Blisk a developer focused browser

Blisk is a relatively new web browser based on Chromium that has been designed specifically to make the live of developers easier and more productive.

The browser is provided as an early preview version that is currently only available for Windows. The developers promised to release a Mac version next month, and that a Linux version is also in the making.

Another thing to consider before using the browser is that several of the features highlighted on the official site are not yet implemented as well.

When you start Blisk for the first time a short tutorial is displayed on the screen that highlights major differences between the browser and other web browsers used for development.

Blisk browser

Probably most interesting right now from a developer perspective is the browser's synced view mode that displays a web page in the browser and an emulated mobile device at the same time.

This means that any action you make in either view is automatically carried out in the other as well. Click on an article link to open the new page in both views, scroll and the scrolling happens in both as well, and code changes that you make are also visible in both views directly.

Blisk ships with mobile device presets that you can switch between. This includes mobile phones andd tablets, and there devices such as the Google Nexus 10, Apple iPhone 6 or the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Some popular devices that were released recently are missing but the overall selection of mobile devices that you can test a web page with is quite good.

Blisk video

Auto refresh is another feature that is already supported besides scroll sync. Basically, what it allows you to do is configure Blisk to monitor directories for changes to refresh the web page automatically if changes are noticed.

The developers are working on four additional features that they plan to make available at a later point in time:

• Screenshots to take screenshots manually or automatically, and to save them locally or in the cloud.
• Analytics to measure websites performance and compatibility.
• Integration which enable you to use project management tools and bug trackers using the browser.
• Blisk Cloud, a cloud-based service to store data and make it available anywhere.
• Video captures
• Errors

The last two features are not explained on the Blisk website currently. Video captures could be an extension of the screenshot functionality, and Errors a module to log web page errors and make them more visible to the developer.

Since Blisk is Chromium-based, all developer tools that are available for Chromium are also accessible if you are using Blisk.

Closing Words

The sync and auto refresh features make Blisk an interesting option for some development or design tasks already.

It is probably getting a boost when Mac and Linux versions and the missing but already advertised features are released.