Hello Product Hunt!
We're really excited to share NOVA with you today and get all your feedback.
Google Chrome was launched more than 10 years ago and it still works exactly the same way (although the way we work has drastically changed). We now live online and always work using our browser, we don't really use our OS anymore, our web browsers have actually become the real Operating System which we use to access the programs we need. If so, why doesn't it behave like such?
Introducing NOVA, a web browser where you interact with your webapps using an OS-like interface, with icons, badges and windows. Add new apps using the App Store or turn any website you want into an app through Vintage Browser.
Although the product is not finished (we want to add plugins support, SSO, cookie sync, better integrations...) we wanted to share our MVP with you ASAP to get the most feedback possible and improve NOVA as fast as we can.
Please ask any question you might have, @javiergarmon and I will love to answer absolutely any doubt or suggestion you might have!
Thank you!
@javiergarmon@robby2023 Hi, first of all congrats on the concept, I think browsers are due a refresh (no pun intended).
I installed the Windows 10 version and the first thing I got is a login prompt, with no way to go around it. I feel this was not communicated at all in the presentation or on the website, and also nowhere does it say why I -must- have an account.
Especially since it's an MVP, It would be nice if access is unrestricted, so as many people try it out. I don't want to create an account for no reason, so I'll wait until there is more information about the authentication requirement, or (preferably) there is a way to skip it.
@robby2023 Thanks @serbancarjan !
We've been thinking a lot about this first initial sensation. NOVA is based on horbito (which is free too) and for having a Cloud based environment it's neccesary to have an account in the service.
As you has metioned, that first impresion is tough. We're going to work on that ASAP. Thank you for your feedback!
@javiergarmon@robby2023 Hi Guys! I just LOVE the presentation of the product & the design of the app. I installed Horbito nova, but it looks more like a new OS rather than a new browser. Am I wrong?
@javiergarmon@robby2023 I mean, site specific browsers have been around for a while... so I'm struggling to imagine how you call this is "the first web browser where you interact with your webapps using an OS-like interface, with icons, badges and windows".
@iTod built his own browser generator called Fluid 11 years ago...
@javiergarmon@franz1 Thank you so much Franz!! It does look more like a new OS indeed, it's a web browser with an OS-like interface. Instead of accessing the apps through a URL you would add them using the App Store or turn them into apps using "Add to taskbar" inside Vintage Browser.
Then, when you boot NOVA you would open and interact with the apps in a very similar way you would use a compuer. We believe it makes much more sense to interact with webapps this way today instead of the traditional way of changing through hundreds of tabs.
is this a chromium based? what about apps that would work better with extensions on chrome? does this support that?
EDIT: I am enjoying it so far, but please find a way to manage the taskbar, or at least allow me to drag and drop. Managing the taskbar and windows is lil bit nightmare here. Also, please allow managing cookies and history as well, or maybe an omnisearch to look for history and windows/ tabs management.
Also, I use Google to log in to Raindrop and Raindrop failed to open the login window of Google. Spotify is unable to play music in there. Any fixes?
@jake_tran Hello Jake! Yes, we're based on Chromium so every webapp will work as fast as it does in Google Chrome. We're currently working on supporting plugins from the Chrome Store, which plugins would you love to have available?
You can manage the taskbar using right click over the icons and selecting (remove from taskbar or move up/down), same if you right click over the icons in the launchpad (add to taskbar). We know drag&drop would be more convenient but we wanted to launch the MVP as fast as we could!
@jake_tran Regarding the Google error while trying to log in to Rainfrop I'll report it to my team so we can discover what's happening.
About Spotify, we're having issues with DRM but we've already managed to talk with Google to get Widevine support so it will be fixed in a few days! :)
@robby2023 Hi there, thank u for replying. For now, I just uninstalled it because its still not responsive enough for my daily usage (I'm a Windows user btw). But I am very looking forward to it. The reason that I do, and also prefer this over Station.io because you guys don't forget the root: that it is still a web browser. The problem w/ Station is, there are times, I still need to wandering around the web, and go to pages that are not necessarily apps. So kudos for you guys add tabs to apps and still have a browser in there
And also, because of my fast workflow, I find the current interactions for managing taskbar is still a burden for me, since I add like tons of apps on it. Maybe also considering tab and bookmark management since I could easily open 20+ sth tabs lol. However, i think i already subscribe to you guys, so I will keep an eye on this closely.
For plugins, for now, I would probably need adblock, some security plugins, and official plugins that support all the apps in your app store. Yes, I know its a tall task but keep em' coming lol.
@jake_tran Amazing feedback, you're awesome! Everything you mentioned is actually in our product roadmap so we'll slowly get there. I'm sending you a message right now because I would LOVE to test with you new ideas or features and get such an amazing feedback.
Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm sure you'll find some improvements as you use NOVA, please don't hesitate contacing us so we can improve the product!
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Great tool!
Pros:Its dynamic, quick and helps me get my shit done more efficiently
Cons:I haven't found any yet. If there are some, I bet devs will get it sorted in no time.
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