I was searching around for extensions to make the Chrome interface a little minimalist when I came across this browser. I've only been using it for about an hour, and honestly, I think I'm keeping it as my primary browser. I love it.
Have any of you guys used it before?
Top comments (22)
Something still bothers me about a browser written in Electron. Like, if minimalism is the goal, why not also be minimal about resource hogging?
I think Mozilla is on the right path with their emphasis on performance, and frankly their innovation in fostering Rust and pushing WebAssembly.
I appreciate things like Min as a proof of concept, and it's maybe unrealistic for indie projects like this to not go this direction.
Anyway, just some grumblings. I still think it's cool. It's also open source. Anyone could take what they've done and port it to more native if they felt like it. 🙂
Interesting point. What's wrong with software written in Electron? Or is it that it just might have been better in terms of performance if it were native?
It just uses a lot of memory and system resources. Each instance of Electron is "bloated" by the fact that it's JavaScript running in a browser instance. Memory management is really an afterthought in this regard. The app itself can still be fast and responsive, but it's always going to hog more than things built with better resource management.
Electron is a practical approach, but it's still less than ideal IMO. I'd consider building in Electron myself, but there's something about core apps like browsers that feel like they should be built more from the ground up with better resource management.
(I could probably say the same thing about code editors, and yet I use VS Code)
Haha yeah, code editors were the first thing that came in mind when I read your first comment. I used to use Atom (which first introduced me to Electron) before I switched to VS Code.
You make a good point though. Good thing is that its open source so I'm sure someone who uses it and really likes it might do something about it if they have the skills to do so (I'm not there yet 😅)
A browser, made in a browser. Welcome to 2018.
Yo dawg, I heard you like browsers.
😂😂
If you enjoy minimalism in your web browser, why not take a look at:
I definitely enjoy checking my Gmail in
w3m. It's actually quite beautiful.Thanks for the suggestions!
I've used w3m on my Manjaro, I'll definitely check out surf.
A browser without password manager, sync between devices and history sharing... Nowdays it's too hard to keep track of your data, searches and information. I switched between firefox, chrome, opera. Back to chrome because it's the easiest browser regarding what I've presented before.
I haven't used that specific one but I did use QupZilla for a while. They're great to a point - for 90% of web browsing they're completely adequate and I love the minimal overhead but the big powerhouses to provide things like better devtools and better standards compliance, and in some cases better performance. I use both, depending on what I'm doing.
Yeah, it really depends on what you're doing. I've been needing devtools less and less since I paused my working with Javascript and started learning python so I'm just using the browser for research now. I've even been using links on my linux machine 😅
Hadn't heard of QupZilla. Looks really cool too.
Instant no from me dawg.
Coming back to this in 2021... If you haven't tried the features added just this year, you need to! The 1Password integration via CLI is absolutely ingenious... I wish I could replace it everywhere lol.
minbrowser.org
It's interesting how the point behind the browser (and presumably this post) is about minimalism as a design pattern for the user interface, but we as programmers instantly think about what's going on behind the scenes.
Looks innovative, mainly considering that mainstream browsers use basically the same old fashioned UI style (tabs, URL Bar, bookmarks). I guess would be good to look at something different on interface department. I'll try it.
"minimalist"
"Min is written entirely with CSS and JavaScript using Electron. "
heLLo I'M a mIniMalIsT brOWsEr