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Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

polypane.app

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Re: Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

#21

Post by no_wizard »

kilian wrote: post #12
herpdyderp wrote: post #8

I wish such a browser could accurately emulate a mobile device's browser, not just change screen size, but even Apple's iOS simulator fails at this.

There's a huge list of things Polypane emulates beyond the screen size. For devices: - user agent - reported platform - device pixel ratio - rendering mode (mobile rendering and desktop rendering respond differently depending on your viewport meta tag) - default input device - orientation APIs Beyond that it can also emulate reading direction, page language, browser locale, user-configured default font-size, differen…

Can it emulate email rendering?

Re: Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

#22

Post by herpdyderp »

kilian wrote: post #12
herpdyderp wrote: post #8

I wish such a browser could accurately emulate a mobile device's browser, not just change screen size, but even Apple's iOS simulator fails at this.

There's a huge list of things Polypane emulates beyond the screen size. For devices: - user agent - reported platform - device pixel ratio - rendering mode (mobile rendering and desktop rendering respond differently depending on your viewport meta tag) - default input device - orientation APIs Beyond that it can also emulate reading direction, page language, browser locale, user-configured default font-size, differen…

Oh I wasn't even thinking about those things, but that's really cool! I was thinking more about different CSS implementation behavior, though that's less of a mobile-specific issue and more of a "every browser is different" issue.

I don't have a list of differences off the top of my head, but I regularly find big enough differences that I don't rely on "responsive mode" or even (as mentioned) Apple's iOS simulator (because it does not accurately replicate the real on-iPhone browser rendering, which has bitten me before).

Re: Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

#23

Post by Ataraxic »

rckt wrote: post #13

A browser with a subscription. I have no words. People try to make money out of anything. And they succeed in this. The world is an insane place, really.

I don't feel that you have a measured take on what is basically browser tooling. It's a customized browser built around web development. Is that _so_ insane?

Imagine someone came out with a browser that synced and allowed you to view/test your app in the days of ie6/7/8/9 across all those browsers. Would charging money per month for that be so weird?

This isn't for anyone to use as their normal browser.

Re: Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

#25

Post by kilian »

herpdyderp wrote: post #22
kilian wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a huge list of things Polypane emulates beyond the screen size. For devices: - user agent - reported platform - device pixel ratio - rendering mode (mobile rendering and desktop rendering respond differently depending on your viewport meta tag) - default input device - orientation APIs Beyond that it can also emulate reading direction, page language, browser locale, user-configured default font-size, differen…

Oh I wasn't even thinking about those things, but that's really cool! I was thinking more about different CSS implementation behavior, though that's less of a mobile-specific issue and more of a "every browser is different" issue. I don't have a list of differences off the top of my head, but I regularly find big enough differences that I don't rely on "responsive mode" or even (as mentioned) Apple's iOS simulator (b…

Using Polypane doesn't mean you can skip out on testing other rendering engines. That's such an important point that I even mention it on the homepage!

So yeah, you should be testing (mobile) Safari and Firefox too. Chrome on android has some different APIs compared to Chrome on desktop, but rendering is identical.

When developing your site, you can use Polypane Portal[1] to tunnel your local site to real devices while keeping them fully in sync with what you do in Polypane, so you can scroll, interact, inspect and even edit across real devices from inside Polypane, saving you a ton of time.

[1] https://polypane.app/portal/

Re: Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

#27

Post by kilian »

no_wizard wrote: post #21
kilian wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a huge list of things Polypane emulates beyond the screen size. For devices: - user agent - reported platform - device pixel ratio - rendering mode (mobile rendering and desktop rendering respond differently depending on your viewport meta tag) - default input device - orientation APIs Beyond that it can also emulate reading direction, page language, browser locale, user-configured default font-size, differen…

Can it emulate email rendering?

no I'm not touching that can of worms with a ten foot pole. Someone braver than me can build that!

Re: Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

#28

Post by VyseofArcadia »

sam_goody wrote: post #14

I totally get why you do subscription. I totally get why I don't do subscription. Is there some sort of middle ground? Say, minimum purchase cost is the same price as six months, but it keeps on working afterwards sans updates. When the dev realizes that such a tool is only 80% effective unless it is totally updated, they can subscribe.

I liked the old "pay for updates" model. Nowadays, that seems less viable because security updates are so important[0]. I think the middle ground model would be something like security updates are free, feature updates cost money. Something like pay $x for version n+1 or a discounted rate for a subscription.

Sounds like a bit of a hassle on the logistics/release engineering side, though. That would need to be handled with some care and planning.

[0] Which I'll admit I don't 100% buy, but I'd love for a security expert to weigh in.

Re: Polypane, The browser for ambitious web developers

#30

Post by IsTom »

sam_goody wrote: post #14

I totally get why you do subscription. I totally get why I don't do subscription. Is there some sort of middle ground? Say, minimum purchase cost is the same price as six months, but it keeps on working afterwards sans updates. When the dev realizes that such a tool is only 80% effective unless it is totally updated, they can subscribe.

Maybe it could work similar to how Bitwig licenses work – you buy a license with a year of updates and it's yours – after the year expires you can download binaries for the latest version you're entitled to. Later you can buy access to the current version with an another year of updates (at a lower price) when you've decided that they've added something new you want.
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