Foamium Browser

A fast, lightweight, and native web browser for Linux built with Rust.

Overview

Foamium is a modern web browser that combines the power of WebKit with a beautiful native interface. Built from the ground up using Rust, it delivers a secure and efficient browsing experience that feels right at home on your Linux desktop.

Release Channels

Foamium is available in three release channels:

Channel	Description	Stability
Foamium Nightly	Daily development builds with cutting-edge features	Experimental
Foamium Beta	Pre-release builds for testing before stable	Testing
Foamium	Production-ready stable releases	Stable

Nightly Launch

Foamium Nightly is launching today and will receive weekly updates. Download the latest version from the releases page to get the latest features and bug fixes.

Features

• Tabbed Browsing: Manage multiple web pages with ease using our intuitive tab system
• Modern Navigation: Fast and responsive navigation controls (Back, Forward, Reload)
• Smart Address Bar: Quickly navigate to any website with site security indicators
• Site Info Panel: View connection security status and manage cookies
• Bookmarks & History: Persistent bookmarks and browsing history
• Native Interface: Beautiful, Adwaita-styled UI that integrates seamlessly with GNOME
• Performance: Built with Rust for speed, safety, and efficiency
• WebKit Engine: Powered by WebKitGTK 6.0 for full HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript support

Installation

Using the GUI Installer

The easiest way to install Foamium is using the graphical installer:

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/foxcomputer/foamium.git
cd foamium

# Run the Nightly installer (default)
cargo run -p foamium_installer

# Or run the Beta/Stable installer
cargo run -p foamium_installer --no-default-features --features beta
cargo run -p foamium_installer --no-default-features --features stable

The installer will:

• Build the release binary
• Install to /usr/local/bin/
• Set up desktop integration
• Install the application icon

Manual Installation

See Building from Source below.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+T	Open new tab
Ctrl+W	Close current tab
Ctrl+R or F5	Reload current page
Alt+Left or Alt+Backspace	Navigate back
Alt+Right	Navigate forward
Ctrl+L	Focus address bar
Ctrl+Tab	Switch to next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Switch to previous tab
Ctrl+H	Open History
Ctrl+B	Open Bookmarks
Ctrl+D	Toggle bookmark for current page
Ctrl+Q	Quit Foamium

Building from Source

Prerequisites

Fedora/RHEL:

sudo dnf install gcc gtk4-devel webkit2gtk4.1-devel libadwaita-devel webkitgtk6.0-devel

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install build-essential libgtk-4-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libadwaita-1-dev

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S base-devel gtk4 webkit2gtk-4.1 libadwaita

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/foxcomputer/foamium.git
   cd foamium

2. Build for your desired channel:

   # Nightly (default)
   cargo build --release -p foamium_app
   
   # Beta
   cargo build --release -p foamium_app --no-default-features --features beta
   
   # Stable
   cargo build --release -p foamium_app --no-default-features --features stable

3. Run Foamium:

   ./target/release/foamium_app

Development

Foamium is organized as a Rust workspace:

Crate	Description
foamium_app	Main browser application (GTK4/Libadwaita + WebKitGTK)
foamium_installer	GUI installer for all release channels
foamium_net	Network utilities (legacy)
foamium_dom	DOM parser (legacy)
foamium_css	CSS parser (legacy)
foamium_layout	Layout engine (legacy)
foamium_render	Rendering utilities (legacy)

Development Status

Current Version: Alpha

Foamium is in active development. Core browsing functionality is stable, with new features being added continuously.

Roadmap to Beta 1.0

Target: January 2nd, 2026

• Bookmarks manager
• Browsing history
• Site security indicators
• Cookie management
• Download manager
• Settings and preferences
• Custom search engines
• Privacy enhancements

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Whether it's bug reports, feature requests, or code contributions, feel free to get involved.

License

MIT License - Open source for everyone!

Contact

Email: hellofox.computer@proton.me

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Note: Foamium is in active development. While we strive for stability, expect occasional bugs and missing features in this alpha release.