SplitBrowser

A Python-based desktop web browser featuring dynamic split-screen layouts, multi-tab support, and per-pane fullscreen capabilities.

Repository: https://github.com/bocaletto-luca/SplitBrowser

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Usage
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Project Structure
• Contributing
• License

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Features

• Multi-tab browsing with easy “New Tab” and “Close Tab” commands
• Split each tab into 1–4 panes, horizontally or vertically, with equal resizing:
  • 1 panel → single view
  • 2 panels → 50% / 50%
  • 3 panels → ~33% each
  • 4 panels → 25% each
• Each pane includes:
  • URL bar with “Go” button
  • Back, Forward, Reload, Clear Cache controls
• Full-screen modes:
  • Entire window (F11 / Esc)
  • Active pane only (Shift+F11 / Esc)
• Pane-only fullscreen supports cycling through panes using Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab
• Tab-only fullscreen supports cycling through tabs using Ctrl+PgUp / Ctrl+PgDown
• Menu bar remains visible at all times for quick access

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Requirements

• Python 3.7 or newer
• PyQt5
• PyQtWebEngine

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Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bocaletto-luca/SplitBrowser.git
cd SplitBrowser

# Create and activate a virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate    # macOS / Linux
# .\venv\Scripts\activate   # Windows PowerShell

# Install dependencies
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install PyQt5 PyQtWebEngine

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Usage

python main.py

1. Open the File menu or use shortcuts to manage tabs.
2. Use the Split menu to choose 1–4 panels, arranged horizontally or vertically.
3. Navigate in each pane with Back, Forward, Reload, Clear Cache, and URL bar.
4. Toggle fullscreen:
   • Entire window: F11 or Esc
   • Active pane: Shift+F11 or Esc
5. Switch among tabs and panes in fullscreen modes with the keyboard shortcuts below.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+T: New Tab
• Ctrl+W: Close Tab
• F11: Toggle fullscreen for the entire window
• Shift+F11: Toggle fullscreen for the active pane only
• Esc: Exit fullscreen (pane first, then window)
• Ctrl+PgUp / Ctrl+PgDown: Switch tabs (in window-fullscreen mode)
• Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab: Cycle panes (in pane-fullscreen mode)

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Project Structure

SplitBrowser/
├── main.py            # Main application script
├── requirements.txt   # (optional) pip freeze output
└── README.md          # This file

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Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/YourFeature)
3. Implement your changes and commit (git commit -am 'Add feature')
4. Push to your fork (git push origin feature/YourFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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License

This project is released under the MIT License.
© 2025 Luca Bocaletto