1

So I am stuck using Raspberry Pi (Model B, Rasbian OS) for the next few weeks because my computer broke.

I' will mostly use it for web development and browsing. I got the web developement down. Love using Geany, but the next problem is finding a lightweight browser that isn't slow.

I've tried these browsers so far:

  • Chromium - Slow, freezes Pi after a few minutes of using :(

  • Iceweasel - Not as slow as the other browsers I've tried, but it's still slow. Specially on start-up. 30 seconds to see the window. Loading pages are also slow.

  • Midori - Very slow. Typing in it lags.

  • Netsurf - Fast. Fastest browser I can find, the only bad part is that it doesn't support JavaScript, nor latest web technologies.

  • Arora - Slow, freezes Pi after start-up.

Funny enough, the plugin "webhelper" in Geany has a web browser and it looks similar to chrome. Its fast, uses webkit so webpages are displayed correctly and supports JavaScript. I've been using it (kind of) to regulary browse, but I am hoping I can find a browser like it so I don't need Geany.

Any lightweight webkit browsers?

Improve this question
3
  • did. you try Web Beta: www.raspberrypi.org/archives/5535
    – user12961
    Commented Feb 20, 2014 at 20:49
  • I write this answer, using that browser. It works but of course as in Beta phase, some options are not available (e.g. page zoom, sidebar, ...) Loading speed depends on the page contents and is difficult to benchmark for me, as I just started to test this.
    – user13064
    Commented Feb 24, 2014 at 20:01
  • Did you tried the official web-broswer for RPi? epiphany sudo apt-get install epiphany
    – MadAntrax
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 14:48

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

Try epiphany. But in my experience midori is just fine.

If you want to use it as workstation, think about getting a newer pi. RAM may be the limiting factor and the RAM usage mostly comes from big websites (modern html5 just consumes quite a lot of RAM and every browser with recent webkit/blink/gecko thus will need much RAM).

Improve this answer
0

i have the same problem. the big famous browsers consumes too much resources.

you can try surf. it is good enough to display/render websites and surf the web. it executes js but Cookies, JWT auth, etc. seems not part of it. 

apt-get install surf
surf http://surf.suckless.org/

(I use surf in combination with wmctrl to crowd my workspaces with windows)

if you need JWT to use your web apps, you can give QupZilla a shot (QT based).

apt-get install qupzilla
qupzilla http://www.qupzilla.com/
Improve this answer
1
  • i changed my mind regarding qupzilla after observing memory consumption. go for surf (single pages), uzbl or uzbl-tabbed (similar to surf), luakit (can store JWTs) or dwb (i use it for ipython/jupyter). These are all minimal lightweight browser with minimal foot print. Get a cheatsheet to learn the key bindings and you will not miss anything. I think luakit and dwb are good as substitue. surf an uzbl are fine if you just need to render html or resp. surf websites.
    – ulf
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 12:50

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.