Show HN: Tilefinch – a from-scratch* web browser for the PSP (333Mhz, 64MB RAM)

A developer released Tilefinch, a from-scratch web browser that runs entirely on a PSP-3000 with a 333MHz processor and 64MB of RAM, handling networking, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, layout and rendering over Wi-Fi with no proxy or companion computer. Tilefinch uses new C code for its style, layout, paint, media and UI layers plus a patched QuickJS for JavaScript, and caps each page at a single 32MB budget covering DOM, JavaScript, CSS, images, layout and tiles. The browser renders logged-out ChatGPT responses, plays YouTube and HTML video through the PSP's hardware decoder at up to 360p, and supports Canvas 2D and WebGL 1 on the PSP's graphics chip, though some sites are too large and most pages render slowly.

I picked up my PSP for the first time in about a decade and wanted to find out three things: how far the hardware could be pushed, how much of the modern web fits on it, and what today’s coding agents can do. A web browser tests all three. Tilefinch runs entirely on a PSP-3000: networking, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, layout and rendering, over Wi-Fi, with no proxy or companion computer. The style, layout, paint, media and UI layers are new C code and a patched QuickJS runs the JavaScript. Each page gets a single 32 MB budget covering DOM, JavaScript, CSS, images, layout and tiles. A few things that work: logged-out ChatGPT rendering a response; YouTube and HTML video through the PSP’s hardware decoder, at up to 360p; Canvas 2D and WebGL 1 on the PSP’s graphics chip the repo includes a new 3D tank game as a demo . There's also modern browser features like Reader mode, dark mode, an ad blocker, language packs and in-app updates. However, some sites are too large in which the browser offers a "Basic" mode and most are slow to render. Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046459 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046459 Points: 1 Comments: 0