
Ask HN: What will future browser be like? - chinmays
Be it web browser user or web developer, modern browsers definitely don&#x27;t have everything we hoped for. 
What will the future browsers look like, be it look wise or functionality wise?
Do we need to rethink the way we perceive browsers?
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lioeters
My hope is for more diversity and experimentation in rethinking the browser
paradigm.

An example that comes to mind is Beaker Browser
([https://beakerbrowser.com/](https://beakerbrowser.com/)), that simplifies
exploring and publishing on a peer-to-peer web.

Another example, that I just came across today, is Polarized
([https://getpolarized.io/](https://getpolarized.io/)). It seems to embed (or
integrate with) a web browser as a feature in a larger personal knowledge base
system.

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CM30
How far future are we talking here?

In the very, very distant future, I'm guessing we'll see browsers with VR
functionality accessed through a headset or something. Maybe with websites
actually resembling 3D worlds akin to the 'cyberspace' fiction of yore.

Something involving AR functionality seems plausible too. Not sure how it'd
work, but maybe the sites you're seeing would be like dioramas projected into
the real world, akin to Pokemon GO.

But that's probably a while off. Coding VR/AR setups as web apps is still
pretty complicated as of right now, and the possibilities for a browser that
really depends on them haven't been explored all that much yet.

For the short term... It'll probably be pretty boring by comparison. Typical
features from mobile apps and desktop programs will keep making their way into
web development (I'm guessing screen snapshots, ambient light mode, more stuff
involving the camera and gyro sensors in devices, etc) and eventually the web
will start seeing them integrated into the mainstream more and more.

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ian0
How about the ability for users to build and exchange "distros" of interface,
information filtering and content discovery. Like themes but besides changing
the layout of (a more interactive) browser it also changes how content is
viewed/discovered.

Eg. the "grandad" browser with large text, football results & commentary,
civic information and communications tools all lined up and easy to use. The
"Kids" flavours with varying levels of helicopter parenting. And a bazillion
no-JS software dev versions :P.

Perhaps even with modules. Eg. the "Im going on holidays" module displays a
curated list of tools (skyscanner/wikitravel etc) to assist with that. The "Im
learning to ride a motorbike" motorbike displays curated youtube content (or
pre-trained models that reduce spammy search results) in addition to
specialised apps to keep track of progress etc.

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maxharris
James Mickens at Microsoft Research presents Atlantis, which I definitely
think this still the most forward-looking browser architecture out there:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uflg7LDmzI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uflg7LDmzI)

Ideas from this effort are going to be trickling into browsers for years to
come. For example, if you squint a bit, you might see a conceptual resemblance
between the Syphon interpreter in Atlantis and WASM in shipping browsers.

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caspervonb
Even slower and even more vendor locked... to Google. As a developer we don't
a crap as long as we support "the latest versions of Chrome" but as a user,
you can't really use any browser but Chrome these days if you want the site to
actually load.

~~~
demygale
Vendor locking is real. Chrome and Google are a threat to the free and open
internet.

I use Firefox and have no problems with website compatibility. Be the change
you want to see.

------
gitgud
With Web Assembly being supported in all major browsers, it will be an
interesting future.

Huge performance gains in Web Assembly could introduce a new age (Web 4.0 or
5.0?). They could become more like an OS perhaps.

------
ianwalter
As a web developer, browsers dont have everything I hoped for, but Im pretty
satisfied as a web browser user. What is missing as a web browser user for
you?

