I built my first real APP: I call it the Photon Browser.

[mikelewis]

This is not a production grade app and I've not fully tested it out but I do like it so I thought I would share it on the DU.

I wrote some literature on it and made a video so you can see how it works.

I think it's cool. You can chat in real time, browse pages with others in real time and even download files to anyone in your chatroom instantly, just drag and drop. And this is fast! I used a special algorithm to strip out all the bullshit and so all you get is a web page with no trackers or cookies or any of that shit. Sorry... stuff.

Anyway... please try it out and try to break it. As I said it's just a test so don't expect it to be perfect and I doubt it will react well to Apple products so I would advise Chrome or Edge... they both seemed to work fine.

So here's the literature... it's really just a sales ad as I don't really intend to give up the secret sauce... LOL

photon-browser.glitch.me|photon-browser.glitch.me

Photon Browser – Your All-in-One Collaborative Window

Why juggle half-a-dozen apps when you can browse, share files, and chat together in one clean tab? **Photon Browser** distills real-time teamwork down to a single, instantly sharable session—no installs, no logins, no compromises.

---
1. Spin-Up Sessions in Seconds

* One-Click Start – Tap New, copy the six-character code, and you’re live.
* Truly Ephemeral – When the last person leaves, every byte disappears—no crumbs, no archives.
* Guest-Friendly – Anyone with the code can join from any modern browser. Nothing to install, nothing to remember.

---

2. Shared Browsing That Just Works

* Beam Any URL – Paste a link, press Beam, and everyone’s viewport updates in lock-step.
* Progressive Rendering – Content paints as it arrives, so the group never stares at a blank page.
* Click-Sync Control – Let anyone steer, or lock navigation to a host—your call.

---

3. Drag-and-Drop File Transfer

* Instant Streaming – Drop a file and watch the unified progress bar glide on every participant’s screen.
* Size-Agnostic – From quick screenshots to hefty decks, transfers start the moment you let go.
* One-Tap Save – Recipients click once; the file lands in their downloads, ready to open.

---

4. Built-In Chat & Activity Feed

* Unified Timeline – Messages, beamed pages, and file events flow into the same scrollable feed.
* Zero Distraction – Stay at the conversation’s edge while reading older posts; auto-scroll resumes when you’re ready.
* Lightweight & Snappy – No emoji bloat or sluggish history loads—just fast text.

---

5. Ultra-Responsive by Design

* Client-Light, Server-Smart – Heavy lifting happens off the browser thread, so even low-power devices stay fluid.
* Instant Feedback – Every action—Beam, file drop, chat—echoes back in under a blink.
* Network-Adaptive – Happy on gigabit Ethernet, graceful on café Wi-Fi.

---

6. Privacy That Makes Sense

* No Accounts, No Footprints – Sessions live in memory and self-destruct on exit.
* Host-It-Yourself Option – Point Photon Browser at your own server and keep every packet on-prem.
* Zero Tracking – No cookies, no pixels, no “helpful” analytics.

---

7. A Layout That Gets Out of Your Way

* Two-Pane Workflow – Sidebar for controls, chat, and transfers; full-width pane for the shared site.
* Responsive Everywhere – From ultrawide monitors to handheld tablets, Photon re-flows elegantly.
* Accessibility First – Focus rings, semantic labels, and keyboard shortcuts keep the experience inclusive.

---

Try It in Under 60 Seconds

1. Open your Photon Browser link.
2. Click New and copy the session code.
3. Send the code to teammates—no install required.
4. Paste a URL to Beam a page, drag in a file, and type a chat message.

Done. You’re collaborating.

---

Why Photon Browser?

Teams lose momentum when they flip between chat, links, and file shares. Photon Browser fuses them into a single, zero-friction space: start fast, focus together, end cleanly. If you’ve ever said “Wait—what tab are you on?” or hunted for “the latest PDF” in a chat log, you already know why Photon matters.

Give it a whirl. See how effortless real-time web collaboration can be when everything lives in one elegant window.

So that was just the eventual sales literature, I think. I don't know if it will actually every evolve beyond this toy. I hope you can find some time to try it out and use it if it's helpful.

Glitch is closing it's hosting so I will be migrating to Render soon. That will be free as well so you can use it as much as you like...

Enjoy

[mikelewis]

1. I was thinking maybe some DU'ers could use it to chat amonst yourselves....

You know, meet up and just cruise web pages together and chat.

You could set the Id as DU_Chatgroup or whatever and then browse DU pages or even make fun of other sites together... do we still hate Freepers? LOL!

While it's totally possible that I could have put all sorts of tracking on the system, I did not... so take that for what it's worth and do not share anything sensitive or personal that you don't want others to steal.

This is the most unsniffable system I could devise so your data is as ephemeral as possible... it's only alive as long as you are in a session. You of course can save the data and any files that are transmitted are shared with everyone... so be careful what you open up and what you send.

This is not a 'safe' system in that regard at all. It's basically a live wire and you can play with it as much as you like for for free.

I do think it would be cool if you could find a real use for it... I think it's a very useful tool.

I plan on making video streaming a real feature so everyone can see the exact same pixels at the same time. It's not as hard as it sounds but I need to work on the execution but I think that would be awesome... drag and drop a video or stream a live video and everyone sees it all at the same time.

Anyway... I hope you enjoy it and use it as a tool. Don't abuse it by watching pornos with a lot of your weird freinds... seriously? Is that what technology has become?

LOL.