10 Native Features Every Browser Ought to Have

Web browsers serve as our gateways to the internet. Despite their significance and longevity, their development has been rather sluggish. However, the introduction of features like Firefox Hello, Chrome Task Manager, and the cutting-edge functionalities in Microsoft Edge have illustrated the immense potential for improvement.

Looking forward, there is great potential for even more features that would enhance browsing, making it more convenient and user-friendly. In this article, I’ll be sharing ten features that I’m eager to see in future browser versions.

1. Instant Link Previews

Have you ever tried Wikiwand, the modernized version of Wikipedia? There’s a feature I absolutely adore there – link previews. This concept has gained popularity across various platforms, such as operating systems and even YouTube, where hovering over the progress bar allows you to view video frame previews.

Imagine this: a fantastic addition to your web browsing experience. Picture this: as you glide your cursor over a text link, the webpage it leads to pops up, giving you a sneak peek. How cool is that? It’s like getting a preview before you commit to clicking.

And, it’d be really cool to have this preview for browser tabs too.

2. Page Minimaps

A lot of text editors have this neat feature: a little box, usually in the top-right corner, that shows you the whole page. You can slide a marker on this map to quickly jump to different parts of the page.

Just think about having this in web browsers. It would make it way easier to move around long web pages, so you wouldn’t have to scroll and search so much.

3. Side Tabs: A Better Way to Keep Things Organized

Like many of you, I often find myself drowning in a sea of open browser tabs. If you’ve ever been in this predicament, you know how frustrating it can be trying to keep track of them all. Well, fear not! I’ve got a nifty solution for you: side tabs, also known as vertical tabs.

Instead of constantly squinting at the tiny labels stacked on top of each other or tediously clicking through tab after tab, side tabs offer a breath of fresh air. Picture this: a neat and orderly view of all your tabs, conveniently situated on the side of your screen.

Now, I must note that Opera dabbled with side tabs at one point, but unfortunately, they took it away after a short time. Thankfully, there are browser extensions available that can bring back this much-needed feature. However, wouldn’t it be fantastic if the major desktop browsers just included it as a standard option?

Lately, the design world has been buzzing with the idea of side menus and vertical layouts. It seems that users are growing fond of this trend, and rightfully so. So, join me in the quest for better organization and let’s make side tabs the new norm!

4. Conveniently Accessible Pinned Tabs

When I’m doing online research, it’s really helpful to have tabs that I can easily access and keep open. I can picture having one or two tabs always there on my browser screen, so I can quickly refer to them while I’m browsing other tabs. It’s kind of like when you’re using the YouTube app on your phone – the video player stays on the screen while you look for other videos.

5. Clear Indicators for Different Types of Links

Let’s talk about making it easier to understand the different types of links. By “link types,” I mean the differences between links that take you to another page on the same website (internal links) and links that take you to a different website (external links). I’m also referring to links that lead to specific types of files, like PDFs, as well as files that your browser can’t open and are automatically downloaded.

It’s helpful to have clear indicators for internal and external links so that you know if you’re staying on the same website or going to a different one. And it would be especially useful to see icons or notifications for different file types, especially for files that your browser can’t open and are instead downloaded.

6. The Cookie Law Warning

Hey there! Did you know about the Cookie Law? It’s a privacy law that says websites need your permission to store or retrieve any information on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. Yep, that means things like cookies or HTML local storage or any other type of data collection and storage. But don’t worry, they have to let you know and ask for your consent before doing it.

Some websites have already added this feature, but wouldn’t it be great if it was built into browsers? That way, whenever a website wants to collect or store data on your device, you’d get a friendly little warning at the top or bottom of your browser. Not only does this help you, but it also makes things easier for developers.

7. Get a Close-Up View of Any Text

Imagine if you could zoom in on any part of the text you want to see more clearly. Wouldn’t that be helpful? Some Android phones have a double-tap feature that allows you to zoom in, but it would be great if everyone could enjoy this feature in their web browsers.

8. Make Links and Buttons Look the Same

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a link and a button. Usually, when you hover over a link, the mouse cursor changes to a pointing hand to show that it’s a clickable link. Why not make this the standard cursor for buttons too? And if there are other elements that would benefit from this cursor, let’s include them as well.

9. Limit the Number of Tabs You Can Open

Imagine if you could control how many tabs you have open with a “Restricted Tab Mode.” There are already extensions available for Chrome and Firefox that let you set a maximum number of open tabs. This feature can be really helpful in reducing distractions and helping us focus on specific tasks. It would be great if this feature was included as a standard option in all browsers.

10. Quick Return to Top Button

Minimaps may not work well on small screens, but a small “go to top” button in the corner could be really handy. The Safari mobile browser already has a feature where you can tap once at the top of the screen to quickly go back to the start of the page. This would save us a lot of scrolling, and it would be fantastic to see this feature in all mobile browsers.

Discover More:

If you want to try out new web browsers, check out these other options:

• 20 Lesser-Known Web Browsers for Windows
• 13 Unique Web Browsers for Smartphones
• 10 Top Offline Browsers for Windows