Flow (web browser)

Last updated
Flow
Developer(s) Ekioh
Stable release
None
Engines Flow, SpiderMonkey [1]
Operating system Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
Type Web browser
License Proprietary
Website ekioh.com/flow-browser

Flow is a web browser with a proprietary browser engine inteded for low-power devices or embedded systems, such as the Raspberry Pi. [2]

Contents

History

Flow is developed by Ekioh, a company from Cambridge, England, [3] which has made simple browsers for set-top boxes and other embedded systems. [4] The browser was originally created as an SVG browser in 2006, before later adding HTML support and multithreading. [5] The first beta was released in December 2020. [6] As of November 2023, it is still in beta. [7]

Features

Flow is intended for use in embedded systems, such as a beta version for the Raspberry Pi. [4] [8] There are no concrete plans to release a version for desktop devices. [4] Flow uses its own proprietary browser engine, along with the SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine from Mozilla. [1] The browser uses uses multithreading and renders everything using the GPU in order to keep the CPU free for execution. The performance automatically scales as new CPU and GPU cores are added. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 Wombwell, Piers [@_Piers_] (2021-03-01). "Yes. No shared code with any other browser engine. We do use Mozilla's SpiderMonkey for JavaScript, and the usual 3rd party libraries for bitmap decoding, encryption, etc" (Tweet). Retrieved 2025-01-29 via Twitter.
  2. Collins, Barry (2021-06-30). "This Web Browser's Faster Than Chrome - And You've Never Heard Of It". Forbes . Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  3. "Definition of Flow browser". PCMAG . Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Khalili, Joel (27 February 2021). "This web browser you've never heard of is absolutely rapid, but don't get too excited". TechRadar .
  5. Speed, Richard (2020-12-29). "And now for something completely different: A lightweight, fast browser that won't slurp your data". The Register . Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  6. Hellstrom, Jeremy (30 December 2020). "Work In Progress; Check Out The Flow Browser Engine - PC Perspective". PC Perspective .
  7. "Flow Preview Builds". Ekioh. Retrieved 5 November 2023. Flow's goal is to render every website correctly... but there is currently a long way left to go.
  8. Newman, Jared (March 10, 2021). "For the first time in years, someone is building a web browser from scratch". Fast Company .