Add a UI

[profucius]

This is more a post than an issue, but there was nowhere else relevant to post it.

I have created a very useful chain of apps which now serves as the "best of both worlds" between BrowseRouter and BrowserSelector.

The former (this app) handles URLs like a champ, whereas BrowserSelector (older archived app) does not, but does have a nice GUI for selecting browsers on the fly, whereas BR does not (only a config.ini that reacts automatically based on rules).

Setup is simple:

1. Install both apps.
2. In the BR config.ini file, comment out all the lines except for one. You'll need to "copy path" of the BrowserSelector.exe file and paste it as a line, matching the syntax of the other browser lines preincluded. Save ini file.
3. Set BR as the default windows browser app.
4. Now load a URL from any app, and it should chain through BR into BS. If you haven't setup BS, now is the time to add your browsers to it.
5. Note: BS will complain at the top that it is not the default browser, you can just ignore that line.

Why? As stated earlier, BS is old, and suffers from a bug that surely will never be fixed as the dev abandoned the app. The issue is that some apps pass URLs in a different way than others, which BS is incompatible with, and so it either just never loads, or throws an error. However when BR sends the URL to BS, it works every time.

Hopefully this helps someone! Good luck

[nref]

@profucius thanks for sharing this issue and potential solution. I actually did not know that BrowserSelector had a UI. BrowseRouter is a fork of BS so they share the same git history up to the point I created the fork.

I've been toying in a private branch with the idea of making a UI for BR. I want BR to be cross platform so it's based on Avalonia which I have good experience using in a commercial project.

What would you want to see out of a UI for BrowseRouter? What's missing in BrowserSelector?

[profucius]

Thanks for reply slater! I appreciate you being the open type of dev with ideas such as this.

I can probably answer your question well here, as I use "browser redirector" apps on any OS I use (primarily Windows and Android). I can think of some killer-app features which would take a project like yours to the next level.

I'm not sure if you've had a chance to look at BrowserSelector's UI yet, but as I have mine setup, not only do I use it for the browsers themselves (Firefox, Chrome, etc) but also my profiles within those browsers. I split my Firefox profiles apart per "type", so I have one mainly for productivity stuff, another for gaming stuff, and a few others like that. I also use an app called WebCatalog which generates electron-based mini browsers for specific websites, so that they are kind-of an "app".

BS is decent, however I feel that it's quite limited interface-wise. Here are some ideas that could benefit BR as a full replacement to BS. I'm writing these while looking at the BS interface:

• The icons are currently only displayed in a grid, but being able to change between that and a List view would be great. And if possible, make the app window remember its size every it is closed.
• Ability to change the sort order from the default Alphabetical, to Recently Used, Most Used, etc. Perhaps a little dropdown box at the top.
• Ability to edit the URL before submitting it to the browser to load.
  • Sometimes the URL has trackers on the end which I want to remove, or there's a typo, etc. This would save time loading the browser and fixing it after-the-fact.
• Self updater included, so when you update to GitHub it can download and install the update directly in-app.
  • If not possible, at least include a link to your GitHub in the About page so that it can be quickly accessed.

These are what comes to mind right away. If I think of any other ideas I'll add them to this thread or another one if you'd prefer. But other than that, I'd say BS does a good job of the UI implementation, for instance the adding of browsers has a good interface for selecting the exe, adding arguments and rules, etc. I think you could copy those types of features directly.

Open to discussion, so let me know what you think!

[nref]

@profucius No problem! Thanks for the input. I can't guarantee how fast this will happen - I'm glad you have a workflow that supports your needs. I have a feeling others would like a UI too (but not all).

Is it possible you're referring to this app?

If so, then my surprise makes sense. It's in fact a completely independent app with the same name as DanTup's BrowserSelector. It's not the original, nor is it a fork: I downloaded the binary, recognized it as a .NET Core app, decompiled it back to C# with ILSpy, and can see that the decompiled source bears no resemblance to BrowserSelector.

[profucius]

Oh wow, I had no idea that these were two separate apps! Yes I was referring to the above app/screenshots. How very strange.

If you are still willing to add a UI to your BR app, I think that would be excellent. This BS app we're talking about above is pretty buggy (which makes sense now, I wondered why your fork didn't have the same bugs), and I would like to stop using it as it is a dead software.

With a UI, I believe your app could be the "industry standard" of this type of app, and could encourage people to diversify their browser usage. This is something I strongly believe is necessary, in a world dominated by Google. And without a UI, many people without "config file" skills will just skip without even trying.

If you do decide to work on it, consider me your first beta tester. I have experience in this, and could provide you with feedback as needed.