Homebrew Suggestion We need a fully featured web browser for the switch

NoNAND

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Hi there
First don't go yelling at me and telling me to use your web browser on your phone etc etc
Yes it is true that we already got a way to browse the Internet on the switch by accessing the web applet through dns or goldleaf but even so the internal switch browser is has alot of limitations and lacks many features your standard web browser has
i'ts kinda annoying to have to type in your username and password again and again each time upon launching the applet.
as we all know in regards to that the switch's browser doesn't keep track of your cookies or record your browsing history simply wiping off all of them after closing the app.
needless to say the switch is powerful enough to handle a fully fledged web browser i think heck even the wii has one
i think anyone skilled in programming should port over an open source web browser onto the switch.
one that supports html 5 javascript flash video playback tab switching file downloading and of the other tech-savvy stuff i'm not so familiar with :P
for instance porting the arm64 version of firefox (or whatever other open source browser) wouldn't be that hard since both android and the switch run on arm chipsets right
having a browser on the switch could make it easier for us to download files directly to our switch without needing to remove sd cards plug them into our pcs and going through all that hassle
i'm hoping someone would port a browser or write one from scratch
but for now i'll stick to the web applet
 

SeongGino

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Would it be that hard?

The point is: yes.
Most would say, impossible.
Many others would say, worthless.

The actual message I was putting across is: if you're willing to complain about this so passionately, then feel free to port over the very thing you're complaining about not having so much. That's how a greater majority of FOSS projects get their bearings. But you'll quickly find that it's not worth the effort with the lack of support for easily porting over other web engines -- let alone, other web frontends.

But hey, you're more than free to post your breakthrough project if you want!
 
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This is possible but i guess nobody want this work on himself btw how should you type something in or keyboard functions and dont say then connect a keyboard because you could directly use a PC when you have a keyboard next to u
 

chaoskagami

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Unless you'd like to nicely ask adobe or contribute to gnash/lightspark this is a pipe dream. We don't even have flash anymore on android.

for instance porting the arm64 version of firefox (or whatever other open source browser) wouldn't be that hard since both android and the switch run on arm chipsets right

Firefox is architecture-independent. You probably meant to say the android frontend. Unfortunately the switch doesn't run anything remotely similar to android.

Would it be that hard?

Yes. More to the point, expect to port the entirety of GTK3 to a new backend. To make things easier, port Wayland to the switch (lol)

also, why not Chromium (ungoogled of course)?

You have good taste in using ungoogled, but I assume the answer comes down to some people preferring firefox due to extensibility and better tab handling. More specifically, you'll still run into frontend problems with a Chromium port (and ungoogled will be mandatory due to blobs present in the tree)

Now, for a more serious answer. A port of lynx, links, or netsurf would be viable. links has been ported to the PSP before, so that can certainly be done. A CEF-based or WebKit-based browser is possible, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea and would probably require a whole team of developers.
 
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Techjunky90

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Unless you'd like to nicely ask adobe or contribute to gnash/lightspark this is a pipe dream. We don't even have flash anymore on android.



Firefox is architecture-independent. You probably meant to say the android frontend. Unfortunately the switch doesn't run anything remotely similar to android.



Yes. More to the point, expect to port the entirety of GTK3 to a new backend. To make things easier, port Wayland to the switch (lol)



You have good taste in using ungoogled, but I assume the answer comes down to some people preferring firefox due to extensibility and better tab handling. More specifically, you'll still run into frontend problems with a Chromium port (and ungoogled will be mandatory due to blobs present in the tree)

Now, for a more serious answer. A port of lynx, links, or netsurf would be viable. links has been ported to the PSP before, so that can certainly be done. A CEF-based or WebKit-based browser is possible, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea and would probably require a whole team of developers.
I bet most people do not prefer Firefox. Firefox has not been a popular browser in over a decade. Its actually pretty horrible.
 

Crimson Cuttlefish

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Okay, okay, hear me out:
DS_Browser_NA.jpg
 

blahblah

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You need nothing. You will get nothing, as effectively the entire world has a smartphone, and you personally likely have a tablet as well. Use a device better equipped for browsing. The Switch's plastic screen makes touchscreen tasks (like browsing) feel like crap anyway. No homebrew is going to solve that, and you can bet that the massive undertaking that would be porting a modern browser to Horizon will not occur.

You can run Linux, if you want.
 
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chaoskagami

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I bet most people do not prefer Firefox.

They don't, and I never said they did. Chrome occupies ~68% of browser market share, and less people use Firefox than Internet Explorer.

Programmers and power users tend to prefer Firefox but this is a narrow category.

Its actually pretty horrible.

It being unfit for your usage scenario doesn't make it horrible. It just makes it not preferrable or not your thing.

Actually, for that matter, the web itself is horrible. When did it transform from a document retrieval protocol to some kind of generic application VM?
 
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