AquaWeb micro - A Stupidly Fast Minibrowser for PPC OS X

[looking4awayout]

I have delved into the PowerUOC Patch file, and I noticed nothing that would cause extra choppiness in scrolling, compared to the regular N2H UOC Patch (which I have updated again, some minutes ago).

However, you can try to change these two parameters:

layers.offmainthreadcomposition.frame-rate
layout.frame_rate

And set them to 120 or 240. You might get a smoother scrolling that way.

Also, try to set this parameter:

layers.max-active

To 8 instead of 20. It might make a difference.

 

[z970]

@looking4awayout That seems to have done it.

 

[z970]

The prior-linked PowerUOC prefs have been updated to v4.

- Added a handful of beneficial media parameters relating to security / speed.

 

[z970]

AquaWeb and AquaVid have been updated to version 1.2.

This release brings many improvements in speed, rendering times, and general usability. All existing users are recommended to upgrade at their earliest convenience.

 

[z970]

AquaWeb and AquaVid have been updated to version 1.3.

Adjustments have been made for a smoother, more pleasant user experience.

 

[looking4awayout]

I have released a new version of the UOC Patch. The build number now is N2I. @z970mp feel free to take your time to check the new version and update the PowerUOC and the browsers accordingly.

 

[z970]

I have released a new version of the UOC Patch. The build number now is N2I. @z970mp feel free to take your time to check the new version and update the PowerUOC and the browsers accordingly.

What's the changelog?

 

[looking4awayout]

I have reworked all the versions of the UOC Patch and the Enforcer, as I have increased the amount of content processing the browser can do, from 0 to 4. This seemed to improve performance on my machine.

I also have introduced the support for E10S both on the 45 ESR and the 52 ESR version of the Patch. On the 38 ESR version, it has not been added because 38 ESR based browsers do not support E10S.

For the users of Classic Theme Restorer, I have added two options in the UOC Enforcer for 45/52 ESR based browsers that disable the animations when you click on an UI element, since they consume CPU cycles. The new build version is N2I.

On the 45 ESR version of the UOC Patch, I have reduced the tile size to 4x4, because it seems that speeds up scrolling and makes it smoother. On the other hand, on 38 ESR based browsers, doing the same makes them unusable and prone to crashing, so I have left them at 512x512. I haven't touched the 52 ESR version in that aspect, as I do not have a machine where I can test the different canvas sizes, so that one has been left with the stock 256x256 parameter.

I also have released a New Moon 28/Pale Moon 28-specific version of the Patch, because NM28 does not support E10S.

You can get the new version on MSFN: https://msfn.org/board/topic/178306...wsers-for-old-machines-now-for-macintosh-too/

 

[z970]

AquaWeb and AquaVid are being reworked into version 1.4. This is likely to be their last update.

Both AquaWeb/Vid's browsing and rendering speeds have been improved, while AquaVid now streams videos noticeably smoother, thanks to a new lighterweight YouTube front-end.

Beside that, the PowerUOC Patch has been officially released in a separate thread. Check it out.

 

[macanalista]

Unfortunately is not there (MG) anymore for downloading!

 

[z970]

The AquaBrowsers have returned new and improved, in the form of 1.4.1!

Numerous tweaks have been backported from the unreleased PowerUOC v2, among all the prior adjustments from 1.4.

 

[z970]

AquaWeb and AquaVid have received their final update, 1.6, and as of now have been officially discontinued in favor of PowerUOC.

The browsers' innards have been completely redesigned in accordance with an upcoming version of PowerUOC for smoother, faster, and more stable operation, while bringing other smaller changes.

Merry Christmas.

 

[z970]

AquaWebVid has been updated to version 1.8.1.

AquaVid has been reverted to youtube.com, due to the recent YouTube API change breaking all frontends. (R.I.P. key-less Tonvid.)

And thanks to the newest foxPEP framework, performance gains have been made in most all fronts.

Great browsers for sub-1 GHz Macs. Give them a try.

 

[skyegreen424]

I’m trying to find an easy way to stream audio from youtube music to a g3 imac (600mhz if it matters)... and it seems like your program is the best fit. i’ve been messing around with it and am impressed by the audio playback but it’s trying to load video as well... which is slowing everything down. when you mention audio streaming is there a setting or menu that enables audio only streaming? or are you just letting everything run?

also i can’t log into my youtube account because the browser isn’t secure. is that because of the user agent or is it because it’s in a tenfourfox box?

 

[z970]

Maybe there's some internal browser preference that can be switched so that only audio plays, but I haven't yet found it if it exists.

Because AquaVid is essentially an optimized, lightweight browser set to load youtube.com at launch, it lets most everything run as if it were an ordinary browser.

Can you log into your account on vanilla TenFourFox? Neither one should cause an issue with login.

 

[skyegreen424]

Maybe there's some internal browser preference that can be switched so that only audio plays, but I haven't yet found it if it exists.

Because AquaVid is essentially an optimized, lightweight browser set to load youtube.com at launch, it lets most everything run as if it were an ordinary browser.

Can you log into your account on vanilla TenFourFox? Neither one should cause an issue with login.

Yeah, I was able to even with 2FA enabled. I wonder why it’s saying the browser isn’t secure, maybe it’s because it’s in its own window or because a setting to optimize the browser freaks out youtube.

I was also wondering if maybe using Youtube Music with premium would allow for audio only streams... I have premium and if there is a way to change the site that the app goes to it could work (but i’m guessing Youtube Music is too resource intensive bc of how animated all of the Ui elements are. i could just barely get it to load on tenfourfox)

 

[z970]

Come to think of it, I think the easiest way to stream audio on a G3 machine would probably be to just use PPC Media Center 7.

Have a fast browser set to load YouTube at startup (like AquaVid or Camino), copy the URL of the video you want to stream, launch PPCMC, then choose what you want it to do. It can use QuickTime Player to stream video and audio in whatever quality you want. It can download videos, or just the audio file. It can convert and transcode things.

Rumor has it that it may or may not pay your HOA fees as well.

Compliments to @alex_free for such a great application, by the way...

 

[Dronecatcher]

I’m trying to find an easy way to stream audio from youtube music to a g3 imac

Do you need full control over the audio when it's playing (ie start/stop/rewind/forward?)

I can make a mplayer streamer that simply plays audio as it streams - as opposed to downloading first but there's no control over the audio apart from volume via the system control and ending it.

EDIT: Sorry, scrub that - the older version of mplayer that works on G3/G4 can no longer do it (newer versions still can.)
I'll continue looking into it as downloading an audio file and converting it is quite tedious on a G3 - and if it was a full album you'd be waiting over a hour!

 

[Dronecatcher]

Whilst streaming through mplayer seems out - downloading the file and playing back audio is working sporadically.
At random, even with the same clip, Youtube wil return a http 403 error (see below).
Let me know if you want me to post the script/player - it does require installation of Python and Youtube-dl.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I’m trying to find an easy way to stream audio from youtube music to a g3 imac

I've got the streamer working but alas it's for G4/G5s. I can do a script that downloads the video and plays the audio only for your G3 but if the clip you want to play is long you have the problem of it downloading first?

 

[skyegreen424]

Whilst streaming through mplayer seems out - downloading the file and playing back audio is working sporadically.
At random, even with the same clip, Youtube wil return a http 403 error (see below).
Let me know if you want me to post the script/player - it does require installation of Python and Youtube-dl.

View attachment 910722

I've got the streamer working but alas it's for G4/G5s. I can do a script that downloads the video and plays the audio only for your G3 but if the clip you want to play is long you have the problem of it downloading first?

I guess the downloading works. The biggest thing I was looking for was an easy-ish way to just let a playlist or something play out with minimal input, but that seems like it's a really difficult thing to have a G3 do. Either way, I'll try this out. I just overclocked the g3 CPU to 700mhz and am about to put an SSD inside of it. Right now its biggest use is going to be streaming an itunes library over the internet, and playing music CD's. But I'd definitely like to try out the script you made

 

[Dronecatcher]

But I'd definitely like to try out the script you made

Audio Only Playback From Youtube

Prompted by a member's query about audio only playback from Youtube here are two scripts to assist. Both require installation of youtube-dl (which itself, requires Python 2.7) but are great if you want to listen to a full album or performance from Youtube. Unfortunately the version of MPlayer...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[z970]

Good nooz everyone! Not only have AquaWeb and AquaVid been updated to version 2.1 in accordance with foxPEP 2.1 Humility, they have also, unsurprisingly, been modified to be better than they ever were!

AquaWeb has been updated to go to Searx.GNU.Style instead of DuckDuckGo for both faster search results, faster image rendering, and faster website loading, and AquaVid has been made to not suck anymore by redirecting video streams to QuickTime Player (which, unlike embedded HTML5 video, does not kill the CPU). Besides enabling G3 usage once again, this also makes it the most performant YouTube solution since TenFourTube, which was the original goal it set out to achieve in the first place.

So, I am now confident in declaring these to be one of the best (out of the few available) lightweight browser and YouTube applications available for Tiger, almost exactly as if TenFourKit and TenFourTube were fixed and given fresh coats of paint.

Get 'em while they're hot!

 

[z970]

... And just my luck, Searx.GNU.Style stopped working with TenFourFox.

AquaWeb has been reconfigured to go to Startpage.com instead, which is still faster than DuckDuckGo, anyway.

 

[corneydj]

I downloaded AquaVid but I can’t seem to get any videos to play through QuickTime. When it pulls the video up QuickTime just gets stuck at “switching transports” Is there something inside of QuickTime I need to change / plugins I need to download to get this to work? I’ve tried this on a G3 & a G4 but both refuse to work.