The qutebrowser 2.4 web browser has been released, providing a minimal graphical interface that does not distract from viewing content, and a navigation system in the style of a Vim text editor, built entirely on keyboard shortcuts. The code is written in Python using PyQt5 and QtWebEngine. The source texts are distributed under the GPLv3 license. The use of Python does not affect performance, since content is rendered and parsed by the Blink engine and the Qt library.
The browser supports a tabbed browsing system, a download manager, a private browsing mode, a built-in PDF viewer (pdf.js), an ad blocking system (at the host blocking level), an interface for viewing browsing history. To watch YouTube videos, you can set up to call an external video player. Moving around the page is carried out using the "hjkl" keys, to open a new page you can press "o", switching between tabs is done using the "J" and "K" keys or "Alt-tab number". Pressing ":" brings up a command line prompt where you can search the page and execute typical commands like in vim, such as ":q" to quit and ":w" to write the page. For a quick transition to page elements, a system of "hints" is proposed, which marks links and images.
In the new version:
- Addressed a vulnerability (CVE-2021-41146) that could allow custom code to be executed through URL handler argument manipulation. The issue only occurs in builds for the Windows platform. Windows registers the "qutebrowserurl:" handler, which can be used by a third-party application to initiate execution of commands in qutebrowser, and arbitrary code can be executed using the ":spawn" and ":debug-pyeval" commands.
- Added "content.blocking.hosts.block_subdomains" setting, which can be used to disable subdomain blocking in an ad blocker that uses domain redirection via /etc/hosts.
- Added setting "downloads.prevent_mixed_content" to protect against downloading mixed content (downloading resources via HTTP from a page opened via HTTPS).
- Added "--private" flag to ":tab-clone" command to create a clone of a tab opened in a new private browsing window.
At the same time, a new version of the Min 1.22 browser was released, offering a minimalistic interface built around manipulating the address bar. The browser was created using the Electron platform, which allows you to create stand-alone applications based on the Chromium engine and the Node.js platform. Min's interface is written in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. The code is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. Builds are generated for Linux, macOS and Windows.
Min supports navigating open pages through a system of tabs, providing features such as opening a new tab next to the current tab, hiding unused tabs (that the user hasn't accessed in a while), grouping tabs, and viewing all tabs as a list. There are tools for building lists of pending tasks / links to read in the future, as well as a bookmark system with support for full-text search. The browser has a built-in ad blocking system (according to the EasyList list) and a code for tracking visitors, it is possible to disable the download of images and scripts.
Min's central control is the address bar, through which you can send queries to a search engine (DuckDuckGo by default) and search the current page. As you type in the address bar, as you type, a summary of information relevant to the current query is generated, such as a link to a Wikipedia article, a selection of bookmarks and browsing history, and recommendations from the DuckDuckGo search engine. Each page opened in the browser is indexed and becomes available for subsequent search in the address bar. You can also enter commands in the address bar to quickly perform operations (for example, "!settings" - go to settings, "!screenshot" - create a screenshot, "!clearhistory" - clear browsing history, etc.).
In the new release:
- And the address bar provides the ability to calculate mathematical expressions. For example, you can type "sqrt(2) + 1" and get the result right away.
- A field for searching by open tabs has been added to the list of tasks.
- Ensured following the settings of the dark theme of the design, included in the user environment.
- Expanded the number of languages ββsupported in the built-in page translation system (accessible by right-clicking on the page).
- Added hotkey for rearranging tabs.
- Browser engine components updated to Chromium 94 and Electron 15 platform.
Source: opennet.ru