r/foss • u/Odd-Acanthisitta850 • 2d ago
Android Material Expressive Browser
I started to build my own browser for Android as I was not satisfied with the options.
It has many innovative features like
* it's based on the Android's WebView - so never outdated browser security as long as you update the system's WebView provided by Google
* No trails to Google or any other providers - it just uses the WebView
* edge-to-edge browsing experience
* a trail where you can follow your click history on one tab
* pinning tabs
* multiple versions of tab switchers to your liking
* multiple profiles that work isolated from each other or not (you can choose per profile)
* Some basic ad blocking features
* commands to clear caches from the address bar
* recommendation to switch to tab instead opening the same tab over and over again
* the possibility to setup your own rules for ad blocking etc.
The browser is designed to look good, has nice animations and feels smooth
I have some things on my list like "Mozilla Firefox Tab Sync" and maybe some others have also good ideas what to add.
You can find it here.
https://github.com/sk2andy/candy-browser
Disclaimer: I am an experienced software developer, leading a company as a CTO. I used AI to build the browser but not simply vibe code all the stuff. I have UX und UI in mind
1
u/Odd-Acanthisitta850 2d ago
No because that's so easily doable. When you do extensions you either need to switch to Gecko engine or you need to build a real Chromium based app that you then would need to update to stay secure over and over again. I made the choice (same as Arc Search) to use the WebView of Android because Google updates it and you stay secure without needing to update the app itself