The word “microbrowser” clearly got my attention. Never heard that before. Colin Bendell defines them as the little parts of other software that do HTTP requests to a URL to generate a preview. Like the little URL preview in iOS messages, WhatsApp, or Slack.
I’m a tiny bit skeptical of the name, because what’s happening is the software making that HTTP request and parsing out a little data to use however it will. I’m not sure I’d call that a browser of any kind, but I take the point.
I agree that these things are mega important.
[…] the real gold for marketers is from word-of-mouth discussions. Those conversations with your friends when you recommend a TV show, a brand of clothing, or share a news report. This is the most valuable kind of marketing.
It reminds me of how tools, like Yoast’s SEO plugin for WordPress, help with managing the look/content of social preview cards.
I could see value in this same kind thing where it shows Slack and WhatsApp and all those tools, even if it’s harder to control.
Thanks!
I agree – naming is hard; defining ‘the Forms’ (cf: Plato) is harder.
When is a browser not a browser? How much functionality must an html parsing engine be capable of to be considered a browser? If a UA parses html but doesn’t run javascript is it a browser? If a UA parses html but does not load CSS? Is Netscape 1.0 a browser?
My minimal suggestion is that at minimum a browser a) parses html and b) presents content to a human.
I would argue the minimum definition for a browser needs to include
c) receives and responds to human inputs.
Without that we are in the realm of automation, scrapers, bots, and parsers.
I’d say a browser is a browser when it allows browsing. Internet browsers are used to browse the Internet. Clicking links etc. Anything else I’d classify as a viewer.
I’d argue a micro-browser is more like every other app these days that wants to show web content directly (and presumably invade your privacy in the process) instead of launching your mobile browser app of choice. In some Google apps on the Pixel 4, I can’t even choose to open articles in my native browser.
“browse” has to me the connotation of looking around for multiple items: so I would not consider a utility that shows only one page/view, to be a browser