You can now build an open source browser based on Chrome for Android code

by Mic Wright — in Design & Dev

You can now build an open source browser based on Chrome for Android code
© TNW

If you were itching to build an open source browser for Android, you can now do it using a practically all the code from Chrome for Android.

As Venture Beat spotted, Google has uploaded the bulk of the remaining code into the open source Chromium repository.

So. Much. Tech.

Some of the biggest names in tech are coming to TNW Conference in Amsterdam this May.

Learn more

The open-source browser shares a lot of the same code as Google Chrome and often serves as the proving ground for new and experimental services.

Chromium was pretty much a desktop-only deal until now, but the Chrome for Android team tipped their hand in a Reddit AMA last week, promising an open source version “soon!”

And it turns out “soon” is today. A Chrome for Android engineer announced that “Chrome for Android is now almost entirely open-source” in another Reddit post.

The almost part means that any Chromium Android browser you compile using the code can’t include a handful of media codecs and proprietary Google features. You can dig into more details here.

➀ Chromium Code Review [via Venture Beat]

Read next: This Google Hangouts Chrome app update is worth getting

Read next: Announcing TNW Conference USA 2015: We’re coming back to the greatest city on earth

Shh. Here's some distraction

Comments