Understanding the Current Landscape

Even if you prefer not to use Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Mozilla Firefox, chances are you're still utilizing the rendering engines from those browsers.

Many contemporary browsers, including Vivaldi, Brave, Opera, and Microsoft's Edge, are built upon Google's Blink engine and the Chromium open-source framework. This trend arises from the increasing complexity of the web, making browsers intricate software solutions. For instance, Chromium is composed of over 25 million lines of code, contributed by more than 8,100 developers.

"We've shifted from the notion of the web being a collection of static pages with minimal interaction to considering the browser itself as an operating system," explains web design veteran John Allsopp.

Consequently, most browser developers have opted out of creating and managing their own engines. Microsoft, for instance, transitioned from its EdgeHTML engine to a Chromium-based Edge in early 2020. Similarly, Opera replaced its long-standing Presto engine with Chromium in 2013.

Adding to this challenge, Apple mandates that all third-party browsers on iOS utilize its WebKit engine, ostensibly for security purposes. Even Mozilla, which champions its own Gecko engine for Firefox, must still comply with WebKit on iOS. This limitation can deter developers from attempting to create independent engines.

Chris Coyier, co-founder of CodePen and creator of CSS-Tricks, argues that the lead established by major browsers makes creating a competitive browser engine a billion-dollar endeavor with uncertain returns. He believes browser developers should concentrate on enhancing user-facing features, such as Brave’s privacy focus or Vivaldi’s customization options, rather than delving into rendering engine improvements.

"It's not a worthwhile endeavor," Coyier states via email. "A more beneficial focus is on enhancing the browsers already in existence."

Ekioh's Unique Approach

So why is Ekioh taking this path? With Flow, the company is targeting a different market. Rather than competing head-to-head with major browsers, it's developing a browser tailored for specific applications where a new rendering engine can provide distinct advantages.

Ekioh specializes in delivering web-based applications for embedded systems—think connected TV boxes, smart displays, and automotive dashboards. The company believes that a feature called multithreaded layout can significantly boost performance, particularly in animations and effects.

"What sets Flow apart is its performance," says Reeder.

Consider a button that enlarges and shows additional information when hovered over. On low-power devices, such animations can be challenging to execute if only one processing core is used. Flow allows applications to leverage multiple cores on devices like the Raspberry Pi, simplifying complex animations.

"We can manage text layout, resizing, and animations simultaneously for a more dynamic user interface," he explains.

Furthermore, Flow incorporates GPU rendering, where the graphics processor is responsible for rendering objects on the page. This method conserves memory compared to having the main processor handle the task, resulting in faster performance on devices with limited memory resources.

While other engines may utilize multithreading for managing tabs and have begun exploring GPU rendering, they aren't designed to allocate multiple cores to a single web page. Reeder notes that achieving this would require a comprehensive overhaul of their existing code.

"That necessitates a fundamental redesign of the core browser engine," he says. "It's not something you can simply add on."

A Shift in Business Strategy

Moreover, Ekioh's business strategy for Flow avoids the usual challenges faced by browser companies. Instead of attempting to grow and monetize an audience through search partnerships or advertising, it plans to license the software to electronics manufacturers, promoting it as a cost-effective solution for creating faster and more responsive products.

"If a product has any graphical user interface, it can potentially utilize HTML," Reeder states. "If we can develop a product that requires slightly less memory and processing power while still delivering a comparable user experience, it can be offered at a lower price."

Limited Desktop Functionality

Ekioh anticipates that Flow will begin appearing in actual products later this year, but anyone interested can experiment with it on a Raspberry Pi right now. The company recently added support for earlier versions than the current Raspberry Pi 4.

However, Flow is not yet a replacement for Chrome or Firefox. The current build lacks support for tabs, bookmarks, or extensions and relies on keyboard navigation for basic operations like going forward or back. After navigating past Flow’s welcome screen, users won’t even encounter an address bar.

Reeder emphasizes that the primary focus remains on refining the rendering engine before considering additional user-oriented features. Testing Flow against a range of new websites continues to unveil new functionalities that need to be integrated.

"The potential for this to evolve into a desktop browser exists, but we're not there yet," he confirms.

The Future of Browsing

The mere prospect of a new rendering engine excites many experts within the web browsing domain.

Rachel Nabors, a former program manager for Microsoft’s Edge browser and author of a book on web animation, believes that despite the abundance of web-based applications, graphics and animation often remain secondary considerations for browser developers. Flow's multithreaded layout and GPU rendering techniques offer a refreshing change.

"Browser development has historically been focused on the browser as a document viewer," she observes. "It's peculiar that browser makers have lagged in delivering high-performance graphics for the web."

While Flow may currently be a minor player on the browser landscape, its future is uncertain.

Part of the intrigue also lies in broader implications: as core web browser development becomes increasingly centralized within Apple and Google, there are concerns about a "monoculture" that could undermine the web’s diverse spirit. Chris Beard, former CEO of Mozilla, voiced this apprehension in late 2018 when Microsoft shifted from its own engine to Chromium and Blink.

"From a social, civic, and individual empowerment perspective, relinquishing control of fundamental online infrastructure to a single entity is detrimental," Beard remarked at the time.

In reality, such concerns may be overstated today. As a contributor to Chromium, Microsoft now has some influence over the browser's direction, along with external organizations like Igalia, which assists in implementing new features across major browsers.

Yet, as Brian Kardell, Igalia's developer advocate, emphasizes, having a diverse browser ecosystem remains valuable. Creating browser engines is a costly and time-consuming process, largely funded by tech giants like Apple and Google, and there's no assurance that they won't eventually lose interest and underfund their projects.

"Diversity is inherently beneficial," he argues. "Just as you wouldn't want to cultivate a single crop."

Although Flow is still a small presence in the browser landscape, its potential is open-ended. As web designer John Allsopp points out, Apple surprised many by utilizing the little-known KHTML engine for Safari’s launch in 2003 instead of basing it on Firefox. An Apple engineer remarked that KHTML was much lighter and less bloated, with Steve Jobs emphasizing Safari's speed during its debut at Macworld Expo that same year.

That engine ultimately evolved into WebKit, which underpins Safari on iOS. Google followed suit, initially adopting WebKit for Chrome before developing its own version, Blink. This historical context isn’t lost on Allsopp, who sees parallels in Flow's emphasis on performance.

"Perhaps it will unlock new possibilities for a range of devices that have yet to be explored," he suggests.

In this first video, titled How to Make a Website from Scratch | Step-by-Step for Beginners, viewers will learn the basics of website creation, making it accessible for those new to web development.

The second video, This "From Scratch" Browser Will Take On The World, explores the potential impact of a browser built from the ground up, focusing on the innovative features of Ekioh's Flow.