Netsurf 3DS: Difference between revisions

Netsurf 3DS
Netsurf 3DS
General
Author	coderman64
Type	Other Apps
Version	0.03
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2025/12/24
Links
	Download
	Website
	Source

Latest revision as of 04:43, 26 December 2025

NetSurf 3DS is a work-in-progress (WIP) modern-ish web browser for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a homebrew port of the NetSurf web browser, known for being portable and lightweight, functioning on less than 32MB of RAM without requiring third-party GUI libraries, thanks to its framebuffer front-end.

Features

What works:
- Browsing to webpages with SSL (HTTPS) <= 1.2 (which is better than the 3DS default browser with insecure SSL <= 1.1).
- submitting basic HTML forms (like Google's search bar).
- entering web addresses and values for text entries with the 3DS's system keyboard.
- PNG, JPEG, BMP, and GIF images.
- Basic HTML/CSS.
What doesn't work:
- Downloading files.
- Webpages are hopelessly mangled.
- NetSurf's super-basic JavaScript support doesn't yet compile and is disabled in the build process.
- WebP and SVG support doesn't exist since the required libraries have not been ported yet.
- FreeType font support is disabled in the build process (Enabling it yields an instant crash on startup), so only a simple built-in pixel-y font is provided.
- The "History" view does not work correctly.
- Only 16BPP color is currently supported (though you probably wouldn't notice, anyway).

Installation

NetSurf 3DS is available as a 3DSX or CIA file from releases:

nsfb.3dsx - NetSurf for 3DS as a 3DSX executable file
nsfb.cia - NetSurf for 3DS as a CIA installable archive
nsfb_himem.cia - NetSurf for 3DS as a CIA installable archive, using the 3DS's extended memory mode. This gives you 80MB of memory (instead of 64MB) at the cost of higher boot times, and certain 3DS system apps becoming unavailable while NetSurf is running. It is recommended that you use the other versions unless you find a website that needs the extra memory. Both nsfb.cia and nsfb_himem.cia should work identically on New3DS, but it is yet untested.

Screenshots

Media

3DSで動作する非公式webブラウザ【NetSurf 3DS】 (2ipper)

Changelog

v0.03

RomFS Support - resources will now be loaded from the app's own RomFS instead of from /share/netsurf on your SD card, meaning no more confusing zipfile extraction!
CIA support - NetSurf now has two CIA builds - nsfb.cia is the normal browser, while nsfb_himem.cia uses the 3DS's extended memory mode, allowing NetSurf to use 80MB of memory instead of 64MB, at the cost of longer boot times.

v0.02

NetSurf 3.11 on the 3DS! Now with SSL 1.2 support.

v0.01

First Release.

Credits

Thanks to the NetSurf developers for making such an awesome lightweight and portable browser.

Also thanks to DevkitPro 3DS for making the 3DS homebrew toolchain and library ports.

External links

GitHub - https://github.com/coderman64/netsurf-3ds
GBAtemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/wip-release-netsurf-3ds.649398/

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 |description=Homebrew web browser port for the Nintendo 3DS.
 |author=coderman64
-|lastupdated=2024/02/26
+|lastupdated=2025/12/24
 |type=Other Apps
-|version=0.02
+|version=0.03
 |license=Mixed
 |download=https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/3dshomebrews/netsurf3ds.7z
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 |image_alt=Netsurf 3DS
 }}
-NetSurf 3DS is a WIP modern-ish web browser to the 3DS! This is a is a homebrew port of the NetSurf web browser for the Nintendo 3DS. NetSurf is known for being portable and lightweight, functioning on less than 32MB of RAM, and does not require third-party GUI libraries due to its framebuffer front-end.
+NetSurf 3DS is a work-in-progress (WIP) modern-ish web browser for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a homebrew port of the [https://www.netsurf-browser.org/ NetSurf web browser], known for being portable and lightweight, functioning on less than 32MB of RAM without requiring third-party GUI libraries, thanks to its framebuffer front-end.
 ==Features==
-* It supports browsing to webpages with SSL (HTTPS) up to version 1.2.
+*What works:
-* Users can submit basic HTML forms and enter web addresses.
+**Browsing to webpages with SSL (HTTPS) <= 1.2 (which is better than the 3DS default browser with insecure SSL <= 1.1).
-* It can display PNG, JPEG, BMP, and GIF images, along with basic HTML/CSS.
+**submitting basic HTML forms (like Google's search bar).
+**entering web addresses and values for text entries with the 3DS's system keyboard.
-==What it will probably never do==
+**PNG, JPEG, BMP, and GIF images.
-NetSurf is a long way off from a Google Chrome replacement, and (given the processing and memory constraints) will never be close. Here are some things that people might ask about that are probably impossible:
+**Basic HTML/CSS.
+*What doesn't work:
-* Playing HTML5/WebGL, Java, or Flash games
+**Downloading files.
-* Playing YouTube videos or streaming movies (even though NetSurf has experimental video support in the code).
+**Webpages are hopelessly mangled.
-* Loading and running complex Web 2.0 applications like Google Docs, VS Code, Discord, etc.
+**NetSurf's super-basic JavaScript support doesn't yet compile and is disabled in the build process.
-* super accurate website rendering on par with desktop and mobile phone browsers.
+**WebP and SVG support doesn't exist since the required libraries have not been ported yet.
+**FreeType font support is disabled in the build process (Enabling it yields an instant crash on startup), so only a simple built-in pixel-y font is provided.
+**The "History" view does not work correctly.
+**Only 16BPP color is currently supported (though you probably wouldn't notice, anyway).
 ==Installation==
-NetSurf 3DS is currently only available as a .3DSX file. To install, copy the 3DSX file to your /3ds/ folder on your SD card. You will also need to download the resources.zip file, and extract the contents to /share/netsurf/.
+NetSurf 3DS is available as a 3DSX or CIA file from [https://github.com/coderman64/netsurf-3ds/releases releases]:
+* nsfb.3dsx - NetSurf for 3DS as a 3DSX executable file
-'''IMPORTANT: THE BROWSER WILL NOT WORK WITHOUT EXTRACTING THE RESOURCES TO /share/netsurf! (At some point, I'll probably look into packing these resources in the RomFS for the app, but for now, this works well enough)'''.
+* nsfb.cia - NetSurf for 3DS as a CIA installable archive
+* nsfb_himem.cia - NetSurf for 3DS as a CIA installable archive, using the 3DS's extended memory mode. This gives you 80MB of memory (instead of 64MB) at the cost of higher boot times, and certain 3DS system apps becoming unavailable while NetSurf is running. It is recommended that you use the other versions unless you find a website that needs the extra memory. Both nsfb.cia and nsfb_himem.cia should work identically on New3DS, but it is yet untested.
-==Media==
-'''3DSで動作する非公式webブラウザ【NetSurf 3DS】''' ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebow9P_gQ5g 2ipper]) <br>
-<youtube width=""640"">ebow9P_gQ5g</youtube>
 ==Screenshots==
 https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/3dshomebrews/netsurf3ds-01.png
 https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/3dshomebrews/netsurf3ds-02.png
 https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/3dshomebrews/netsurf3ds-03.png
+https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/3dshomebrews/netsurf3ds-04.png
-https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/3dshomebrews/netsurf3ds-04.png
+==Media==
+'''3DSで動作する非公式webブラウザ【NetSurf 3DS】''' ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebow9P_gQ5g 2ipper]) <br>
+<youtube width=""640"">ebow9P_gQ5g</youtube>
-==Known issues==
+==Changelog==
-* SSL implementation is partially broken (i.e. you can visit SSL websites, but you can't view the SSL certificate information)
+'''v0.03'''
-* some things (e.g. larger images) distort while scrolling.
+* RomFS Support - resources will now be loaded from the app's own RomFS instead of from <code>/share/netsurf</code> on your SD card, meaning no more confusing zipfile extraction!
-* Text is often cut off or wraps incorrectly
+* CIA support - NetSurf now has two CIA builds - <code>nsfb.cia</code> is the normal browser, while <code>nsfb_himem.cia</code> uses the 3DS's extended memory mode, allowing NetSurf to use 80MB of memory instead of 64MB, at the cost of longer boot times.
-* JavaScript support is disabled in the build process
-* Support for several media types is disabled. (SVG, WebP)
-==Changelog==
 '''v0.02'''
-*NetSurf 3.11 on the 3DS! Now with SSL 1.2 support!
+*NetSurf 3.11 on the 3DS! Now with SSL 1.2 support.
 '''v0.01'''
 * First Release.
-==Special Thanks==
+==Credits==
-Thanks to the [https://www.netsurf-browser.org/ NetSurf developers] for making such an awesome lightweight and portable browser! Also thanks to [[DevKitPro #DS]] for making the 3DS homebrew toolchain and library ports.
+Thanks to the [https://www.netsurf-browser.org/ NetSurf developers] for making such an awesome lightweight and portable browser.
+Also thanks to [https://devkitpro.org/ DevkitPro 3DS] for making the 3DS homebrew toolchain and library ports.
 == External links ==
-* Gbatemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/wip-release-netsurf-3ds.649398/
+* GitHub - https://github.com/coderman64/netsurf-3ds
-* Github - https://github.com/coderman64/netsurf-3ds
+* GBAtemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/wip-release-netsurf-3ds.649398/