
Show HN: Dazzle – Mobile web browser designed from first principles - spolu
https://dazzle.now.sh
======
cupcakestand
Tried Dazzle few times this afternoon and this browser is just brilliant.

Why: Currently, user interaction with tabs on mobile browsers is totally
broken and super cumbersome. Dazzle is merging browsing history with tabs
which is smart and leads to a super smooth user experience. Actually, there
are no tabs anymore, just the browser history which pops ups every time you
touch the address bar at the bottom. Simple but nice solution.

Moreover, it offers a bigger viewport than Safari does (no iOS navigation bar
at the bottom und a black slick and super slim address bar).

Finally, I like the slightly rounded corners of the viewport. All small and
subtle stuff but shows that the creator cares about a polished appearance.

But I am not sure about the landing page and this 'first principle' thing.
People don't get it and it sounds super awkward. Really remake the landing
page, make it slicker, put some screenshots there, remove the first principle
blabla, find a punchy headline and remake all the copy.

You should definitely keep on working on this and not let yourself getting
discouraged. The product and the minimalistic approach you chose is excellent,
the Marekting/branding not so.

~~~
spolu
Thanks! That's exactly what excites us as well and motivated us to work on
this.

What message would you use on the landing page?

~~~
cupcakestand
> What message would you use on the landing page?

Good question and not sure myself.

You could make it straight and simple and put the focus on the missing tabs.
Then, your header would be something like 'The No-tabs Browser'. This might be
again too simple and you could get a bit more abstract and stress your
minimalstic approach ('The Less-is-More Browser'). However, I'd tend to be to
the point and build a story around the main feauture.

Or you find a new hook in the communication, e.g. privacy. Then, your UI is
kind of nice side-benefit and the DNA.

How many are you and where are you from?

------
deanclatworthy
As a product page visitor using mobile your page is useless to me. No
screenshots, no intro video. I'm not going to make a commitment to using
something without either of those two.

~~~
zghst
For me it's something that actually stood out. Just the features.

------
spolu
Hi HN!

I built dazzle with Antoine out of the frustration of having to use tabs on
mobile. We wanted to explore a shared history/tabs mechanism that we expected
to be particularly adapted to mobile usage.

After a few months of dog fooding we felt like it was time to share it
publicly even if it's still a bit rough on the edges (and very experimental
really).

Hope you have fun trying it, feedback welcome and encouraged.

~~~
lefstathiou
Nice work on this. I actually like the simplicity of it. Feels light weight
and fast.

We live in an era of distrust so without seeing your terms / privacy policy I
was not comfortable logging into a site with a password so may be worth adding
a blurb about that. On the bottom where you display the URL, I value seeing
HTTPS where applicable as well. I don't want to feel like I am losing security
by using this. Last thought, it would be nice to customize the homepage away
from google. This one is just vanity though. Good work and good luck.

~~~
spolu
Hi! That's fair. Pending terms of services; you have access to the source code
here: [https://github.com/spolu/dazzle](https://github.com/spolu/dazzle)

Of course; this is all very experimental for now.

PS: that's the whole point of a Show HN :-)

~~~
spolu
Also there is no server. We don't store any data outside the app / your phone.

------
lobster_johnson
This looks very promising. A few things:

I couldn't find a gesture to bring up sharing/action extensions [1]. This is
super important. For example, I use 1Password for logins all the time.

Also, the rounded corners are distracting and look like an anachronism. I want
to view a web page the way it was intended, i.e. not with rounded corners. It
should be possible to turn it off.

The "X" in the URL field is confusing. I took it mean that it would clear the
field, which is how a lot of iOS input fields work. But it actually closes the
pane. I recommend moving it somewhere else and putting back the classic "X"
that _does_ clear the field.

No way to reload a page without going into the URL field and hitting "Go"
again is a bit annoying.

The "history" is nice as a shorthand, but it's not good enough to be the real
web browsing history. I like to keep all my history so I can search it. (No
history search either?)

I get the idea of using browser history as a substitute for tabs. However, if
it's going to work, it has to _work_ like tabs. Right now, if I go back to a
previously visited page, it will not preserve any of its state (such as scroll
position or form contents).

[1] [https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-
guidelines/e...](https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-
guidelines/extensions/sharing-and-actions/)

------
michaelmior
What are the "first principles" you based the design on?

~~~
spolu
Mostly a shared tab/history system that feel much more adapted to mobile. To a
certain degree, access to everything without changing hand or an additional
hand.

Under the hood there's only one WKWebview and that makes it feel surprinsingly
I have to admit slightly faster.

~~~
echan00
So is the main value prop a browser that can be controlled with one hand?

I don't want to sound like a hater, but don't call it "designed from first
principles" if it really isn't that.

~~~
spolu
What about the shared tab/history concept?

------
snissn
What security promises can you make? How do I know that you're not hijacking
my cookies and passwords? I atleast trust apple and Google with my data before
even opening their browsers

~~~
spolu
Completely understandable. There is no server, we don't store any data outside
the app and the source code is available here
[https://github.com/spolu/dazzle](https://github.com/spolu/dazzle)

But of course this is Show HN material so still totally experimental.

~~~
hRrrm1
From the code it seems like pages can navigate to `file://` URLs?

I don't have a bin handy or I would check myself.

------
w33ble
Nice job! Of all the third party browsers I've tried on iOS, this is the only
one that feels as nice as mobile Safari, and the only one I'd consider using
full time.

Do you have any plans to implement bookmarks, or any way to "pin" items in the
history? I use the mobile Safari favorites all the time for quick access to 4
or 5 sites. Seems like the one thing missing from Dazzle.

~~~
llorca
Thank you! Spot on, we'd like to add a pinning functionality in the future, to
keep track of to-dos for instance. We haven't gotten to it just yet.

------
improbable22
Just tried this a bit, I like the idea of a simple browser, have tried lots.

Like having the address at the bottom, hate that Safari has this and tabs at
opposite ends of tge phone. Corners are cute. Agree with Lobster that "X" is
confusing, but useful... seems like the right button with the wrong symbol.

It would also be nice if the last few pages could be frozen, so as not to lose
scroll position and half typed comments... but perhaps hard? One better than
safari would be to show which tabs are still loaded.

How do I clear cookies? My vote would be for this to happen in the background,
perhaps 24hrs after I looked at the page which put them there.

Is it possible for it to use my iOS content blockers?

------
drizze
Great app, totally going to start using it on a day to day basis. It looks
like deep links appear to be broken for me:

Link [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/public-wifi-
nyc/id1232095734...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/public-wifi-
nyc/id1232095734?mt=8)

Renders this screen [http://imgur.com/a/E29QX](http://imgur.com/a/E29QX)

Also is there better place I can submit this kind of feedback?

EDIT:

Found github repo and made an issue:
[https://github.com/spolu/dazzle/issues](https://github.com/spolu/dazzle/issues)

------
afro88
Wow, this is done in React Native:
[https://github.com/spolu/dazzle](https://github.com/spolu/dazzle)

~~~
qmarchi
How hard would it be to compile a version for Android?

~~~
spolu
It's a bit optimized for WKWebView for now... but not impossible to support
android with a bit of work

------
fiatjaf
It isn't tab management that is keeping the web from shining on mobile
devices, it is basically the load time of webpages + Javascript, I think. Also
the inability for the user to decide to store a website, so it loads faster
the next time, including, for example, those GIF sites that take so much to
load every time someone sends you a GIF that they may prefer to download the
GIF and send it directly on the IM app.

------
symlinkk
What is the point of having a third party browser on iOS when you can't change
the default from Safari?

------
fulafel
What does first principle mean here? Is it a from-scratch engine or is it a
redesign of the chrome, or both?

------
untilHellbanned
just installed it, i'm loving it. Most important to me is that it's FAST.
Feels much faster than iOS Safari and iOS Chrome.

I tried to like Brendan Eich's Brave browser for about 2 weeks, but I didn't
detect any clear advantages, so I stopped.

Keep up the good work!

------
kup0
If it had options to block ads, I would be very interested.

------
rglover
This is hot. Nice work.

