Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#71

Post by leni536 » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:41 AM UTC

To not make me jump through 7 hoops until I can enter a self-signed https site and verify its fingerprint. Meanwhile they don't complain about http sites (which is reasonable), I don't know if they complain if you fill out a form with a password field on a http site though.

It would be nice if they showed a nice visual fingerprint too, although it's hard to prove their safety.

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#72

Post by leni536 » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:42 AM UTC

Make client site certificates easy to use so websites can start to reasonably offer it as an alternative to password auth.

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#73

Post by ronreiter » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:42 AM UTC

The web needs to split into two:

* Reader browser

* Application browser

The reader browser should show you the "web" in a kindle-like readable experience, just as it does today.

However, the application browser, although it does receive a URL, should not have any HTML page as a default view. Instead, a JavaScript should be first loaded, and from there, following the permissions it requests, it can open new windows, notifications, or any other desktop feature needed, which websites that just need to be read do not need.

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#74

Post by kenOfYugen » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:42 AM UTC

rhaps0dy wrote: post #59

kenOfYugen wrote: post #47

Modularity. I would like to see a browser that is designed as an engine, meaning that no UI/UX, or 'browsing' features are included. Much like a raw linux kernel in philosophy. I would like this ideal browser to have interoperability with various JS engines, HTML and CSS renderers, as well as the standardized specifications for the underlying network protocols. It should be 'safe' by being written in languages where…

Correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't this webkit?

Isn't WebKit the rendering engine itself?

The "ideal" core I was talking about should be able to use WebKit as a rendering engine.

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#75

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:43 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#76

Post by OnleMeMeMe » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:43 AM UTC

1stop wrote: post #69

OnleMeMeMe wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because it manipulates the system in some way beyond copying the app to app, it's often hard to deinstall without traces, hard to keep two versions side by side etc. So if the pain of the installer is larger than the added benefit of using Opera vs. Chrome, then yes.

Really? An app can still freely write to ~/Library and cause all the problems you just said. The installer is the wrong thing to object to...

The installer is a strong indication of this behavior.

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#77

Post by d4n3 » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:43 AM UTC

nitin_flanker wrote: post #42

devbug wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do this in Chrome, already.

No we can't. Please don't suggest to go incognito.

There' a user switcher button in the top right corner, you can have multiple browser sessions with seperate histories / cookies (e.g. work / personal)

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#78

Post by glenstein » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:43 AM UTC

Aoyagi wrote: post #56

Basically Opera 12 or pre-Chromium Opera in general.. - Obvious things like encryption support, tabs, full cookie options, (customizable) "smart" address bar, speed dial, history, favourites, optional synchronization, extension support, spell check... - heavily customizable UI, - plenty of other customization through settings or Opera's neatly done opera:config, - easily togglable (is that a word?) side panel with M2…

I would second the wish for a return of Opera Unite. I thought their vision for what Unite could be was incredible and I was really sad to see it go.

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#79

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:44 AM UTC

dagw wrote: post #43

moviuro wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate, please? (link, pointers?)

Opening new incognito tabs/windows will let you log on with different accounts in each window.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What would you want in an ideal web browser?

#80

Post by rasz_pl » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 9:44 AM UTC

Ideal web browser was here already, Opera between ~8 and 12 had everything from technical and user experience point of view. I could configure almost every option globally _and_ on top of that change behaviour per page. I could do whatever I wanted with UI. I was in the driver seat at all times.

That browser is dead now :(