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Flow (web browser)

From Wikipedia - Reading time: 6 min
This article is about a web browser. For other types of flow, see Flow (disambiguation).
Flow
Developer(s)Ekioh
Stable release
None
EnginesFlow, SpiderMonkey[1]
Operating systemWindows, macOS, Linux, Android
TypeWeb browser
LicenseProprietary
Websiteekioh.com/flow-browser

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

History

[edit]

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 April 2025, it is still in beta.[7]

In April 2025 it was announced a preview version had reached 90% compliance with Web Platform Tests, meeting one of Apple's criteria[8] for use on iOS - prior to an EU ruling, all iOS browsers had to use the Webkit engine used by Safari.[9]

Features

[edit]

Flow is intended for use in embedded systems, such as a beta version for the Raspberry Pi.[4][10] 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 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]


References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d 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 2025-04-17.
  8. ^ "Using alternative browser engines in the European Union". apple.com. Apple. Retrieved 30 April 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Richard Speed (30 April 2025). "Alt-browser Flow breezes through web tests, but still far from a daily driver". The Register. Situation Publishing. Retrieved 30 April 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Newman, Jared (March 10, 2021). "For the first time in years, someone is building a web browser from scratch". Fast Company.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(web_browser)
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