Homebrew Wii Browser

[LightyKD]

Is this better than Internet Channel? I haven't used Internet Channel since it supported Flash, and that was a big feature of it IMO so I'm sad they removed it.

Both the Internet Channel and the Wii Browser have their ups and downs. The Internet channel has a better site rendering engine and UI but the version of flash is so old that it's useless on most sites. Even worse, the damn browser is now having trouble with newer versions of certain sites and is practically blacklisted on Google mobile sites.

Wii Browser has the lovely ability to change your User Agent. I was able to switch over to the Android UA and login to G+. There is also MP4 video support and I guess Flash video is being worked on. Sadly, with all of that. The browser does not have a decent rendering engine and most pages end up looking like cell phone sites from 1999. Nothing against Gave92, the project is great and he can only do what he can with the resources he has.

Between the two, Wii Browser has the most potential. Sad that we cant just modify Opera but It's great to have Wii Browser than nothing. It's only a matter of time before this browser becomes the preferred way to surf the Web from the TV.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Both the Internet Channel and the Wii Browser have their ups and downs. The Internet channel has a better site rendering engine and UI but the version of flash is so old that it's useless on most sites. Even worse, the damn browser is now having trouble with newer versions of certain sites and is practically blacklisted on Google mobile sites.

Wii Browser has the lovely ability to change your User Agent. I was able to switch over to the Android UA and login to G+. There is also MP4 video support and I guess Flash video is being worked on. Sadly, with all of that. The browser does not have a decent rendering engine and most pages end up looking like cell phone sites from 1999. Nothing against Gave92, the project is great and he can only do what he can with the resources he has.

Between the two, Wii Browser has the most potential. Sad that we cant just modify Opera but It's great to have Wii Browser than nothing. It's only a matter of time before this browser becomes the preferred way to surf the Web from the TV.

Improving the rendering surely can't be that hard though? Flash support by comparison is a lot harder. There aren't any open source Flash engines that actually work properly and there may never be a 3rd party flash engine that works well.

 

[nakata6790]

While flash support would be cool, there's always the official youtube channel or WiiMC+.

The priority is the rendering. Already the latest version is a GREAT improvement! Most of the issues of the previous versions are taken care of (music, rumble,update prompts etc). Truly amazing work by gave92. Thank you!

 

[LightyKD]

Improving the rendering surely can't be that hard though? Flash support by comparison is a lot harder. There aren't any open source Flash engines that actually work properly and there may

Improving the rendering surely can't be that hard though? Flash support by comparison is a lot harder. There aren't any open source Flash engines that actually work properly and there may never be a 3rd party flash engine that works well.

If the third party flash engine is better than the one in the Internet Channel, then it's always worth a shot. Also, because many sites are switching to HTML5, that should not be overlooked. Right now, page rendering is priority and then we could go back to the video formats. I feel that a month from now we are all going to go, "holy shit! this browser is awesome!" Also, major props to Gave92 for even taking the time to read our suggestions. Many developers dont even take the time to do such. Thank You, Gave92

 

[The Real Jdbye]

If the third party flash engine is better than the one in the Internet Channel, then it's always worth a shot. Also, because many sites are switching to HTML5, that should not be overlooked. Right now, page rendering is priority and then we could go back to the video formats. I feel that a month from now we are all going to go, "holy shit! this browser is awesome!" Also, major props to Gave92 for even taking the time to read our suggestions. Many developers dont even take the time to do such. Thank You, Gave92

Sadly, they don't seem to be as good as the Internet Channel one. They support the same flash version, but they don't support every feature of it, so some things that would work in the Internet Channel might not work.

 

[LightyKD]

Sadly, they don't seem to be as good as the Internet Channel one. They support the same flash version, but they don't support every feature of it, so some things that would work in the Internet Channel might not work.

Looks like HTML5 video will be this browser's saving grace :/ I swear, Flash, while needed, is such a pain in the ass.

 

[gave92]

Well, thanks for your suggestions
From now on I'll focus on page rendering although it will take some time
(also exams are getting in the way)
However I uploaded a small update to add usb keyboard support
(usual url: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=AD184A76A70E8923!21763&authkey=!APNYpVbYkott1_E)
Please try to type in from an usb keyboard: the app should just close and save
the inserted character in a "keyb.txt" file.

 

[LightyKD]

Gave, have you figured out which engine you would like to use or, will you be making your own rendering engine from the ground up? I read a few pages back that "web kit" is fairly open source. I just think it's the logical engine to use. It's already used in iOS and Android and would most likely give the Wii a pretty "modern" browsing experience. I'm sure there are also other open source engines. -just curious about your thought process.

 

[Vague Rant]

Please try to type in from an usb keyboard: the app should just close and save
the inserted character in a "keyb.txt" file.

Looks like it works, WiiBrowser successfully generated keyb.txt with contents:

keycode: 23

 

[gave92]

Gave, have you figured out which engine you would like to use or, will you be making your own rendering engine from the ground up?

Well I made few steps in the right direction:
making my own rendering engine is not feasable (my best effort looks like "cell phone sites from 1999" )
but nor it is porting well known engines as webkit or gecko (firefox): they're HUGE and heavily based on graphic libraries not available on wii (Qt, Gtk+, ..)
However I found a layout engine that seems promising: litehtml.
It's quite simple but claims to support most of the css2/css3 standards and lets me develop my own functions to render text, images, ecc..

Looks like it works, WiiBrowser successfully generated keyb.txt

Happy to hear that, I had to ask because it does not work on pc emulator
I'll soon release a version with usb keyb support that will be the last for some time while I'm focused on improving the rendering

 

[LightyKD]

Well I made few steps in the right direction:
making my own rendering engine is not feasable (my best effort looks like "cell phone sites from 1999" )
but nor it is porting well known engines as webkit or gecko (firefox): they're HUGE and heavily based on graphic libraries not available on wii (Qt, Gtk+, ..)
However I found a layout engine that seems promising: litehtml.
It's quite simple but claims to support most of the css2/css3 standards and lets me develop my own functions to render text, images, ecc..


Happy to hear that, I had to ask because it does not work on pc emulator
I'll soon release a version with usb keyb support that will be the last for some time while I'm focused on improving the rendering

LMAO! Never meant to offend you with the 1999 comment. You know, that was a good year. Viva Dreamcast! (...damn I feel old) I must say, thanks a ton for listening to us and even working on this. You're a really cool person for this. OK, it's waaaayyyyy past time for me to go to sleep. I'll be back in a few hours.

 

[drakorex]

It's been too quiet lately... (o.=.o)

 

[Vague Rant]

There's plenty of activity on the Google Code tracker. Apparently the Lite HTML engine has been implemented.

 

[Maxternal]

Can't wait for a recompiled version when the new changes are stable enough to release. Want to try them out.
(EDIT : guess I could always compile myself ... hmm)

 

[gave92]

Well, as promised I'm releasing a version with usb keyboard support:
(here as always: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=AD184A76A70E8923!21763&authkey=!APNYpVbYkott1_E)
If someone tries it and confirms that it works I'll upload it to the project site

(EDIT : guess I could always compile myself ... hmm)

The implementation of the new rendering engine is far to be completed
(ex. you cannot scroll the page) so I think it's not worth compiling the source
(unless you're interested in helping me with coding )

 

[MassiveRican]

Gonna try it out now.

 

[LightyKD]

Well, as promised I'm releasing a version with usb keyboard support:
(here as always: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=AD184A76A70E8923!21763&authkey=!APNYpVbYkott1_E)
If someone tries it and confirms that it works I'll upload it to the project site


The implementation of the new rendering engine is far to be completed
(ex. you cannot scroll the page) so I think it's not worth compiling the source
(unless you're interested in helping me with coding )

Will download once the new rendering engine is in. This week is a fairly busy one for me. Gave, if you really need me to do heavy testing of your current version, feel free to say so. I'm always willing to help

 

[gave92]

Ahem, a new wiibrowser version is coming soon
Major changes:

1. Usb keyboard support
2. Multipart form request (for sending emails)
3. Fixed overlapping text bug
4. Bookmarks now display thumbnails
5. New controls opera-like

I'd be happy if someone tried it to confirm that it works before I release it on the project page
(expecially the usb keyboard feature)
you can find it here: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=AD184A76A70E8923!21763&authkey=!APNYpVbYkott1_E

Note: the new rendering engine is not implemented yet and it will take some (much) more time

 

[Jayro]

Gave92, great work!

 

[Vague Rant]

Sorry, seems like nobody else has a keyboard around here.

Broadly, keyboard support is working. There are a few minor issues, however:

- The Shift and Caps Lock keys don't work at all. Also, any keys not shown on the virtual keyboard don't function (e.g. $~+). This extends to the different virtual keyboard "modes": for example , a question mark (?) can only be typed if the on-screen Caps/Shift is pressed first.

- All pressed keys stay "dimmed" on screen, like when the Wii Remote is pointed at them. Waving the pointer at the screen fixes this. This is entirely cosmetic, however, it doesn't actually stop anything working.

- Not exactly an "issue", but it would be nice if the Enter/Return key triggered the "OK" button on the virtual keyboard. Escape would probably be good for "Cancel" (my keyboard has no Escape key, so I can't test this personally if you do implement it).