is an implementation of Arc's Easels possible?

[aleislost]

Hello!

I was wondering if an implementation of something that does what Arc's easels do is possible, basically letting you create an special customizable tab that lets you take snippets of different websites that update in real time. This was a major feature that attracted me to Arc initially, before the whole chromium thing and then noticing easels are not even available on Windows and then uninstalling instantly.
This is such a major thing that caught my attention first time with Arc, and when i discovered this browser I instantly wondered if this would be possible or was implemented already, to my surprise it wasn't, so i figured "Well, I'll suggest it myself"

_{I dunno what is your stance of your project being compared to other browsers or being suggested features from those, so I'm just curious}

[12th-devs]

+1

[wnffldktm]

I don't find it's worth to add feature like that, Easel in that Chromium-based browser just like Whiteboard, no?

[12th-devs]

Yes, but you can basically take screenshots and add them to it all in one click (2 if you crop) from what I understand, and I think that could be useful. But what would ik, I'm a windows user and they forgot we existed like the rest of the community...

[aleislost]

The beauty of easels lie in the fact they are screenshots but live. You get live information and updates from the pages they belong from.
So say you set an easel tab as the start page, then you can have information like weather, live news, notifications from websites, and practically anything.

For example, my use would be putting on display the progress of some projects I personally follow like pretendo.network, game development, etc without having to look for the website every time but just having it accessible after booting up

[aleislost]

Rebumping this one to see if we can get more eyes on it!! Really aching for this to be considered for implementation

[kunkanader]

Basically easels are like split tabs on steroids where you can fit much more than 4 tabs on your screen by choosing only specific parts of your chosen pages to be shown. I.e instead of showing you the whole page, easel only shows you what you have selected on that page, like a small window, thus allowing much more pages to be shown at once on the same page with only with specific info you are interested in.
This feature is very demanding, performance-wise and devtime-wise as I imagine numerous possible bugs related to it.

[aleislost]

I figured as much. If anything it would be extremely low-priority I assume

[ProgrammerManSudjo]

+1

[ProgrammerManSudjo]

Really looking forward to this feature as well, finding it really cool that I can take notes directly in the browser.
As mainly my work and general note taking is done through Obsidian, but having it implemented would be amazing.
And most of all, I own a drawing tablet which could aid in this feature a lot for those kind of power users.

Edit: Spell checks and Formatting

[SmallCaps]

Coming from Arc browser, Easels are one of the first things I was rooting for when I switched to Zen browser

[niderhoff]

I am personally would welcome it if Zen kept its feature set more minimal. Arc had so many things I didn't want to use and that were annoying. I hope that even if such fancy features are included, it would be possible to completely disable/hide from the UI.

This feels like a good fit for a browser extension.

[ProgrammerManSudjo]

I agree, perhaps it's best implemented as a Zen Mod or an extension that can be toggled.
Perhaps through about:config as well, in Settings such as "Firefox Labs".

I've always loved this about Zen Browser. When they add a new feature they always include options for the user to pick. Such as transparency, hex colors in newest update, etc.

Even if they don't include the Easel feature, I wanted to mention that this browser is amazing. I've never eagerly read release notes for each update until this browser. ^-^

[myudak]

why not just implement this with extensions?

[mustansirgodhrawala]

+1

[ProgrammerManSudjo]

+1

[aleislost]

Bumping this again hoping for extra eyes on it!

[DMrepo]

Like everyone else here, Arc's "Easels" were one of the biggest buy-ins for me. I'm actually surprised this feature isn't more requested.

If it's too niche and not worth developing for free, I'd pitch in to pay for it if that's what's needed to get the ball rolling.

What's the price tag? 💸

[DMrepo]

This is exactly what Easels are straight from the Arc Demo Video 👍🏻

[aleislost]

This reminds me a lot of the infinite whiteboard from Canva, being able to import images, add text, shapes, strokes, etc within an unlimited canvas, just even more useful since you can import live updates, and it could be useful if you could potentially "freeze" and/or lock snapshots so they don't update unless manually

[DMrepo]

whats the spesific feature easels is? i can try to make that with extension, i actually successfully make the auto archive/close feature from arc to zen with extension, so can i ask whats specific detail "arc easel" feature is?

@myudak From the descriptions everyone have provided, do you think this is something that falls within your remit? 🙏🏻

[myudak]

soo isnt the easel feature basically just a drawing board like tldraw or excalidraw?
the one part that confuses me is the live snapshot like, is it just using an iframe under the hood or something more? because if that’s the case, a lot of sites block iframe embedding with x-frame-options, so i’m not sure how arc gets around that, also im on windows so i dont really use/ cant check the arc easel feature

so just to recap the easel is essentially a whiteboard/canvas with features like

• dragging in live webpage previews (snapshots)
• positioning them freely
• optional updates/live refresh (?)
• visual bookmarking, like moodboards

if that’s the case, then the core thing is like the live snapshot + canvas combo, right?

[SmallCaps]

Yes and what makes it convenient is the way it is integrated. For instance: you're on a webpage where one particular element or picture is selected and snapshoted, instead of just saving it as a screenshot, you have a popup that asks if you want to create a new easel or add it to an existing easel.
Also you can have multiple easels and they behave just like a tab and can be pinned.

[luismpcmagalhaes]

Easel's were the reason I was so excited about Arc in the first place, and the reason I stuck with Arc on Windows up until its recent abandoning of new feature development, even when Windows never got to parity with Mac...
That brought me to Zen Browser and I have to say I'm intrigued and already enjoying simple things like added customization options for tab colors and texture and the ability to customize or mod so many different aspects of the browser.

Notes canvas with live website snapshots is a dream for organizing my workflows. And everything embedded in the ease and access of the browser is the cherry on top. But I understand it might be complex to develop and not everyone would see its usefulness.

I believe that Zen mods handle css only, so I don't think that's a viable option.
I've tried searching for equivalent products online, but I've come up short.
Another possibility would be an extension indeed.

Zen brings a lot of the beauty, ease and quality of life features Arc had with added customization on top. I'd really like to consider the change but I'm currently split. And I do also understand that the stability of its core features is a priority. Really looking forward to the folders implementation planned to arrive soon.
But with Easels, a lot of the folders organization could easily be converted into something more personal and customized to one's preferences.