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dear, i am a student of bca. i have to do one project in my last semester. so i decided to create web browser which run on android o.s. but i am totally for this application. so, can any one help me for that. i already installed all required tools like jdk, android sdk 3.0, eclipse. but now i have no idea from where i have to start the developing browser. so please help me... i have only 2 months for doing this project. so is this possible in 2 months or not?

Name is Nilay
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Tej
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    Good luck getting that done in a semester. – Gabe Feb 26 '11 at 15:26
  • and what are the features you planed for your browser? I have to say it can be a very complex project. – Mauricio Feb 26 '11 at 15:27
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    @Tej: do you know how many people are working full-time, since years, on Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, etc.? – SyntaxT3rr0r Feb 26 '11 at 15:28
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    Web browsers aren't really known for being easy to make... they're more known for making their creators have panic attacks. You might want to consider a different project. – Owen Feb 26 '11 at 15:29
  • Especially if you don't have any experience with Android, which seems to be the case, creating such an application is impossible in that time.. – poke Feb 26 '11 at 15:32
  • I've never tried developing a web browser, but common sense says that you'd have to turn what you see in the View Source window into what you see here, all the while adhering to a hundred and one standards and implementing all sorts of stuff like JavaScript engines. And that might not even be the hard part... I recommend you try something else! – Owen Feb 26 '11 at 15:43
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    Make a really nice portal screen, then `startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, URL))`. Yay!! – Phil Feb 26 '11 at 15:57
  • You know what, there hasn't been a sleek Android client for www.themoviedb.org yet. I planned to make one but was too lazy. Maybe this one is more suitable to do in a semester. Check it out! http://api.themoviedb.org/2.1 – Phil Feb 26 '11 at 15:59

4 Answers4

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It depends on what you mean by develop a browser...

Developing a browser + rendering engine from scratch is a hell lot of work, but you could easily create a browser based on Androids WebView using a WebViewClient and create a new user experience by changing the way the user interacts with the browser.

The Webview has all kinds of hooks to intercept user interaction with the browser, so you can easily extend it. For example you could let the user flip through pages (like google fastflip), experiment with 3D by mapping the rendered webpage into OpenGL space (like sphere browser) etc.

As a starting point have a look at Aleksander Kmetec's blog and his Mosembro Project, that extends the Android browser by adding microformat support.

codecraft
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  • thanks dear. is this project is possible in 2 months???? – Tej Feb 27 '11 at 12:05
  • Something to keep in mind is that accessing the underlying content with a WebView is rather limited and quite hacky (e.g. to get the HTML you need a javascript innerHTML hack, and its also not possible to read headers etc.) – Bootstrapper Dec 15 '15 at 16:11
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Making a very basic browser could be done in a day or 2 for someone with experience in Android development as just like others have stated WebView provides pretty much all you need to display a Web page. There are a few settings around JavaScript and other features to check and then after marking a basic text box for the url and a go button that is pretty much a basic Web browser done.

The real work comes in all the advanced settings. Making a browser that competes with the big guys maybe a little difficult for one person in a couple of months, but making something of your own that works is very possible. Give it a go!

Damien Golding
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For creating complete web browser in Android you use WebView.

Simple snap of code:

WebView wv = (WebView)findViewById(R.id.webview1);    
wv = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webView1);
wv.loadUrl("http://www.apsmind.com");

for complete code reference visit: http://androidshivendra.blogspot.in/2013/12/android-browser.html

user3337268
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Sounds like a really big project and therefore you can't just start from scratch and write it down. You have to make a plan on how you want to implement all parts, write down class diagrams etc. If you study informatics you should have heard of these things in previous semesters.

First you should ask yourself if that project is feasible, as you can see from the comments most people agree that you should not underestimate this task!

I really suggest you to understand the extent of this task, here is the source code of Androids browser to give you an impression of it's complexity.

Maaalte
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  • Thanks dear. is this possible in 2 months? – Tej Feb 27 '11 at 12:06
  • You have to give some more details on what you are planning to do before I can answer this question. What exactly do you want to build? I think when you deal with this question you'll find the answer yourself – Maaalte Feb 27 '11 at 12:24