GNOME Web facts for kids
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Newest logo of GNOME Web since version 40
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GNOME Web 46.0 displaying Wikipedia front page
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| Original author(s) | Marco Pesenti Gritti |
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| Developer(s) | The GNOME Project (mostly by Michael Catanzaro and Xan Lopez, both from Igalia) |
| Initial release | 24 December 2002 |
| Stable release(s) | |
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45.1
 / 6 November 2023 |
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| Preview release(s) | |
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45.beta
/ 28 July 2023 |
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| Written in | C (GTK) |
| Operating system | Unix-like, Haiku |
| Platform | GNOME |
| Size | 2.6 MB (compiled package for AMD64, without dependencies) |
| Available in | many languages with different translation percentage of User Interface and documents |
| Type | Web browser |
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later |
GNOME Web is a web browser that helps you explore the internet. It was called Epiphany until 2012, and some people still use that name for it. This browser is free and open-source, which means its code is available for anyone to see and improve.
GNOME Web is built by the GNOME project for computers that use Unix-like systems. It's the main web browser for the GNOME desktop environment and is part of its main applications. Even though it's a GNOME app, it doesn't need other GNOME parts to work.
You'll find GNOME Web as the default browser on operating systems like elementary OS, Bodhi Linux (version 5), and PureOS GNOME Edition.
The Story of GNOME Web
How the Browser Got Its Name
GNOME Web used to be called "Epiphany." In 2012, when GNOME 3.4 came out, the browser was renamed. But the name "Epiphany" is still used behind the scenes for its code and development. For example, in some computer systems like Debian and Fedora, the browser's package is still called epiphany.
How GNOME Web Was Built
Starting with Galeon
The idea for Epiphany came from Marco Pesenti Gritti in 2002. He started it as a "fork" of another browser called Galeon. A "fork" means he took Galeon's code and started a new project from it.
Marco and the other Galeon developers disagreed about new features. Marco wanted Galeon to be simpler and easier to manage. The other developers wanted to add more and more features.
At the same time, the GNOME project was creating rules for how apps should look and feel. These rules suggested making apps simpler. Galeon was made for "power users" who liked lots of options. So, Marco decided to create a new browser based on Galeon, but with fewer complicated features. He wanted Epiphany to follow GNOME's simple design rules.
Marco explained his reasons:
While Mozilla has an excellent rendering engine, its default XUL-based interface is considered to be overcrowded and bloated. Furthermore, on slower processors even trivial tasks such as pulling down a menu is less than responsive.
Epiphany aims to utilize the simplest interface possible for a browser. Keep in mind that simple does not necessarily mean less powerful. We believe the commonly used browsers of today are too big, buggy, and bloated. Epiphany addresses simplicity with a small browser designed for the web—not mail, newsgroups, file management, instant messaging or coffee making. The Unix philosophy is to design small tools that do one thing, and do it well.
[..]
Epiphany's main goal is to be integrated with the gnome desktop. We don't aim to make Epiphany usable outside Gnome. If someone will like to use it anyway, it's just a plus. For example: Making people happy that don't have control center installed is not a good reason to have mime configuration in Epiphany itself.—Marco Pesenti Gritti
After Marco left, Galeon continued for a while. But its developers struggled to keep up with changes. Eventually, Galeon development stopped. Its developers then focused on making extensions to bring Galeon's features to Epiphany.
Marco Pesenti Gritti stopped working on Epiphany. A team from GNOME, led by Xan Lopez, Christian Persch, and Jean-François Rameau, took over the project. Marco passed away in 2015.
Using the Gecko Engine
The very first version of Epiphany came out on December 24, 2002.
Epiphany first used the Gecko layout engine from the Mozilla project. A layout engine is the part of a browser that draws web pages on your screen. Epiphany used Gecko but added its own GNOME-style look.
Early Epiphany development focused on making the browser easier to use. Version 1.8, for example, added a new text box that saved space and worked better with GNOME.
Version 2.14 was important because it started using GNOME's version numbers. It also worked with NetworkManager for internet connections and could be installed on its own. Before this, Epiphany needed another Mozilla browser already installed to work.
Switching to WebKit
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Working with the Gecko engine became difficult. The release schedules of Epiphany and Mozilla didn't match up. Also, Mozilla started treating Gecko more like a part of Firefox, not something other apps could easily use.
So, in July 2007, the Epiphany team started adding support for WebKit. WebKit is another layout engine, used by browsers like Safari. By April 2008, they decided to use only WebKit and remove Gecko support.
The change to WebKit took time because the team was small. In September 2009, the switch to WebKit was finished as part of GNOME 2.28.
What GNOME Web Can Do
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GNOME Web is part of the main GNOME Core Applications. This means it works very well with other GNOME features. For example, it uses GNOME Keyring to keep your passwords safe. It also follows the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines, which are rules for how GNOME apps should look and behave.
The browser is designed to be small (about 2.6MB) and starts up very quickly. It uses shared parts of the GNOME system to do this.
Here are some other cool things GNOME Web can do:
- Reader Mode: This feature removes extra clutter from web pages, so you can focus on reading the text.
- Smart Bookmarks: These are special bookmarks that can do more than just save a page.
- Web Application Mode: You can turn websites into apps that run like regular programs on your computer.
- Built-in Ad Blocking: It can stop annoying ads from showing up on websites.
- Insert Emoji: You can easily add Emoji and other symbols into text boxes.
- Google Safe Browsing: This helps protect you from dangerous websites.
- MHTML Support: It can read and save web pages as a single file.
- Low Resource Use: It uses less of your computer's memory and power compared to some other big browsers.
Web Standards It Supports
The WebKit engine inside GNOME Web supports many web standards. These include HTML 4, XHTML, CSS (versions 1 and 2), and most of HTML 5 and CSS 3. It also has a Web Inspector, which is a tool for web developers to check how websites are built.
GNOME Web does not support Encrypted Media Extensions (EME). EME is used for playing protected content like movies from streaming services. The developers choose not to support it because it involves digital rights management (DRM), which can limit what users can do with content. However, it does support Media Source Extensions (MSE), which is needed for sites like YouTube.
Apple, a big supporter of WebKit, has blocked some web features. They did this because these features could be used to "fingerprint" users, which means tracking them online. This can make WebKit's score look lower on some web tests, but it's done to protect your privacy.
GNOME Web used to support older plug-ins like Java and Adobe Flash. But support for these was removed in GNOME 3.34. Flash, for example, had many security problems and was eventually stopped by Adobe itself. Most modern browsers have removed support for these old plug-ins.
Working with GNOME
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GNOME Web works closely with the GNOME desktop. It uses GNOME's themes, network settings, and printing options. Your settings are saved in GNOME's central settings app.
The browser has simple settings built-in. For more advanced changes, you can use tools like dconf or dconf-editor.
GNOME Web follows the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines. For example, in GNOME Web 3.4, the main menu moved to the top of the screen, fitting with GNOME's overall design.
Since GNOME 3.32, GNOME Web can change its layout to fit different screen sizes. This means it looks good on desktops, tablets, and even phones.
Blocking Ads
Since GNOME 3.18, GNOME Web has been set up to block ads and pop-ups automatically. In GNOME 3.34, the ad blocker was updated. It now uses WebKit's "Content Blockers" system.
One of the developers, Adrián Pérez de Castro, found that the new ad blocker saved about 80 MB of computer memory for each browser tab. This makes the browser run more smoothly.
Google Safe Browsing and Security
Since GNOME 3.28, GNOME Web includes Google Safe Browsing. This feature helps warn you if you're about to visit a website that might be dangerous or try to trick you.
In GNOME 3.34, GNOME Web started using a "Bubblewrap Sandbox" for each tab. This is a security feature that helps stop bad websites from taking over your browser. It prevents them from spying on other tabs or running harmful code on your computer. This makes it much harder for attackers to cause problems.
One of the developers, Michael Catanzaro, was worried about security problems in software that handles images. The sandbox helps make these problems less dangerous.
In GNOME 3.36, GNOME Web added its own way to view PDF documents using PDF.js. Before this, it would open a separate program like Evince to show PDFs. Having its own PDF viewer makes the browser more secure because it keeps everything inside the browser's safe sandbox.
Managing Bookmarks
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Most browsers organize bookmarks in folders. But GNOME Web uses categories. This means one bookmark (like this page) can be in many categories (like "Web Browsers" and "Computer Software"). There's also a special category for bookmarks you haven't sorted yet. You can find bookmarks and your browsing history by typing in the address bar.
Smart Bookmarks
GNOME Web also has "smart bookmarks" (a feature first seen in Galeon). These are special bookmarks that can take a piece of information you type in the address bar and use it. For example, you could set up a smart bookmark to quickly search a specific website.
Web Application Mode
Since GNOME 3.2 (September 2011), GNOME Web lets you create shortcuts for web applications. When you click one of these shortcuts, the website opens like a regular app on your computer. It's limited to that one website, and any links that go to other websites will open in your regular browser.
This feature helps make web apps feel more like desktop apps. You can find and delete these web apps from a special page in the browser called about:applications.
Firefox Sync
Since GNOME 3.26, GNOME Web can connect with Firefox Sync. This lets you share your bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, and open tabs between GNOME Web and any Firefox browser where you're signed into Firefox Sync.
Extensions
GNOME Web used to have extensions, which are small programs that add features to the browser. But these were removed because they caused problems with stability and were hard to maintain.
Some popular features, like ad blocking, were then built directly into the browser.
The project is interested in adding support for WebExtensions, which are used by Chrome and Firefox. This would happen if developers are found to help with it. Experimental support for WebExtensions was added in GNOME 43.
See also
In Spanish: GNOME Web para niños
