I've been using Zen browser, but I really need a Chromium-based browser since my school's website doesn't work well with Firefox. Ideally, I want to try building my own browser rather than using existing options. I'm a confident programmer but this is completely new territory for me. My main goal is to make some UI changes; I'm not looking to modify the browser's functionality. Here are some ideas I have:
1. Use a webview library in a programming language like Rust or C++ to create my own UI over a webview.
2. Fork the Chromium source code directly and change the UI from there.
3. Use Electron (which I'd prefer to avoid).
I'd like some insights from anyone with more experience before I dive into this project, as I believe it might be complex. Thanks in advance! Also, by 'change the UI', I mean I want to basically recreate it from scratch.
2 Answers
If your main goal is just some UI tweaks, you might want to consider writing a Chrome extension instead of building an entire browser from scratch. Extensions can give you a lot of the flexibility you might need without the overhead of creating a full browser.
If you're still set on building your own, going with Chromium is a solid choice; it provides a lot of functionality out of the box.
I'd recommend option 2, forking the Chromium source code.
Since you mentioned wanting to completely recreate the UI, have a look into using headless Chromium. It's primarily used for running browsers without a UI, which might seem counterproductive for your needs at first. But it can be quite powerful for customization when combined with other tools.
I’m curious about headless Chromium too, but it seems like it wouldn't fit your needs since you want to customize the interface. If you’re focusing on altering everything except the tabs, do you think there’s a way to combine headless functionality with a UI?