undefined | Better HN

0 pointsdblohm76y ago0 comments

They are not OS-native, but they use OS theming information.

0 comments

roca6y ago

Right. Browsers can't use the OS control implementations, because the demands of DOM/CSS simply can't be handled by those native implementations. But Firefox is trying to emulate the look and feel of the OS controls, using native theme drawing APIs when possible. It is very hard to get 100% right, which is why no browser does.

Wowfunhappy6y ago

Huh. I wonder if that applies even to Safari on Mac and iOS, given how integrated Apple likes to be with their UI controls.

saagarjha6y ago

Some of them are native, if you don't style them.

roca6y ago

That isn't true. Browsers reimplement the native look and feel (in some cases) but they do not use the actual native control implementation.

1 more reply

dstaley6y ago

> Browsers can't use the OS control implementations, because the demands of DOM/CSS simply can't be handled by those native implementations. [...] It is very hard to get 100% right, which is why no browser does.

This is not correct. In instances where CSS doesn't affect the styling of the control, the browser can use native controls. As far as I know, every browser _except_ Firefox does this. For example, <select> elements in Chrome and Safari are native elements (albeit Win32 versions in the former on Windows).

roca6y ago

Chrome and Safari are absolutely not using the actual native control implementation. E.g. on Windows Chrome is not jamming a combobox HWND into its browser window.

pcwalton6y ago

> In instances where CSS doesn't affect the styling of the control, the browser can use native controls. As far as I know, every browser _except_ Firefox does this.

This is not true. It's not just the styling of the control itself that makes it infeasible to just stick an NSButton inside the browser's NSView; it's about the way a control interacts with everything else on the page.

Source: I work on browser graphics.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

roca6y ago

Wowfunhappy6y ago

Huh. I wonder if that applies even to Safari on Mac and iOS, given how integrated Apple likes to be with their UI controls.

saagarjha6y ago

Some of them are native, if you don't style them.

roca6y ago

That isn't true. Browsers reimplement the native look and feel (in some cases) but they do not use the actual native control implementation.

1 more reply

dstaley6y ago

roca6y ago

Chrome and Safari are absolutely not using the actual native control implementation. E.g. on Windows Chrome is not jamming a combobox HWND into its browser window.

pcwalton6y ago

> In instances where CSS doesn't affect the styling of the control, the browser can use native controls. As far as I know, every browser _except_ Firefox does this.

Source: I work on browser graphics.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse