Gaming [Opinion] The Switch isn’t powerful enough for a web browser

[Mat37]

Even the Wii U can do that so why not the Switch

 

[Clydefrosch]

my guess is the eshop is running in a browser that they themselves cobbled together. it's likely not very optimized and loading files unnecessarily high in resolution causing stutter and lagging

 

[huma_dawii]

The eShop DOES open while playing a game.. what are you talking about xD

 

[nmkd]

Hahaha we had web browsers on iPhones in 2007.

Are you implying 200 GFLOPS are not enough to render a fcking website?

 

[mattytrog]

[Opinion] The Switch isn’t powerful enough for a web browser

 

[bi388]

My laptop, which runs dark souls 1 at 15 fps, handles a web browser just find. My old Dell on windows xp ran browsers just fine.

 

[Essasetic]

I think most likely later down the line. Some homebrew developers will most likely port chromium/firefox to the switch and optimise it.

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Also wat? I'm pretty sure a Gateway from 1998 can load basic websites. A low spec Windows XP PC can load the majority if not all modern websites. Don't see a problem with the switch not being able to handle it.

 

[Ep8Script]

Lol. The SwitchBru DNS runs the web browser fine with any games open. I'm not sure you thought this through or actually tried it, considering there is a fully functional browser built in - even if there's no "easy" way to access it or tabs. It runs fine.

 

[whateverg1012]

It makes me sad OP genuinely believes this and this isn't a troll post.

 

[vgmoose]

This thread is weird but I'm replying anyway >_>

If you set your Switch's DNS server to 45.55.142.122 you can browse the Internet on the Switch-- it works while other games are playing, and it's one of smoothest browser experience on a Nintendo console so far, with the exception of not having tabs.

You can easily hit home to pause a game, go google something quickly, then return to the game. Nintendo had to ship it with a browser in order to allow it to authenticate to hotel/airplane wifi, which is functionality that they advertised prior to its launch.

 

[Ep8Script]

it's one of smoothest browser experience on a Nintendo console so far, with the exception of not having tabs.

Agreed, probably the best console browser at all tbh, especially with the touch support and having it constantly up to date.

 

[CSpiritsong]

I'm sure that programmers and hackers can probably tell you the nit-grit details of why it can, or it can't.

To me, the way I look at it is that Nintendo intentionally made the OS to run one thing at a time, and not multiple things at a time. I'm assuming that e-shop in itself is an app, and the game itself is an app. The OS is designed to either "run 1 at a time suspend the other", or "run this at a priority, lower priority to other".


Its not like they can't make the changes, but I don't see Nintendo wanting to. What's good for "us", does not necessarily mean its good for "them". Different perspectives. You see a 9. I see a 6.

 

[SimonMKWii]

Your opinion can easily be trumped by fact.
Well at least you're honest...

 

[Moon164]

Even Nintendo DS and Sega Dreamcast have a Browser lol

Why would anyone think the Switch is not powerful enough to have one?

 

[oldmumak]

I just wish the switch was powerful enough to run a word processor.

 

[Sonikkua]

It's plenty powerful enough for a browser, the question is whether Nintendo is good enough to write/port one.

We were running perfectly great browsers on hardware worse than Switch. It just seems all the console manufacturers are to lazy to do it properly.

 

[TheZander]

I think you're right and bring up a fair point. The switch can barely play games or even load the settings menu. Hell the thing can't even display on a television without an additional piece of hardware. Web browser? Forget about it you need a top of the line machine for something like web browsing

 

[YeetedOn]

I appreciate your opinion but it really is a bad one.

 

[MK73DS]

If I need that much power to browse the internet, my phone's battery will die each time I'll reply to GBATe... *Phone shuts down *

 

[The Real Jdbye]

TL;DR: The Switch can’t handle the eShop while suspended, how would a browser work out?

The Nintendo Switch is an amazing piece of tech, no doubt about it. It is incredible the kind of graphics it can display on the go. My friends were amazed at the quality when I had brought my Switch once and was playing Rocket League. A big complaint of many users is the absence of a real Switch Internet browser. Some people say Nintendo wanted to avoid any possibility of hacking, some say the Switch doesn’t need a browser, and some were sying Nintendo was just being Nintendo. However, there is one more possibility, which I think is most likely: The Switch isn’t powerful enough to handle one. Let me be clear here, I am making this conclusion because of how the Switch handles the eShop. When nothing is happening (no software is suspended, no game is downloading) it is fine. However, if you want to go to the eShop while playing a game, then you’re hit by extremely slow loading times, you have to wait 10-20 seconds for a page to load at all. Now some might say this is only while using online features, but it’s not. While playing a local graphically intense game, the eShop definitely takes a hit. While playing an online game, the eShop takes an even greater hit. When playing an online graphically intense game, well I wish you the best for your plastic Switch shell. And if it is doing this for a “website” for use with nothing other than the Switch, well imagine it being used on a website which isn’t made specifically for Switch. The real reason Nintendo didn’t put a browser on the Switch, was because they couldn’t.

Even weaker Android devices can run a browser just fine with stuff running in the background. If you run out of RAM it will start closing background apps though, I don't know how much RAM on the Switch is reserved for the system and applets.
I don't know what the problem with eShop is, but maybe it's swapping out memory in use by the game in order to make room. Which, if it is just a memory limitation then you could just close out of the game before you go to browse the web, unless you just want to check a walkthrough quickly in which case you could deal with a few seconds wait time in order to get back to the game quickly. If you were using the web browser for actually browsing GBAtemp or Reddit or Facebook or whatever then there wouldn't be much point in keeping a game open in the background anyway.