Gecko esr91 work (former "Flypig's gecko dev diary")

Platform Development
#257

Thank you @nephros, @direc85 and @jauri.gagarin.II for explaining about background tab opening. I’d actually got the wrong end of the stick (I thought the request was about websites being able to open background windows using JavaScript, rather than humans doing it!) so I’m really glad you clarified. It makes much more sense now!

Thanks for noticing the anniversary @hschmitt! I had missed it myself until I saw your post, so I enjoy the fact you noticed!

@hanswf, thanks for your query. The packages are now available and @direc85 is correct that this covers WebView integration as well. There’s a workaround needed for the email app, but the details are in the installation instructions. I’ve already noticed bugs myself and I do want to emphasise the fact that there will be bugs. Please expect bugs!

But for the brave (I’m looking at you @Helge!) thank you for trying it. I’m glad you’re getting a positive feel (I like your description of it being “crisper”; that was my impression too, but until you said it I couldn’t pin down the right adjective!). If you get time please do post issues about the quirks and bugs.

Finally, @tortoisedoc, thank you for this advice about pinning the Rust toolchain. Unfortunately I’ve not had a chance to try it, but if it does what I think it does, that’s going to be really helpful!

32 Likes
Jolla C2 Community Phone: your feedback is needed!
#258

Thank you so much for making this possible, @flypig and all the others working on this!
I followed the guide and until now I only experienced minor issues, in general it works very well! If I notice reproducible issues, I’ll file a bug report.
It seems that the infrequent browser crashes at some sites are resolved, can that be possible? And yes, it feels crisper. And I can finally browse forums like the framework support forum on my phone again :slight_smile:
I am super happy, that is a huge step for the whole platform!

1 Like
#259

I also tried the released packages on my Xperia 10 II (a dev device) and after a quick test it seems to work just fine! I didn’t have time to try anything other than some Internet browsing and running the captcha test in Whisperfish (it uses WebView) and so far I didn’t run into issues – I’ll keep poking around though.

It’s also great to have the debug symbols available, but let’s hope they are not needed :grin:

3 Likes
#260

ESR 91 is really a great achievement! It looks faster and I’m really thankfull to @flypig and all other devs.

I noticed hydrogen isn’t able to connect to the Internet. I tried other apps using the WebView (hutspot and fuoten), they work as expected.

8 Likes
#261

Many many thanks for this huge work, @flypig!
I’m willing to try and give some feedback, but I realize while installing that, packages are for aarch64.
If you planned to make them available for armv7, I’ll be back and try them with pleasure.

Best regards and again a big bravo!

3 Likes
#262

I tried on Gemini PDA, Sailfish 4.6, ended with error installing ESR 91 packages. This

Prerequisites
1. A Sailfish OS phone running 4.6 (Sauna).

probably valid to aarch64 only, right?.

4 Likes
#263

Thanks for publishing this test version for 64 bit devices. It is possible to get a 32 bit release too?

6 Likes
#264

Many thank you for the work :slight_smile:

32 bit would be awesome by the way :slight_smile:

6 Likes
#265

First of all thank you very much, there are more pages working again, that weren’t working on esr78, than the other way round. I can at least find 4 i used to use regularly and now can use again. Nevertheless there is one page which worked with esr78, but does not with esr91, which is also with a map, but google maps works better now strangely and this is this page: RegenRadar interaktiv - WetterOnline

1 Like
#266

I double that. One of the quirks I mentioned is in fact http://www.wetteronline.de. The page loads as in desktop mode and if you request a weather map the browser crashes eventually. When I get my hands on a physical keyboard I’ll create an issue at sailfish-browser

2 Likes
#267

Maybe we just need to change the user agent string, but this would be a dirty fix

3 Likes
#268

I initially thought I would wait patiently because that would somehow be the ‘right thing’. But just a couple of days ago, some page I frequently browse changed a bit and didn’t work with old browser version any more.

Knowing the common risks related to any experimental software (may break my device, might eat my dog, maybe even drink all my beers), I tried the steps to install the esr91 packages.

Although I, like many others, have followed the diary since the beginning, I haven’t yet interacted in any way (except sometimes liking some awesome posts on this thread). So I’d also like to use this opportunity to thank @flypig (et al.) for the awesome work, interesting and nicely written dev diary, and well-documented steps for installing the new version. So far feels like a very nice improvement, everything seems a little bit better, the sun shines a little bit brighter, and the page I was interested in works again. I’ll always remember the SFOS day I first tried esr91.

18 Likes
#269

I tried it on the Pinetab 2, where it crashed immediately, and on the Xperia 10II, where it worked fine.
Thank you for your work!

1 Like
#270

Great work @flypig, thank you and all other people that you make a new browser happend on my Xperia 10 III.
I followed the guide and until now I have no issues, in general it works very well!

2 Likes
#271

Wow! The performance on scrolling is just something else! The FPS is pegged - and now i understand all the talk about 90 and 120Hz on the 'droid side. GitHub is back to working :slight_smile:

Two minor adjustments additions to the install guide:

  • The cp command needs a -r
  • I channelled my inner @olf and used pkcon install-local instead of rpm -U --force to have some more chances to pick up on if the system thinks i’m breaking it.
10 Likes
#272

Hmm pegged - to avoid battery draining?

How much is the FPS? 25? could bump it to 30, that would improve things alot already…

PS do the provided packages work on XPeria 10 II as well (I assume so but just in case triple-checking)?

1 Like
#273

I’m using on a X10-II since yesterday. There are some issues, but nothing problematic.

2 Likes
#274

You misunderstand. Pegged up against the maximum determined by the refresh rate of the display - as in 60 FPS solidly.

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#275

Okay that sounds more reasonable :slight_smile:
PS: down the rabbit hole we go - even on android side?

1 Like
#276

What does this have to do with the new browser engine?

1 Like