šŖ New year, new web advocacy goals
Laura Morinigo
Web Developer Advocate
Happy new year from the Samsung Internet team! We hope you had a good start and you feel as excited as we are to see which are gonna be the latest updates of the web this year.
Before we jump ahead into the future, we will also review some of the highlights of 2021 around Samsung Internet and the Web. Weāve divided this article into different sections with the most relevant topics of our browser, this will also give you an idea about our agenda for 2022.
Progressive Web Apps
PWAs were and still are a relevant topic for our browser. We believe in the power of the web and we will continue working to create and support capabilities that can make the web a more accessible place.
One of the biggest events that we supported during 2021 was the PWA Summit. With other companies like Microsoft, Google, and Intel weāve decided to create this community-oriented event to showcase how PWAs are being used and transforming how web apps are delivered. With more than 7000 views, this free and online event hopefully will have its second edition this year.
With the recent announcement of Visual Studio Insiders as a PWA more desktop apps are choosing PWAs as a way to be cross-platform. We are very interested to see how features like instability and responsive design will have their approach on other devices like smartwatches.
Samsung Internet is also committed to bringing modern capabilities, therefore following topics like adding the Device Posture API as a standard, Web Authentication with NFC, and collaborating with Project Fugu will be on our agenda for 2022.
We believe in the power of the web and we will continue working to create and support capabilities that can make the web a more accessible place.
Foldables
Foldables were a priority as Samsung launched Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 and Flip 3. The idea to share and communicate how developers can take advantage of these devices led us to contribute the Device Posture API which is enabled as a beta feature in our browser. Weāve created a codelab with a step-by-step guide to implement this and how to test it without a foldable device using either a polyfill or Samsung Remote Test Lab.
By 2022, we hopefully can contribute to a more mature version of this standard with the help of developersā feedback and collaborating with other specs related to foldable screens like CSS Spanning and more.
Multidevice Support
During the past year, we were happy to announce that our browser was available on the Galaxy Watch 4, and even further, it runs entirely on the watch itself totally independently of the smartphone. This opens a set of new possibilities that we will be exploring in the upcoming year, like PWAs on your smartwatch, web design, UX new capabilities, and more.
We will also look closer to having better implementations on desktop (this is something that I personally been looking for) and improve the experience in other devices like tablets. Keep an eye on the upcoming announcements for more information.
Standards
Building bridges between the tech community and the W3C will continue to be a priority in 2022 besides continuing our work to facilitate the creation of standards.
Web XR
Recent upgrades of Aframe like WebXr Lighting Estimation API, facilitates doing high-quality AR on the web more than ever. And of course, we have to mention that thereās a new trend about it thanks to some new devices like Oculus 2 and whatās going on around the metaverse.
From our side, we will continue to take leadership in the standards for WebXR role by continuing to co-chair the Immersive Web Working Group. In addition to the standards, we will continue to support the WebXR APIs in our browser. Stay tuned as we look to support more Augmented Reality features.
To help developers we will also continue to make demos and contributions to popular libraries so they can get started building their own WebXR content.
Privacy
Samsung Internet makes a difference when itās about privacy, respecting usersā right to avoid tracking. In its latest version and one of the most important features related to privacy during 2021, it was added total support for *https *(secure) upgrades as a Labs feature. When you switch this feature on, the browser will automatically try to upgrade the connection to any website to secure https.
Our team also launched the Privacy Wizard, so you can be aware of how to use Samsung Internet and make the most of it in terms of privacy implementing features like Ad Blocking and Smart Anti-tracking.
In the upcoming year, privacy is still relevant, from promoting best practices and working with emergent privacy standards to keep developers updated about the latest regulations, you can hope to see more content about it on our platforms.
The Future of the Web?
A lot of people are speculating on the future of the web with emerging trends related to cryptocurrencies, smart contracts and decentralization. Weāre keeping an open mind about these trends but one thing is for sure: the future of the web must be rooted in ethics including accessibility, empowerment, and sustainability . We look forward to working with you to build this future, together, in 2022 and beyond. š„³
What are you expecting from the web in 2022? Which are your developer goals? Let us know in the comments!
