Blisk is a freemium

Chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and h ...

-based

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

that aims to improve productivity and code quality by providing a wide array of tools for

Web development Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web application ...

and testing for different type of devices: desktop, tablet and mobile.

History

The latest generation of Blisk applications started with the release of version 14 which was announced by the Blisk team on January 15, 2021. With version 14, Blisk started using the new reworked application core, enabling to use simultaneously multiple devices in a synchronized mode (devices follow each other by

URL A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed as a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identifie ...

and Scroll position), full support of single-page applications, the possibilities to simulate different mobile networks, and control the device

caching In computing, a cache ( ) is a hardware or software component that stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster; the data stored in a cache might be the result of an earlier computation or a copy of data stored elsewher ...

. The initial beta release of Blisk for

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...

was announced on April 10, 2021, public Linux release and support of Linux-based OS ( Ubuntu,

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of De ...

Fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...

, OpenSUSE) was announced by the Blisk team on May 7, 2021.

Features

Blisk is the same as Chromium and Google Chrome in that it features a minimalistic user interface. For example, the merging of the address bar and search bar into the ''omnibox''. Blisk features the side-by-side view of a selected device and desktop content. The workspace can split in two with the device occupying the left-hand side, while the desktop content occupies the right one.

User interface

By default, the main

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

consists of tabs, address bar (Omnibox),

toolbar The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon) is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...

, toolbox, device content, splitter, and desktop content. Tabs are the main component of Blisk's

and located at the top of the window rather than below the controls. Presence and appearance of device and desktop contents are managed by the user and may vary depending on the tab. The Omnibox is a URL box that combines the functions of both the address bar and search box. If a user enters the URL of a site previously searched from, Blisk allows pressing ''Tab'' to search the site again directly from the Omnibox. When a user starts typing in the Omnibox, Blisk provides suggestions for previously visited sites (based on the URL or in-page text), popular websites (not necessarily visited before), and popular searches. Suggestions based on previously visited sites cannot be turned off. Blisk will also

autocomplete Autocomplete, or word completion, is a feature in which an application predicts the rest of a word a user is typing. In Android and iOS smartphones, this is called predictive text. In graphical user interfaces, users can typically press the tab ...

the URLs of sites visited often. If a user types keywords into the Omnibox that don't match any previously visited websites and presses enter, Blisk will conduct the search using the default search engine. Blisk's

includes Toggle Developer Mode button to the left, and Back, Forward, Refresh/Cancel buttons to the right. A Home button is not shown by default, but can be added through the Settings page to take the user to the new tab page or a custom home page. Browsing-Mode-and-Developer-Mode-in-Blisk

Browsing-Mode-and-Developer-Mode-in-Blisk

Workflow

Blisk is the software aimed to increase the performance of IT specialists while browsing the web or building and testing

web applications A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection. History In earlier computing models like client-serve ...

. The users are able to work in either Browsing Mode or Developer Mode on each tab. Both modes may be used simultaneously across different tabs.

Browsing and Developer Modes

Browsing Mode is used to look for something across the web and view

web content Web content is the text, visual or audio content that is made available online and user encountered as part of the online usage and experience on websites. It may include text, images, sounds and audio, online videos, among other items placed ...

and media. This mode displays same layout and behaves same as other popular web browsers like

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macO ...

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Microsoft Wind ...

Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge is a proprietary, cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft. It was first released in 2015 as part of Windows 10 and Xbox One and later ported to other platforms as a fork of Google's Chromium open-source project: Android ...

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

or Firefox. Developer Mode uses custom layout with menu and displays devices. This mode is used for

web development Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web application ...

and testing of

Developer Mode

Developer mode is an extended mode and includes the features for web development and testing. With enabled Developer mode, Blisk displays devices and additional interface elements and controls: menus, notifications, device panes, devices, dialog overlays, etc. To enable Developer mode, the user should click the Developer Mode button to the left of Omnibox. This opens the last used device set or launches Device Manager, where user can select devices to use in a Device Set. Devices are hidden by default unless the user selects a device from the Device Manager at the top right corner. In addition to Devices, Blisk offers Chrome-like desktop view that is a regular browser web view same as in

or Firefox. Development-domain-preview

Development Domain

For web development and testing purposes, the users may need to use Development Domain option in launched Developer Mode. After navigating Blisk to a specific domain (e.g. localhost), this option becomes available. Click the Development Domain button to add the current domain to the list of Development Domains. The next time the user navigates to a given development domain, Blisk automatically launches Developer Mode for it.

Device emulation

Blisk comes with a pre-installed set of phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops that can be simulated, making it easy for developers to test how their code renders across multiple devices and browsers. The feature can be used to compare how the design responds to different screen resolutions and pixel ratios. Device simulation enables developers to test the page behavior in various environments without having to rely on actual devices. Blisk's devices natively support original screen resolution, portrait or landscape orientation, device pixel ratio,

user agent In computing, a user agent is any software, acting on behalf of a user, which "retrieves, renders and facilitates end-user interaction with Web content". A user agent is therefore a special kind of software agent. Some prominent examples of u ...

, and touch events. As of May 2019, Blisk supports more than 50 devices for

and testing needs.

Phones

OSs OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

and iOS. Vendors: Apple Inc.,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

, LG,

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

, OnePlus. iOS devices: * iPhone SE (1st generation) *

iPhone SE 2020 The second-generation iPhone SE (also known as the iPhone SE 2 or the iPhone SE 2020) is a smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the 13th generation of the iPhone, alongside the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro/Pro ...

iPhone SE 2022 The third-generation iPhone SE (also known as the iPhone SE 3 or the iPhone SE 2022) is a smartphone designed and developed by Apple Inc. It is part of the 15th generation of the iPhone, alongside the iPhone 13 / 13 Mini and iPhone 13 Pro / ...

* iPhone 6s * iPhone 6s Plus * iPhone 7 *

iPhone 7 Plus The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are smartphones that were designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the tenth generation of the iPhone. They were announced on September 7, 2016, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San ...

* iPhone 8 *

iPhone 8 Plus The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They along with the iPhone X make up the 11th generation of the iPhone. The iPhone 8 was released on September 22, 2017, succeeding the iPhone 7 ...

* iPhone X * iPhone XR * iPhone XS * iPhone XS Max * iPhone 11 * iPhone 11 Pro *

iPhone 11 Pro Max The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Serving as the Apple's flagship models of the 13th-generation of iPhones, they succeeded the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, respectively, ...

* iPhone 12 Mini * iPhone 12 * iPhone 12 Pro * iPhone 12 Pro Max * iPhone 13 Mini * iPhone 13 * iPhone 13 Pro * iPhone 13 Pro Max * iPhone 14 * iPhone 14 Plus *

iPhone 14 Pro The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the sixteenth-generation flagship iPhones, succeeding the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. The devices were unveiled alongsi ...

* iPhone 14 Pro Max Android devices: * Nexus 4 *

Nexus 6 The Nexus 6 (codenamed Shamu) is a phablet co-developed by Google and Motorola Mobility that runs the Android operating system. The successor to the Nexus 5, it is the sixth smartphone in the Google Nexus series, a family of Android consume ...

Google Pixel Google Pixel is a brand of consumer electronic devices developed by Google that run either ChromeOS or the Android operating system. The Pixel brand was introduced in February 2013 with the first-generation Chromebook Pixel. The Pixel line in ...

* Google Pixel XL * Pixel 2 * Pixel 2 XL * Pixel 3 * Pixel 3 XL * Pixel 3a *

Pixel 3a XL The Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are a pair of Android (operating system), Android smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Google as part of the Google Pixel product line. They collectively serve as mid-range variants of the Pixel 3 and Pixe ...

* Pixel 4 * Pixel 4 XL * Pixel 5 * Pixel 6 * Pixel 6 Pro * LG G3 *

LG G6 The LG G6 is an Android smartphone developed by LG Electronics as part of the LG G series. It was announced during Mobile World Congress on February 26, 2017, as the successor to the 2016 LG G5. The G6 is distinguished by its 5.7-inch display, wh ...

* OnePlus 5T * Samsung Galaxy S III *

Samsung Galaxy S4 The Samsung Galaxy S4 is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as the fourth smartphone of the Samsung Galaxy S series and was first shown publicly on March 14, 2013, at Samsung Mobile Unpacked in New York City. It is the succes ...

* Samsung Galaxy S5 *

Samsung Galaxy S6 The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a line of Android-based smartphones manufactured, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Succeeding the Samsung Galaxy S5, the S6 was not released as a singular model, but instead in two variations unveiled a ...

* Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge * Samsung Galaxy S7 * Samsung Galaxy S8 * Samsung Galaxy S9 * Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus *

Samsung Galaxy S20 The Samsung Galaxy S20 is a series of Android-based smartphones designed, developed, marketed, and manufactured by Samsung Electronics as part of its Galaxy S series. They collectively serve as the successor to the Galaxy S10 series. The first t ...

* Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus * Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra * Samsung Galaxy S21 * Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus * Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra * Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Tablets

and

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product ...

. Vendors: Apple Inc.,

iPadOS devices: * iPad Mini * iPad Air Retina * iPad Pro 9.7-inch * iPad Pro 10.5-inch * iPad Pro 12.9-inch * iPad Pro 11-inch (2021) * iPad Pro 12 (2021) Android devices: * Nexus 7 * Nexus 10

Laptops

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

. Vendors: Apple Inc.,

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

devices: * MacBook Pro Retina *

MacBook Air The MacBook Air is a line of ultrabook computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It consists of a full-size keyboard, a machined aluminum case, and, in the more modern versions, a thin light structure. The Air was originally positi ...

* MacBook

devices: * Laptop 1366×768 * Laptop 1280×800

Desktops

and

. Desktops: * iMac Retina * 2560×1440 * 1920×1080 * 1440×900 With version 14, Blisk introduced the view called "Chrome-like desktop view" which replaced the previous Desktop view. The Chrome-like desktop view is a regular web view same as appears in other popular web browsers. In addition to the existing Device Manager, the Blisk team introduced an additional solution for fast device switching from the device panel. The feature was released with the patch 14.0.69.187.

Error Monitoring

With enabled Developer Mode, Blisk starts monitoring for page errors in

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...

and resources that failed to load across each launched devices. Whenever an error or a warning appears, Blisk displays a notification at the bottom left corner of each device panel. By clicking error notification, the user opens a window with the list of errors and warnings, that are grouped by text and may be sorted by type.

Capture

With enabled Developer Mode, the users may use different capturing options: take different types of screenshots or record a video of their screen. The user may take screenshots of the whole Device Set (all launched devices will appear on a screenshot) or take screenshot of a single device. Depending on the setting "Auto-upload to cloud storage" in Menu > Settings > Captures, the user is able to: * Upload the screenshot to the cloud storage. * Edit the screenshot in a dedicated tool called Image Editor. * Download the screenshot and save on the file system. The user is able to record a video of his screen with a limited duration. As of January 2021, the duration of a video recording is limited to 2 minutes. The video may be recorded in both Browsing and Developer Modes.The user may also switch between modes while recording a video of his screen.

Scroll synchronization

When looking at two different devices, developers can easily see how elements of their projects translate across devices with simultaneous scrolling, meaning if the user scrolls on his/her screen, Blisk also scrolls the same amount on the emulated device he/she chooses. The developer can focus on web development without needing to update the page manually every once in a while.

Blisk DevTools

Blisk DevTools is a set of web developer tools built directly into the Blisk application. DevTools help edit pages on-the-fly and diagnose problems quickly, which helps users build better websites, faster. With version 14.0.71.69 released on February 16, 2021, the Blisk team implemented: * Simultaneous usage of multiple Developer Tools * Developer tools docking * Inspecting HTML elements in a convenient way with Developer tools * Developer tools undocking into a separate window * Starting Developer tools in a separate window.

Page Auto-refresh

Blisk can automatically track changes to local code, and accordingly refresh the page, making development easier. Since version 3.1.62.192, Blisk can also automatically update website styling based on

file system In computing, file system or filesystem (often abbreviated to fs) is a method and data structure that the operating system uses to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, data placed in a storage medium would be one lar ...

changes to referenced CSS files. Page Auto-refresh uses low-level native system API to watch for changes in files and folders specified by the user. When a watched file or a folder gets modified, Blisk automatically refreshes web pages that are displayed on devices, making it easier for the developer to notice, how the new piece of code affects the visual appearance and functionalities of a web page.

Integration with Command line and other web browsers

With the release of version 16.0.79.98, Blisk team announced the new feature - integration with

Command Prompt Command Prompt, also known as cmd.exe or cmd, is the default command-line interpreter for the OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Microsoft Windows ( Windows NT family and Windows CE family), and ReactOS operating systems. On Windows CE .NET 4.2, Wi ...

and Terminal on

and

. Such integration made possible to launch Blisk with a custom device set from Command line. In addition, the users are able to specify the URL and device orientation for the device set. Integration with other web browsers is another feature that appeared with the release of version 16.0.79.98. Blisk team implemented the dedicated URL handler that recognizes Blisk links - custom URLs starting with blisk:// protocol. With installed Blisk URL handler, the users can launch Blisk with a custom device set from other browsers' address bar (Omnibox), extension, or bookmarklet.

Privacy

Incognito

Blisk features ''Incognito'' mode, which prevents the browser from permanently storing any

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

information or cookies from the websites visited. Incognito mode is similar to the private browsing feature in other web browsers. It doesn't prevent saving in all windows: "You can switch between an incognito window and any regular windows you have open. You'll only be in incognito mode when you're using the incognito window".

Speed

The

virtual machine In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization/ emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized har ...

used by Blisk inherited from

, the V8 JavaScript engine, has features such as '' dynamic code generation'', ''hidden class transitions'', and '' precise garbage collection''.

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Blisk documentation

Latest release: new features and list of improvements
{{web browsers Web browsers Web development