stop using it ( minimize it ), or using that particular tab by making it inactive, chromium based browsers behave like that if I'm not mistaken

[-] ganymede@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

how so?

check here for some basic examples. eg. it can be used to leak info from one context to another.

there's ofc legit uses for it too, which is why i argue for user intervention.

chromium based browsers behave like that if I’m not mistaken

i may be wrong? but my understanding is they'll currently limit resources, but execution still takes place? that's definitely useful, but my argument is for for an option where CPU resources be limited to 0 in background (without user intervention).

[-] ClusterBomb 3 points 3 months ago

A limit of data that can be used daily and we can track how much data we consume.

A little discrete "progress bar" at the bottom of the toolbar would be cool to see in the blink of an eye where I am on my daily limit.

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 1 points 3 months ago

That would also look cool, aesthetically speaking

[-] tiredofsametab@fedia.io 3 points 3 months ago

I want regex find. I'm fairly certain firefox used to have it, but no longer seems to.

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[-] TheRealCharlesEames@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I’m still looking for the browser with the best tab design and management (sync across devices being a requirement). Arc was pretty good in this regard, but the AI stuff was too obnoxious for me. Now I’m back to Safari.

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this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024
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