Rick Byers
@rbyers.net
Web Platform engineer at Google on the Chrome team, helping the open web to thrive.
Opinions are my own, not my employer's.
Opinions are my own, not my employer's.
Reposted by Rick Byers
This is the best explanation of the interplay of specs, tests, and implementations that I've read.
The point of both specs and tests is interoperable implementations, but that doesn't mean that implementations are always right when they agree.
The point of both specs and tests is interoperable implementations, but that doesn't mean that implementations are always right when they agree.
My colleague @atbrakhi.bsky.social wrote a nice, cleverly titled post based on a very short exchange we had on Instagram the other day...
www.atbrakhi.dev/blog/browser...
www.atbrakhi.dev/blog/browser...
Browsers Situationship: When Browsers Agree but the Spec Doesn’t | Atbrakhi's Blog
What came first: browsers or specifications? Why are specifications important? Why do we sometimes change a specification instead of browsers? What matters most: the specification or the user experien...
www.atbrakhi.dev
September 23, 2026 at 10:33 AM
This is the best explanation of the interplay of specs, tests, and implementations that I've read.
The point of both specs and tests is interoperable implementations, but that doesn't mean that implementations are always right when they agree.
The point of both specs and tests is interoperable implementations, but that doesn't mean that implementations are always right when they agree.
Happy 25th birthday @igalia.com. I am so inspired by the lasting value you have contributed to the web and society at large, and even moreso by your unwavering values in implementing that work. Here's to the next 25 years indeed!
www.igalia.com/2026/09/21/T...
www.igalia.com/2026/09/21/T...
Twenty-Five Years Upstream | Igalia
Igalia is an open source consulting firm specialised in the development of innovative projects and solutions. Our engineers have expertise in a wide range of technological areas, including browsers an...
www.igalia.com
September 21, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Happy 25th birthday @igalia.com. I am so inspired by the lasting value you have contributed to the web and society at large, and even moreso by your unwavering values in implementing that work. Here's to the next 25 years indeed!
www.igalia.com/2026/09/21/T...
www.igalia.com/2026/09/21/T...
Software is becoming intensely personal and disposable. An app built with AI just for me and my use case is becoming "better" than the best generic software. The web is designed to handle this explosive scaling and so is poised to be the dominant platform for the future of personalized software!
September 12, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Software is becoming intensely personal and disposable. An app built with AI just for me and my use case is becoming "better" than the best generic software. The web is designed to handle this explosive scaling and so is poised to be the dominant platform for the future of personalized software!
Reposted by Rick Byers
🎙️ New Episode of Igalia Chats
Join the party and navigate the Origin Trial
Google's Johnny Stenback and @rbyers.net join @meyerweb.com and @bkardell.com to chat about Origin Trials
www.igalia.com/chats/origin...
Join the party and navigate the Origin Trial
Google's Johnny Stenback and @rbyers.net join @meyerweb.com and @bkardell.com to chat about Origin Trials
www.igalia.com/chats/origin...
September 8, 2026 at 2:43 PM
🎙️ New Episode of Igalia Chats
Join the party and navigate the Origin Trial
Google's Johnny Stenback and @rbyers.net join @meyerweb.com and @bkardell.com to chat about Origin Trials
www.igalia.com/chats/origin...
Join the party and navigate the Origin Trial
Google's Johnny Stenback and @rbyers.net join @meyerweb.com and @bkardell.com to chat about Origin Trials
www.igalia.com/chats/origin...
I finally know what caused me to have to cancel my BlinkOn 4 trip four years ago!
Four years ago I missed my favourite conference ("BlinkOn") for a bad cold. It's been the biggest frustration of my lab that I couldn't find the virus that caused it. Now, that I have a 32-way panel from YouSeq.com I finally know why: It was a bacteria, H.Influenzea, not a virus at all!
August 8, 2026 at 11:50 PM
I finally know what caused me to have to cancel my BlinkOn 4 trip four years ago!
I'm so impressed and inspired by the team relentlessly pushing and innovating to keep Chrome users safe from vulnerabilities: blog.google/security/chr...
Stronger with every update: How we’re making Chrome and the web safer in the AI Era
Chrome uses Gemini AI to automate vulnerability discovery, triage, and patching, accelerating updates to match modern security risks.
blog.google
August 1, 2026 at 11:41 AM
I'm so impressed and inspired by the team relentlessly pushing and innovating to keep Chrome users safe from vulnerabilities: blog.google/security/chr...
Reposted by Rick Byers
🎙️ Check out Bruce Lawson’s interview with Alex Moore, executive director and co-founder of Open Web Advocacy.
They explore OWA’s history, why it exists, and what it’s fighting for: a better, more competitive web 🌐✊
open-web-advocacy.org/blog/bruce-l...
They explore OWA’s history, why it exists, and what it’s fighting for: a better, more competitive web 🌐✊
open-web-advocacy.org/blog/bruce-l...
Bruce Lawson Interviews OWA: For A Better Web - Open Web Advocacy
Check out Bruce Lawson’s interview with Alex Moore, executive director and co-founder of Open Web Advocacy. They run through the history of OWA, why OWA exists…
open-web-advocacy.org
July 31, 2026 at 7:36 AM
🎙️ Check out Bruce Lawson’s interview with Alex Moore, executive director and co-founder of Open Web Advocacy.
They explore OWA’s history, why it exists, and what it’s fighting for: a better, more competitive web 🌐✊
open-web-advocacy.org/blog/bruce-l...
They explore OWA’s history, why it exists, and what it’s fighting for: a better, more competitive web 🌐✊
open-web-advocacy.org/blog/bruce-l...
Hey Claude, feel free to just tell me you're pissed off that I'm micromanaging you and getting in your way, I won't fire you I promise. 😂
July 27, 2026 at 11:19 AM
Hey Claude, feel free to just tell me you're pissed off that I'm micromanaging you and getting in your way, I won't fire you I promise. 😂
Oh oh, I seem to have become addicted to Claude tokens! Probably late to the party, but I keep upping my spend limit.
I'm at $400 so far this week 😬. This is because I thought I could build my own version of something that cost $2800 to buy, we'll see if I end up saving money or not 😊.
I'm at $400 so far this week 😬. This is because I thought I could build my own version of something that cost $2800 to buy, we'll see if I end up saving money or not 😊.
July 25, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Oh oh, I seem to have become addicted to Claude tokens! Probably late to the party, but I keep upping my spend limit.
I'm at $400 so far this week 😬. This is because I thought I could build my own version of something that cost $2800 to buy, we'll see if I end up saving money or not 😊.
I'm at $400 so far this week 😬. This is because I thought I could build my own version of something that cost $2800 to buy, we'll see if I end up saving money or not 😊.
I am a negligent husband! I just discovered my wife's MacBook was running MacOS 10 and so stuck on Chrome 128 and missing 2 years of security patches!
If even I fail to keep my family safe online we might be doing something wrong 😕.
If even I fail to keep my family safe online we might be doing something wrong 😕.
July 1, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I am a negligent husband! I just discovered my wife's MacBook was running MacOS 10 and so stuck on Chrome 128 and missing 2 years of security patches!
If even I fail to keep my family safe online we might be doing something wrong 😕.
If even I fail to keep my family safe online we might be doing something wrong 😕.
Vibe coded a demo of the new navigator.cpuPerformance API in Chromium: rbyers.github.io/cpu-performa....
It's a small thing (returns just 0-4), but for some powerful web apps I think it'll be super useful. Details: github.com/WICG/cpu-per...
It's a small thing (returns just 0-4), but for some powerful web apps I think it'll be super useful. Details: github.com/WICG/cpu-per...
CPU Performance API — Reference Implementation Playground
rbyers.github.io
June 20, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Vibe coded a demo of the new navigator.cpuPerformance API in Chromium: rbyers.github.io/cpu-performa....
It's a small thing (returns just 0-4), but for some powerful web apps I think it'll be super useful. Details: github.com/WICG/cpu-per...
It's a small thing (returns just 0-4), but for some powerful web apps I think it'll be super useful. Details: github.com/WICG/cpu-per...
CSS Quake (cssquake.com) - no canvas just HTML/CSS using a cool library called PolyCSS (polycss.com). 😀
Playing through the first level brought back a lot of memories. I think I was one of the first to reverse engineer the PAK file format and build an editor days after the game came out.
Playing through the first level brought back a lot of memories. I think I was one of the first to reverse engineer the PAK file format and build an editor days after the game came out.
cssQuake - Play Quake in Your Browser
Play Quake in your browser with no install. cssQuake renders the game as inspectable HTML and CSS powered by PolyCSS.
cssquake.com
June 19, 2026 at 8:13 PM
CSS Quake (cssquake.com) - no canvas just HTML/CSS using a cool library called PolyCSS (polycss.com). 😀
Playing through the first level brought back a lot of memories. I think I was one of the first to reverse engineer the PAK file format and build an editor days after the game came out.
Playing through the first level brought back a lot of memories. I think I was one of the first to reverse engineer the PAK file format and build an editor days after the game came out.
Given how Chromium and WebKit are always vying for the top spot in Speedometer on MacOS, it's really striking how big the gap is on iOS! And we haven't even really tried to optimize performance for that platform yet! IMHO this is what you should expect to see when there's a lack of competition!
Here's something fun: I think my iPhone may have the world record Speedometer score for any iOS device? www.linkedin.com/pulse/test-d...
Test Drive: Blink on iOS
The Edge web platform team has been contributing changes to Chromium to help build a prototype exploring what an iOS browser using Blink (via BrowserEngineKit) can achieve. Blink is the same open-sour...
www.linkedin.com
June 16, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Given how Chromium and WebKit are always vying for the top spot in Speedometer on MacOS, it's really striking how big the gap is on iOS! And we haven't even really tried to optimize performance for that platform yet! IMHO this is what you should expect to see when there's a lack of competition!
A great analysis! The punch lines:
"The trend is clear: for every 100 milliseconds slower a store loads, conversion tends to be about 3.5% lower."
"For every 32 milliseconds slower a store responds to interactions, conversion tends to drop by about 1.5%."
"The trend is clear: for every 100 milliseconds slower a store loads, conversion tends to be about 3.5% lower."
"For every 32 milliseconds slower a store responds to interactions, conversion tends to drop by about 1.5%."
May 1, 2026 at 2:41 AM
A great analysis! The punch lines:
"The trend is clear: for every 100 milliseconds slower a store loads, conversion tends to be about 3.5% lower."
"For every 32 milliseconds slower a store responds to interactions, conversion tends to drop by about 1.5%."
"The trend is clear: for every 100 milliseconds slower a store loads, conversion tends to be about 3.5% lower."
"For every 32 milliseconds slower a store responds to interactions, conversion tends to drop by about 1.5%."
Reposted by Rick Byers
I think part of the phenomena here is that it is easy to predict things will fail: most things fail.
So, stop energy is much cheaper to produce, because you would be right 99% of the time.
Against-everything-for-nothing is a comfortable stance to take, but long term it is the 1% that move forward.
So, stop energy is much cheaper to produce, because you would be right 99% of the time.
Against-everything-for-nothing is a comfortable stance to take, but long term it is the 1% that move forward.
April 30, 2026 at 2:46 PM
I think part of the phenomena here is that it is easy to predict things will fail: most things fail.
So, stop energy is much cheaper to produce, because you would be right 99% of the time.
Against-everything-for-nothing is a comfortable stance to take, but long term it is the 1% that move forward.
So, stop energy is much cheaper to produce, because you would be right 99% of the time.
Against-everything-for-nothing is a comfortable stance to take, but long term it is the 1% that move forward.
Just bought a new Razer mouse. Rather than install the native app, I had Gemini/Claude write a web app with the Web HID API, using the Linux driver as a reference. Less than 60 min of work laterand I think I'm done: razerweb.rbyers.ca
It's a new world... Software on-demand!
It's a new world... Software on-demand!
Razer Web Configurator
razerweb.rbyers.ca
April 27, 2026 at 2:22 AM
Just bought a new Razer mouse. Rather than install the native app, I had Gemini/Claude write a web app with the Web HID API, using the Linux driver as a reference. Less than 60 min of work laterand I think I'm done: razerweb.rbyers.ca
It's a new world... Software on-demand!
It's a new world... Software on-demand!
Someone in my family asked what they can say to a tech support scammer calling them to confirm they are a scam, not a legitimate company. Thoughts?
April 26, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Someone in my family asked what they can say to a tech support scammer calling them to confirm they are a scam, not a legitimate company. Thoughts?
Reposted by Rick Byers
It’s fair to say that the V8 javascript engine runs on billions of devices today.
And if you apply to this position on my team, you might get to work on it!
Talk about impact!
And if you apply to this position on my team, you might get to work on it!
Talk about impact!
Backend Engineer | Microsoft Careers
You will contribute, in partnership with appropriate stakeholders, to determine user requirements for a feature and consider a variety of feedback channels to incorporate insights into future designs ...
apply.careers.microsoft.com
April 24, 2026 at 2:40 PM
It’s fair to say that the V8 javascript engine runs on billions of devices today.
And if you apply to this position on my team, you might get to work on it!
Talk about impact!
And if you apply to this position on my team, you might get to work on it!
Talk about impact!
Reposted by Rick Byers
An interesting lightning talk at BlinkOn about a little experiment @rbyers.net did -- 3 minutes to watch and share your thoughts! Very curious to hear them!
youtu.be/b_R3o3VASjc?...
youtu.be/b_R3o3VASjc?...
Lightning Talks #2 [BlinkOn 21]
YouTube video by BlinkOn
youtu.be
April 24, 2026 at 3:56 PM
An interesting lightning talk at BlinkOn about a little experiment @rbyers.net did -- 3 minutes to watch and share your thoughts! Very curious to hear them!
youtu.be/b_R3o3VASjc?...
youtu.be/b_R3o3VASjc?...
I'm excited about FedCM ambient UI. Balancing tough tradeoffs is one of the hardest things we do in Chrome and the only way to do it well is to experiment heavily and collect user feedback.
I'm putting together a chrome://flag in canaries that enables the FedCM's Ambient UX in the URL bar.
I've been using it for a week or so: it is beautiful and I think it will have arrive at an economic equilibrium.
Here is the before / after, how to enable it and why we are working on it:
I've been using it for a week or so: it is beautiful and I think it will have arrive at an economic equilibrium.
Here is the before / after, how to enable it and why we are working on it:
April 12, 2026 at 12:07 PM
I'm excited about FedCM ambient UI. Balancing tough tradeoffs is one of the hardest things we do in Chrome and the only way to do it well is to experiment heavily and collect user feedback.
Another day, another step down the path of our devices prioritizing their manufacturer's interests over the interests of the device owners. mashable.com/article/appl...
Apple blocks developer from updating Mac app because its similar to a defunct feature
Launchpad was killed by Apple. But, they're blocking a developer from updating their replacement.
mashable.com
March 30, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Another day, another step down the path of our devices prioritizing their manufacturer's interests over the interests of the device owners. mashable.com/article/appl...
Reposted by Rick Byers
Chrome is announcing that they are moving into a two-week release cycle! Exciting bc the web needs to move quickly- resolving bug fixes, feature improvements, etc. It goes along with devops principles of shipping smaller, more frequent releases for stability
developer.chrome.com/blog/chrome-...
developer.chrome.com/blog/chrome-...
Get features faster with Chrome's two-week release cycle | Blog | Chrome for Developers
From September 2026 Chrome releases will be every two weeks.
developer.chrome.com
March 3, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Chrome is announcing that they are moving into a two-week release cycle! Exciting bc the web needs to move quickly- resolving bug fixes, feature improvements, etc. It goes along with devops principles of shipping smaller, more frequent releases for stability
developer.chrome.com/blog/chrome-...
developer.chrome.com/blog/chrome-...
How will agentic coding tools impact app platform choices? Lovable says: "web apps cost 40-60% less than native development and reach the market 50-70% faster." lovable.dev/guides/nativ...
Native vs Progressive Web Apps: Which One Should You Build? | Lovable
Compare progressive web apps and native development to find the right approach for your business and budget.
lovable.dev
February 13, 2026 at 9:48 PM
How will agentic coding tools impact app platform choices? Lovable says: "web apps cost 40-60% less than native development and reach the market 50-70% faster." lovable.dev/guides/nativ...
Reposted by Rick Byers
6 years and 300+ experiments later, I've concluded that sequencing all the viruses going through my house is actually slightly useful, while still wildly impractical of course!
lab.rbyers.ca/essays/20260...
lab.rbyers.ca/essays/20260...
The Utility of Home Molecular Virology | RByers Lab
lab.rbyers.ca
February 9, 2026 at 12:45 AM
6 years and 300+ experiments later, I've concluded that sequencing all the viruses going through my house is actually slightly useful, while still wildly impractical of course!
lab.rbyers.ca/essays/20260...
lab.rbyers.ca/essays/20260...
Reposted by Rick Byers
Wow, I am constantly impressed by Google Antigravity and Gemini 3.5 pro. I used it to build a whole blog website, including totally custom Tweet archive, in just a few hours of work! Eg. see lab.rbyers.ca/posts/2024. Code at github.com/Rbyers/lab-b....
February 2, 2026 at 4:42 AM
Wow, I am constantly impressed by Google Antigravity and Gemini 3.5 pro. I used it to build a whole blog website, including totally custom Tweet archive, in just a few hours of work! Eg. see lab.rbyers.ca/posts/2024. Code at github.com/Rbyers/lab-b....