Hacker News with Generative AI: Browsers

Become a sponsor to Servo (github.com/sponsors)
Servo aims to empower developers with a lightweight, high-performance alternative for embedding web technologies in applications.
Mozilla's approach to Manifest V3: What's different and why it matters for users (mozilla.org)
Extensions are like apps for your browser, letting you customize and enhance your online experience. Nearly half of all Firefox users have installed at least one extension, from privacy tools to productivity boosters.
Does Firefox sell your personal data? (github.com/mozilla)
Firefox is independent and a part of the not-for-profit Mozilla, which fights for your online rights, keeps corporate powers in check and makes the internet accessible to everyone, everywhere. We believe the internet is for people, not profit. Unlike other companies, we don’t sell access to your data. You’re in control over who sees your search and browsing history. All that and exceptional performance too.
Certificate Transparency in Firefox (transparency.dev)
Certificate Transparency (CT) has been one of the biggest advancements in web security, keeping users safe from threats such as certificate fraud and man-in-the-middle attacks. While CT has been around for over 11 years, enforcement has varied across browsers.
How browsers really load web pages [video] (fosdem.org)
When browsers load a Web page and its subresources, A LOT happens under the hood. They need to take into account render/parsing blocking resources, use a preload scanner, listen to resource hints (like preload/preconnect), loading modifiers (async/defer/module), fetchpriority, responsive images, and much more. Based on all those signals, they then need to somehow decide when to load which resources, to make optimal use of the modern HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 connections.
Apple's Lack of Full Site Isolation and iOS Browser Ban Puts Users at Risk (open-web-advocacy.org)
Yet again Apple’s ban on third-party browser engines weakens security rather than strengthens it.
Ladybird browser update (January 2025) [video] (youtube.com)
Show HN: Lightpanda, an open-source headless browser in Zig (github.com/lightpanda-io)
Lightpanda is the open-source browser made for headless usage:
Show HN: BrowserAI – Run LLMs directly in browser using WebGPU (open source) (github.com/sauravpanda)
BrowserAI: Run LLMs in the Browser - Simple, Fast, and Open Source!
Linux Foundation Announces the Launch of Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers (linuxfoundation.org)
SAN FRANCISCO – January 9, 2025 – The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced the launch of Supporters of Chromium-Based Bowsers. This initiative aims to fund open development and enhance projects within the Chromium ecosystem, ensuring broad support and sustainability for open source contributions that will drive technological advancement.
Google and Linux Foundation Launch "Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers" Fund (phoronix.com)
Google and the Linux Foundation today announced the creation of the "Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers" fund to help provide funding to open-source developers working on Chromium-based open-source projects.
Show HN: A browser designed to support uBlock Origin (MV2) and respect privacy (ublock-browser.com)
Curl-Impersonate (github.com/lexiforest)
A special build of curl that can impersonate the four major browsers: Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox(In progress). curl-impersonate is able to perform TLS and HTTP handshakes that are identical to that of a real browser.
Singlefile: A web extension to save a complete web page into a single HTML file (github.com/gildas-lormeau)
SingleFile is a Web Extension (and a CLI tool) compatible with Chrome, Firefox (Desktop and Mobile), Microsoft Edge, Safari, Vivaldi, Brave, Waterfox, Yandex browser, and Opera. It helps you to save a complete web page into a single HTML file.
YouTube detects and blocking Brave browser (twitter.com)
Mozilla: Proposals in US vs. Google threaten vital role of independent browsers (mozilla.org)
Giving people the ability to shape the internet and their experiences on it is at the heart of Mozilla’s manifesto. This includes empowering people to choose how they search.
Firefox Is the Superior Browser (asindu.xyz)
When ever you hear people trying to convince other people to switch to Firefox the reason is usually moral or ideological.
Apple Releases iCloud Passwords Add-On for Firefox (macrumors.com)
Apple now has a dedicated iCloud Passwords add-on designed for the Firefox browser, which means Firefox users can access passwords and logins stored in the Passwords app or iCloud Keychain when using Firefox on a PC or Mac.
Google Docs in a clean-room browser (ekioh.com)
With the news that Google would be phasing in a new version of Google Docs I thought we ought to get the current version working in Flow. Because of many bug fixes in Flow for other websites, Google Docs now seemed to load mostly fine, though it rendered without word wrap and you couldn’t actually type into it.
Mozilla: DOJ's Plan for Chrome Risks Hurting Smaller Browsers (pcmag.com)
The Justice Department's proposal to force Google to rein in and even sell off its Chrome browser business may seem like a win for competitors such as Mozilla’s Firefox browser. But the company says the plan risks hurting smaller browsers.
Neomacs: Structural Lisp IDE/browser/computing environment (github.com/neomacs-project)
Neomacs is a computing environment based on structural editing. Neomacs aims to become the Emacs of trees. Currently, Neomacs is a usable Lisp IDE and keyboard-driven browser.
Webvm: Virtual Machine for the Web (github.com/leaningtech)
This repository hosts the source code for https://webvm.io, a Linux virtual machine that runs in your browser.
New iOS 18.2 beta marks WebGPU as stable and enabled by default in Safari (twitter.com)
This month in Servo: faster fonts, fetches, and Flexbox (servo.org)
This month in Servo: faster fonts, fetches, and flexbox!
Show HN: Intelligent Browser for Web Automation Powered by AI (airtop.ai)
Effortlessly scrape and control any site with cheap and scalable AI-powered cloud browsers
Show HN: I wrote an open-source browser alternative for Computer Use for any LLM (github.com/gregpr07)
Mullvad browser: the privacy of Tor, with the perks of a VPN (2023) (techradar.com)
Firefox Is Now "More Than 75X Faster" Running WebAssembly (howtogeek.com)
Search Engine Shortcuts in Firefox (jamesg.blog)
Firefox has a feature that lets you map a character or sequence of characters typed in the Firefox address bar to a custom search engine.
This month in Servo: Android nightlies, right-to-left, WebGPU, and more (servo.org)
This month in Servo: Android nightlies, right-to-left, WebGPU, and more!