Malvon

Malvon is a native, lightweight, WebKit-based web browser for macOS.

Images

Video:

How to build

1. Open Xcode
2. Set Scheme to Malvon.
3. Modify the AppDelegate's applicationDidFinishLaunching if you do not wish to be greeted with a welcome screen.
4. Build & Run.

Why I am stopping

I have spent far too much time on making web browsers, almost 5 years just rewriting browser after another. And certainly, this rewrite attempt has gotten me farther than all other rewrites. But I cannot keep doing the same thing again and again. I need to move on. I am discontinuing this web browser project because quite frankly, I dont give a shit about my battery life anymore. I was worrying about the little bits like battery health, CPU usage, RAM usage but after some time I came to the realization that: Who the fuck cares? Why the fuck does that matter? Use technology to your advantage, don't let it take advantage of you.

Background History (2020-2025)

• It was around 2020, during the lockdowns where I was at home all day long. I was around 11 years old and I had been starting to learn Swift programming language and development of iOS (then macOS) applications. I wrote many projects, and learnt a lot.
• I used Opera GX (like any stupid 11 year old would) then I learnt the Chinese CCP spyware controversy with Opera and thus created the first iteration of the Swift Web Browser.
• It was called Unique Browser and did not use proper programming practices. I didn't even know what memory management was. This project was just a small project that I somehow was able to make despite knowing nothing about programming.
• March, 2020 (Before I had even reached puberty lol): https://youtu.be/XWhcnIxrtMk?si=913j1NyxiQ7FLWaF
• I rewrote this browser again, this time calling it Searche (Search-Ee) but later renaming to Malvon.
• Visit Malvon Predecessors to see these projects.
• I stopped programming this browser (and programming in general) for around a year. I went back to playing video games.
• Fast forward to November 2024, I finally started working on this browser again. This time I had rewritten the entire tab system, bringing features like WebKit browser profiles and tab groups. This task took me 2 weeks. Not only that, but both vertical and horizontal sidebar tabViews and the ability to switch between, (and much more).
• This rewrite also took into account the need for low cpu and memory usage, to create an efficient browser.
• I then coded from Dec 2024 to Feb 2025, and implemented so many new features and used proper programming concepts such as delegates and protocols. Class inheritence and MVC architecture.
• As of today (Feb 9, 2025), I do not wish to continue this project anymore. I have been thinking of this for quite some time and I am finally ready to stop working on this browser.
• TLDR; Been doing this for 5 years now, I wish to move onto something new; and IDGAF about battery life.

If you would like to continue this project

Here are a list of tasks you should implement if you wish to continue developing this:

• Tabs/WIP: I rewrote the entire tab system with even stricter MVC architecture with the AXTabsManager.swift managing the state of everything (Tabs, Tab Bar, Tab View).
  • Removing tabs: When the selectedTabIndex changes, it updates all the views. Only problem is that the VerticalTabBarView has a 0.05 second animation before removing the tabButton from SuperView. Meaning it would have highlighted the incorrect tab. I believe the fix to this is by sending the selectedTabIndex to the tab bar view, who then selects it AFTER the button has been removed from superView.
  • Vertical tab layout works, but you have to uncomment and edit the code for the horizontal tab layout. I also recommend that you resort to auto layout for horizontal tabs because the only way to actually take up the entire space in the NSToolbar is by autolayout.
• Search Suggestions: In the suggestions-rewrite branch, I had tried to transition from NSTableView into 4 seperate NSStackViews which update independently (which would be even more optimal for battery life, but it's not fully complete)
• Extensions: Adding support for Chrome/Firefox extensions. There is an File->Install Chrome Extension button in the menu bar item. This would download and unzip the crx file. It can parse the manifest but cannot run the extension scripts. My suggestion is to inject a WKUserScript that has the same classes and functions as you can normally call in a Google Chrome extension, but reroute those functions to WKWebView. For example, chrome.activeTab.title you would talk back and forth between the WKUserContentController and javascript. But there are hundreds of these functions and implementing every single one of them would be a tedious time consuming task. But you can still give it a try to add support for chrome extensions (then firefox).
• Use Swift.SQLite or some other database: It rarely happens but sometimes when calling the C SQLite library, it would return a nil pointer and crash the entire app. This is a very rare edge case but I don't know anything SQlite related and I had AI code the table stuff for me.
• Ability to change icon: The tab group icons do not update properly. It would look nice if you did.
• Passwords/Keychain: In the SigmaOS browser (another WebKit browser) I saw some keychain-password-autofill.js file, don't copy paste but look at that and do it. I also believe an Apple developer account is needed for passkeys so I didn't bother with this. (Double check to be sure though, I could be wrong).