Hello HN!
So early this year I decided to build an iOS browser offering a large range of customization options, to accommodate anyone’s usage and visual preferences. Been using it as my default browser for 6 months and not looking back.
On first launch it looks and behaves a bit like Safari, but to give you an idea, here are the various ways I customized it on my phone.
- More screen real estate for the webpage, less for the toolbar.
- A compact toolbar containing only the buttons for actions I use the most: new tab, close tab, open tab list. Since I use them hundred times a day, I need them available with button taps instead of swipe gestures.
- A toolbar button layout adapted to my left-handedness.
- A toolbar that disappears on scroll to allow full-screen reading.
- The toolbar and address bar at the bottom, as they should be.
- A popup menu showing the full URL and the buttons I use less frequently: back/forward (already available as screen edge gestures), share, reload, settings, etc.
- Showing the page title in the toolbar.
- Read time estimation for each tab.
- Opening the keyboard automatically when I open a new tab.
- Sorting tabs by read time, so that I can decide what to read based on how much time and focus I have.
- Grouping tabs by domain.
- A flat, condensed tab list, without snapshots.
- A full-black toolbar in dark mode to read at night.
It’s still early days but things like content blockers, reader mode, iPad support, and more should arrive soon enough.
And of course, no analytics/monitoring/telemetry, no account creation, no backend. It’s not open source, but you can also inspect the app’s web views with Safari developer tools to see what’s going on under the hood.
Would love to hear if the level of personalization my app provides resonates with like-minded people.
Have a great day!
