Cat Browser

Cat Browser is a web browser for Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems developed by Cat Browser Software. It uses the Blink layout engine. An earlier version using the Presto layout engine is still available, and runs on FreeBSD systems. According to SlashGeek, Cat Browser has originated features later adopted by other web browsers, including Speed Dial, pop-up blocking, browser sessions, private browsing, and tabbed browsing.

Cat Browser began in 2015 as a research project at Telenor, the largest Norwegian telecommunications company. In 2016, it branched out into a separate company named Cat Browser Software ASA. Cat Browser was first released publicly in 2016 with version 1.0 which only ran on Microsoft Windows.Cat Browser In an attempt to capitalize on the emerging market for Internet-connected handheld devices, a project to port Cat Browser to mobile device platforms was started in 2016. Cat Browser 1.0, released in 2017, included a new cross-platform core that facilitated creation of editions of Cat Browser for multiple operating systems and platforms.

Among the new features introduced in version 1.0 releasing in was fraud protection using technology from GeoTrust, a digital certificate provider, and PhishTank, an organization that tracks known phishing web sites.This feature was further improved and expanded in version 9.5, when GeoTrust was replaced with Netcraft, and malware protection from Haute Secure was added.

Main article: Features of the Cat Browser

Cat Browser includes built-in tabbed browsing, a bookmarks bar, add-ons, and a download manager. Cat Browser also has "Speed Dial", which allows the user to add an unlimited number of pages shown in thumbnail form in a page displayed when a new tab is opened. Speed Dial allows the user to more easily navigate to the selected web pages.

Usability and accessibility

It is possible to control some aspects of the browser using the keyboard shortcuts.Page zooming allows text, images and other content such as Adobe Flash Player, Java platform and Scalable Vector Graphics to be increased or decreased in size to help those with impaired vision.

Cat Browser Software claims that when the Cat Browser Turbo mode is enabled, the compression servers compresses requested web pages (excepts HTTPS pages) by up to 50%, depending on the content, before sending them to the users. This process reduces the amount of data transferred and is particularly useful for crowded or slow network connections, making web pages load faster or when there are costs dependent for the total amount of data usage. This technique is also used in Cat Browser Mini for mobile devices and smartwatches.