The web version is the same CyberEther compiled to WebAssembly and drawn with WebGPU. It is not a web frontend to a native process. The flowgraph, the scheduler, and the signal processing all run inside the browser tab, so there is nothing to install and nothing running on a server. It is the quickest way to try CyberEther, give a demo, or share a flowgraph with someone.
Quick Start
Open cyberether.org/web in a browser with WebGPU enabled, such as a recent version of Chrome. The application loads in the tab with the same interface and examples as the native version.
How It Works
The browser build shares its code with the native application. Only the layer that talks to the system changes.
- Rendering uses WebGPU, the browser's interface to the GPU.
- Compute runs the CPU implementation of each block, compiled to WebAssembly. No blocks target WebGPU compute yet.
- Python blocks run on a build of CPython compiled to WebAssembly and provided by the page, instead of a Python installation on your machine.
- The main loop is driven by the browser's animation loop, since a browser tab cannot own its main loop. Modules that must run on the main thread are moved there for creation and destruction.
- Files and settings live in browser storage, private to the site, instead of on your disk.
Requirements
- A browser with WebGPU support. Chrome and other Chromium based browsers support it on most desktops. Other browsers may need it turned on in their settings.
- A reasonably fast CPU, since all compute runs on it.
Files and Storage
Flowgraphs and settings are stored in the Origin Private File System, a storage area the browser keeps for each website. They persist across visits on the same browser and device. Opening and saving files go through file dialogs provided by the web page.
Clearing the browser data for the site deletes everything stored there, including saved flowgraphs and settings. Keep copies of important flowgraphs on your disk.
Limitations
- Hardware access is limited to what browser APIs expose, so sources that need native drivers, such as most SDRs, are out of reach.
- Compute runs on the CPU only, so large flowgraphs run slower than on the native version.
- Remote Streaming is not available, since it relies on native encoders and networking.
For any of these, use the native application, or run it on another machine and stream it with Remote Streaming.
Self-Hosting
The browser build has no install target. Building it, as described in the installation guide, produces cyberether.js and cyberether.wasm in the build directory. Serve them from a website that supports WebGPU and has cross-origin isolation enabled, which the browser requires for the threads CyberEther uses.
The hosted app at cyberether.org/web can also load custom builds, which is the easiest way to test your own files.
Troubleshooting
The application does not load. Check that the browser supports WebGPU and has it turned on. Updating the browser often helps, and some browsers keep WebGPU disabled on certain GPUs.
Saved flowgraphs disappeared. The browser data for the site was cleared, or the page was opened in a private window, which uses separate storage that is deleted when the window closes.
A self-hosted build fails to start. Check that the server sends the cross-origin isolation headers and serves the WebAssembly file with the correct content type.