When I started Firn, I wanted to answer one question: does anyone else want a browser like this? Calm, simple, with vertical tabs and spaces, but without the learning curve.
Electron was the quickest way to find out. It let me build a real browser for Windows and Mac fast, and you answered the question. You downloaded it, tried it, and wrote to tell me what you liked and what you missed. Thank you. That's why there's a next step at all.
But the things you asked for most, and the things I want most, are things Electron can't really give me:
- Lighter on your Mac. WebKit is the engine Safari uses. Electron carries a full copy of Chrome's engine inside the app. A native Firn should be easier on your battery and your memory.
- A real Mac app. Two-finger swipe back and forward, Mac scrolling, real menus, and Apple's own Liquid Glass instead of an imitation of it.
- Your password manager, properly. Apple Passwords, 1Password, and Bitwarden can work with a native app the way they're meant to.
- Extensions. Lots of you asked. Electron supports only a small part of what extensions need, and I couldn't make them work well. Apple's engine has its own support for web extensions, so this is something I can actually work toward.
- Firn on your phone. On the iPhone, every browser has to use Apple's WebKit engine. A Firn for iPhone was always going to be a separate, native app.
- Sync through your own iCloud. Your spaces and Basecamp on your Mac and your phone, encrypted, with no Firn server in the middle. I never see it.
So I had to choose a platform to build the real thing on. I chose Apple: a native Mac app, written in Swift, on WebKit. It's the one path that leads to Firn on the Mac, the iPhone, and the iPad, sharing one foundation, with sync between them.
What this means for Windows
I'm one person building Firn with Claude, and I can't build two browsers well. So the Windows version stops here, at version 0.11.0. It keeps working, but it won't get updates, including security fixes. Over the next few months, please move to a browser that's still updated.
This was the hardest part of the decision. Many of you found Firn on Windows. I'm sorry, and I'm grateful you gave it a try.
The Windows code stays open under the MPL-2.0 license, in its own archived repo, firn-legacy. If you'd like to carry it on, you're welcome to.
If Firn grows and I can find help, I'd love to come back to Windows one day, built properly. No promises, but it's not a closed door.
What's next
The new Firn for Mac is coming soon. It's a fresh start, so nothing carries over from the old app. iPhone and iPad come once the Mac app is settled, then sync.