My Problem: The Unbearable Weight of the Modern Browser
Like many of you, I spend hours a day monitoring multiple dashboards, analytics streams, or reference sites. The workflow was always the same:
Open Chrome, open 8-10 tabs.
Open a second Chrome window to log in to another account.
System resources spike. Everything lags. Constant switching between windows kills productivity.
Browser extensions (tab-snoozers, tab-groups) only patch the issue—they don't solve the core architectural problem of a single browser trying to manage dozens of demanding, concurrent processes.
The Side Project Solution: Introducing 8i Browser
Instead of trying to hack an existing browser, I built a dedicated, lean web client from the ground up: 8i Browser.
The core idea is simple: Replace 8 separate tabs or windows with 8 distinct, stable panels in a single view.
Key Architectural Differences:
True Multi-Panel View: It's not just a split-screen; it's designed to run up to 8 independent webpages simultaneously in one clean, unified window. This is critical for monitoring/trading/analytics workflows.
Performance First: By focusing purely on stability and display, we stripped away the non-essential bloat, resulting in a much lighter memory footprint than juggling multiple Chrome instances.
Dedicated Workflow Tool: It also includes an admin panel for locking and instantly hiding sensitive sessions—a feature built from my own need for workflow security.
This was a challenging side project, but it proved that for power users, a specialized tool is always better than a generalized one.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the technical approach and how you manage high-density workflow in the comments!
You can download the full, free version of 8i Browser and see the demo here: https://netkiosk.co.uk/8i-browser-4-and-8-panel-browser
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