Why your web browser might be intentionally 'less' powerful

Science · Published 1 November 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Most modern browsers are bloated with features like mail clients and newsgroups, often sacrificing speed for versatility. GNOME Web takes the opposite approach, adhering to a philosophy of radical simplification. It isn't just about what it includes; it is about what it purposefully leaves out to ensure performance.

GNOME Web (internally still called Epiphany) was born from a philosophical rift in 2002. Its creator, Marco Pesenti Gritti, forked the Galeon browser because he felt its monolithic design and excessive user-configurable features hindered maintainability. He wanted to align with the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines, which championed simplified interfaces. While other developers pushed for more power, Gritti prioritized a tool that did one thing well: browsing the web.

The project's evolution highlights a constant tension between compatibility and security. For instance, it intentionally lacks support for Encrypted Media Extensions because the standard relies on proprietary modules and digital rights management (DRM) that obscure user actions. Furthermore, to maintain high security standards, developers implemented the Bubblewrap Sandbox in GNOME 3.34. This prevents malicious websites from hijacking tab processes or attempting to gain root access to the operating system.

The browser also makes strategic choices regarding web compatibility. It sends a user agent identifying it as Apple Safari because sharing the WebKit engine ensures fewer broken websites. However, this choice means servers may deliver JPEG 2000 images—which only Safari supports—rather than other formats. By choosing to use PDF.js for native PDF support instead of external tools like Evince, the team also eliminated a major security risk where sites could escape the browser's sandbox via obsolete plug-in models.

Today, GNOME Web stands as a lean alternative, utilizing shared components to achieve a small package size of 2.6MB and fast startup times. It balances this minimalism with modern necessities like built-in ad blocking (which saved approximately 80 MiB of RAM per tab during a recent transition) and Google Safe Browsing.

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