There’s a good reason why we only have a handful of browser engines out there. They are notoriously difficult to build and maintain, and the ones that have been around for a while have been perfected to the point where it makes no sense to try to reinvent the wheel.
Even David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) recently pointed out that web browsers are practically the second most complicated software systems on earth. But the folks working on Ladybird have decided that they are going to prove that there’s still a place for a new browser engine.
Surprisingly, they’re actually doing a pretty good job, even though they’re still far from the finished product.
In the latest monthly newsletter, the team shared how they’ve been tackling some of the most basic things that we usually take for granted. For example, you can finally stream video on Twitch without everything falling apart, and YouTube now plays nicely with older or higher-quality formats that previously caused trouble.
Meanwhile, the browser has also been working on support for file downloads. As we reported earlier, the browser had picked up the ability to download files from websites, but at the time, it was quite bare-bones. Now, the browser supports the option to pause and resume downloads, plus it will even pick up where you left off if you restart the browser.
Speaking of restarting the browser, it now also supports session restore. This means if you reopen a closed tab, it will also bring back your complete forward and backward history instead of just reloading the raw URL. Even annoying JavaScript alert popups will no longer freeze the entire window.
Speed is something that the team has been obsession over as well. In a recent post, Andreas Kling, the founder, mentioned that Ladybird’s rendering engine jumped 12x in styling tests. They also pushed more code over to Rust, replacing old C++ parts for CSS parsing and painting.
Web developers get some welcome attention as well. The built-in dev tools finally let you set breakpoints and step through JavaScript line by line.
Several other back-end improvements happen behind the scenes, but it’s refreshing to see the browser’s progress happening in the public spotlight. Of course, not everything is done yet. The newsletter notes that things like auto-updates and installer builds still need to be worked on. They also admitted that “the engine will not be finished when the alpha starts. That’s what the alpha is for!”
Given how DHH praised Ladybird’s audacious mission on Lex Fridman’s podcast, it is fun watching an independent project prove that the web does not have to belong entirely to Google and Apple.
Dwayne Cubbins
3005 Posts
I cover fast-moving stories across apps, online platforms, and everyday tech — phones, wearables, consoles, and whatever else people are fighting with this week. Bugs, rollouts, scams, policy enforcement, and the occasional internet-culture rabbit hole are all fair game. My goal is simple — make confusing tech news readable. When I'm not working, I'm working out or chilling with my dog. Got a tip? You can find me on X @dcubbins.