/He3

He3 aka Helium 3, a multi-window, floating browser,

Primary LanguageSwiftMIT LicenseMIT

He3

He3 is a multi-window, floating browser, above all else.

he3_logo

He3 - formerly known as "Helium 3", supports multiple windows as documents, each with their own settings as well as global preferences such as playlists and history, and ability to affect windows via a Finder status, dock icon, and contextual menus.

He3 allows you to watch media, browse the web and do much more while you stay productive. Your content will never fall behind your other windows even as you switch tasks.

He3 supports a number of per window preferences such as

  • auto-hide titling,
  • customizable translucency mode
  • size and position

that allows you to simultaneously see your content and your work, and restore it, without intercepting mouse clicks when it's not active, or translucent. You have the ability to click, drag, scroll behind your floating content.

He3 In Action

Check out the videos on He3 on YouTube:

He3 Video #0

He3 Video #1

Getting Started - He3

Like prior versions, windows will enhance your multi tasking, float over your work, keeping important things in sight, but now is a multiple window application, document based, but no "documents" to manage. All settings are automatic and internal and private.

All He3 windows are non-activating panels, they're intended not to impede your work. This is especially key when you decide to affect a window's transparenccy. When you want to affect a window, hold down SHIFT to mouse over it - making it active, or use the Finder status icon if available to affect the app's main window. Finally when you want ot move a windw, use its title bar, or hold down CMND key (%') to drag by content. If the window is translucent, then you will have to make it active by the shift into mouse over method first.

Settings are preserved per document and restored then they are recalled. Preferences per windows can also be affected via the Preferences menu item under the Windows menu and Finder He3 status menu for the current window. The Windows menu will also indicate which is the current window.

Since collaboration is key sharing your enviroment is provided by exporting them as playlists and individual playitems - aka a "document". You can drag-n-drop these across windows, export them to the system, and receive them from others.

Finally, some more sophisticated featutes:

  • float above full-screen apps like Keynote or Powerpoint
  • share web links etc from Safari
  • support authenication cookies
  • limitless windows, tabs
  • Playlists .hpl and PlayItems .hpi are He3 export share file types
  • Snapshots provide instant visual window copy as .png files to your destination
  • Hide Away - press CNTL+OPTION+CMND toggle all windows' visibility

Menus

He3 menus allow you to affect the current window. This includes the usual suspects:

  • application menu
  • Finder status icon menu
  • dock icon menu

as well as a contextial menu per window.

Documents Menu

For content based on file URLs rather than websites He3 document window, when a file save is possible, will allow you to save the document. All file operations for He3 store to the user's defaults application preferences, which are global for all documents yet individual settings per document are captured such its window frame size, location, title. See playlists below.

Playlists

He3 maintains two types of information: History and Playlists.

From all He3 windows, a contextual menu item, Playlists, gains access to all recorded information stored within the users applications default store for He3.

Per individual menu, He3 maintains a URL history, as well as ability to house several user related windows as tabs. The Playlist sheet - per window, or global Playlist window(s), allow you to drag-n-drop to organize your work.

Saving your skin

He3 will save state for all windows for you, automatically. Also available is a history list, cookie jar stash, and both can be cleared or disabled as desired. Unless explicitly chosen all storage is internal, but easily tranferrable to or from .hpl (playlist) and .hpi (playitem) files.

History catalogs in order, your viewing, can be sorted, exported and impoted, reqeuenced, and flattened to aggregate duplicates, also keeping a tally. Any and all of this can be managed or diabled.

It's your data, use it the way you want!

/los