The release of the new stable branch WebKitGTK 2.38.0, a port of the WebKit browser engine for the GTK platform, has been introduced. WebKitGTK allows you to use all the features of WebKit through a GNOME-based GObject-based API and can be used to integrate web content processing tools into any application, from use in specialized HTML/CSS parsers to building full-featured web browsers. Of the well-known projects using WebKitGTK, one can note the regular GNOME browser (Epiphany). Previously, WebKitGTK was used in the Midori browser, but after the transfer of the project to the Astian Foundation, the old version of Midori on WebKitGTK was abandoned and, by creating a branch from the Wexond browser, a fundamentally different product was created with the same name Midori, but based on the Electron and React platform.
Key changes:
- A new style of buttons for controlling the playback of multimedia content is proposed.
- Added API for setting CSP (Content-Security-Policy) for browser add-ons.
- The ability to use external inspection systems provided in other browsers is provided (configuration is carried out using the WEBKIT_INSPECTOR_HTTP_SERVER environment variable).
- The MediaSession API is enabled by default, allowing you to use the MPRIS interface for remote playback control.
- Added PDF document viewer based on PDF.js.
Based on WebKitGTK 2.38.0, the release of the GNOME Web 43 (Epiphany) browser has been formed, which adds support for WebExtension extensions. The WebExtensions API allows you to create add-ons using standard web technologies and unifies the development of add-ons for different browsers (WebExtensions is used in add-ons for Chrome, Firefox and Safari). The WebExtension API is not yet fully implemented, but this support is already enough to run some popular add-ons.
Other improvements:
- Support for self-sufficient web applications in PWA (Progressive Web Apps) format has been redesigned, a D-Bus provider for such programs has been implemented.
- Refactoring to move to GTK 4 has begun.
- Added support for the "view-source:" URI scheme.
- Improved the design of the reader mode.
- An item for creating screenshots has been added to the context menu.
- An option has been added to settings to disable search recommendations in web application mode.
Source: opennet.ru