Editing ICab

{{short description|Web browser for MacOS}}
{{lowercase title|title=iCab}}
{{Infobox software
| name = iCab
| logo = ICab Logo and Icon 2024.png
| screenshot = ICab Screenshot on macOS Sonoma 2024.png
| screenshot size = 250px
| screenshot alt = The iCab web browser showing the Wikipedia homepage.
| caption = iCab 6.2.1 in dark mode on macOS Sonoma
| developer = Alexander Clauss
| released = {{Start date and age|1999|02|17}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|reference|edit|Q284497|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q284497|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}}}
| operating system = [[MacOS|Mac]] OS, [[iOS]] (active),<br/>[[Classic Mac OS]] 7.5–9.2.2 (discontinued)
| language = English, German, French, Danish, Spanish, Russian, Norwegian, Chinese and Japanese
| genre = [[Web browser]]<br/>[[Feed reader]]
| license = [[Shareware]]
| website = {{URL|icab.de}}
}}

'''iCab''' is a [[web browser]] for [[MacOS]] and [[Classic Mac OS]] by Alexander Clauss, derived from Crystal [[Atari Corporation|Atari]] Browser (CAB) for [[Atari TOS]] compatible computers.<ref>{{Cite web
| url=http://lowendmac.com/2011/interview-with-alexander-clauss-icabs-creator/
| title=Interview with Alexander Clauss, iCab's Creator
| first=Sebastian
| last=Patting
| date=2011-11-22
| publisher=Low End Mac
| access-date=2016-09-07}}</ref> It was one of the few browsers still updated for the classic Mac OS prior to that version being discontinued after version 3.0.5 in 2008;<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.icab.de/dl.php
| title=iCab Download}}</ref> [[Classilla]] was the last browser that was maintained for that OS<ref>{{Cite web
| url=https://arstechnica.com/apple/2009/07/browse-the-web-in-style-with-classilla-for-mac-os-9/
| title=Browse the Web in style with Classilla for Mac OS 9
| first=Jeff
| last=Smykil
| date=2009-07-13
| work=[[Ars Technica]]
| access-date=2016-09-07}}</ref> but it was discontinued in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Cameron |last=Kaiser |date=2021-03-29|title=The final official release of Classilla|url=https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-final-official-release-of-classilla.html|access-date=2021-09-27|work=Old Vintage Computing Research}}</ref>

The downloadable product is fully functional, but is [[nagware]]—periodically displaying a [[dialog box]] asking the user to register the product, and upgrade to the "Pro" version.<ref>{{Cite web
| url=http://www.icab.de/register.html
| title=Purchase/Register iCab
| date=2016-08-03
| access-date=2016-09-07}}</ref>

== Versions ==

iCab 2.9.9 supports both [[Motorola 68000 family|68k]] and [[PowerPC]] Macintosh systems running [[System 7|System 7.5]] through Mac OS 9.2.2.  While no longer maintained, iCab 2.9.9 is still available for download and registration.

iCab 2.9.8 runs natively on early versions of [[macOS|Mac OS X]], but Mac OS X compatible versions of iCab 2.x are no longer officially available for download.

iCab 3.x can run on PowerPC systems running [[Mac OS 8|Mac OS 8.5]] through Mac OS 9.2.2, or PowerPC or [[X86 architecture|Intel]] systems running Mac OS X 10.1 or later.  iCab 3 was last updated in January 2008.

iCab 4 was rewritten to use the [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]] API and the [[WebKit]] [[web browser engine|rendering engine]].  It can run on PowerPC or Intel systems running Mac OS 10.3.9 or later.

iCab 5 was released on June 12, 2012.  It runs on Mac OS 10.5 or later.

iCab 6 was rewritten using the new technologies in macOS Big Sur and released on October 31, 2020.  It runs on macOS 10.13 or later.

== History ==

iCab was introduced in 1999. The first versions of iCab were criticized for not supporting [[Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]] and [[Document Object Model|DOM]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Savetz |first=Kevin |date=September 1999 |title=Browser Brawl |url=https://archive.org/details/MacAddict-037-199909/page/n37/mode/2up |magazine=[[MacLife|MacAddict]] |pages=32–38 |issue=37}} The author mentions the lack of CSS2 and JavaScript support</ref> but were given praise for making it easier to navigate to links listed on pages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nielsen |first=Jakob |date=1999-02-23 |title=iCab: New Browser With Structural Navigation |url=https://www.nngroup.com/articles/icab-new-browser-structural-navigation/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Nielsen Norman Group |language=en}}</ref> iCab 3 introduced improved rendering capabilities, including support for CSS2 and [[Unicode]] (via the [[Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging|ATSUI]] toolkit). iCab 4 switched to WebKit for its [[web browser engine|rendering engine]], giving it the same rendering abilities as Apple's [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]] browser.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Macworld Australia|Australian Macworld]] |page=72-72 |issue=123 |date=May 2008 |title=iCab 4.0.1 |url=https://archive.org/details/macworld_au-2008_05/page/n71/mode/2up}}</ref>

On 7 June 2009, iCab 4.6, using the WebKit rendering engine, became the first desktop browser released to display a score of 100/100 and pass the [[Acid3]] test.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Apple's Safari 4 browser was released one day later and has been officially credited as being the first official release browser to pass the Acid3 test with a score of 100/100.

== Features ==

iCab features a filter manager which allows users to avoid downloading advertisements and other content. Currently iCab comes with two filters (advertisements and video). Other kinds of filters add features, such as the [[YouTube]] [[filter (video)|video filter]] which adds a download link on all [[YouTube]] page views.

iCab has features for [[web site|website]] developers, including an [[HTML]] validity checker, an automatic page refresh option, a Web Inspector, DOM Inspector, [[JavaScript]] debugger, and a Console.  iCab's "Automatic Update" option, for any page it is rendering directly from the local hard disk, will automatically reload the page when changes are saved to disk. The HTML syntax validity checker displays a [[smiley]] face in the Status Bar and also, optionally, in the Toolbar. Clicking on the smiley will bring up a list of any errors on the page, as will "Error Report" from the Tools menu.  Double clicking on an error will display the page source, with the offending syntax highlighted. The HTML syntax validator was first seen in the same author's earlier web browser, CAB.

iCab's Download manager allows the user to start, stop, resume and review downloads.  It maintains a download history, and supports downloading of an individual page, or a whole site (crawling) with many user-selectable crawl-constraint options.  It can save as portable web archives (a [[ZIP (file format)|ZIP]] archive containing HTML, images and other files), or as individual files on the local hard drive.

iCab also contains the following features:<ref name="iCab 4.0: A feature-packed reincarnation of the venerable mac browser">{{Cite web
| url=https://www.wired.com/2008/01/icab-4dot0-a-feature-packed-reincarnation-of-the-venerable-mac-browser/
| title=iCab 4.0: A feature-packed reincarnation of the venerable mac browser
| first=Scott
| last=Gilberstone
| date=2008-01-03
| work=[[Wired (website)|Wired]]
| access-date=2016-09-07}}</ref>

* [[Tabbed document interface|Tabbed browsing]].
* Javascript and [[Cascading Style Sheets|CSS2]] support.
* Multiple language support, including Arabic on older Macs (cannot display [[UTF-16]] pages).
* Filtering:
** Filtering out of images and plugin content (e.g. ads).
** Adjust rendering, network, JavaScript, and cookies settings for individual sites or types of pages.
* Kiosk mode: full-screen display and access controls.
* [[Acid2]] test compliance.
* Configurable print dialog.
* History window which can sort by title, last access date, or URL.
* Hotlist (bookmark) mechanism which can automatically or manually check for updates to bookmarked sites.
* Reload a single image on a page without needing to reload the whole page.
* Disable web "annoyances" such as animated [[Graphics Interchange Format|GIF]]s and embedded sound files.
* [[User-agent#User agent spoofing|User agent spoofing]] (i.e. pretending to be another browser).
* Support for sessions (i.e. saving and then loading all open windows and tabs).
* Add any query (e.g., search engine, [[Wikipedia]]) to the toolbar search widget by point-and-click.

== iCab Mobile ==
iCab Mobile is the mobile version of the iCab Web Browser for [[iOS]] and [[iPadOS]]. It is one of the oldest third-party web browsers for iOS,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Viticci |first=Frederico |date=2013-07-23 |title=Launch URL Schemes with Gestures in iCab Mobile |url=https://www.macstories.net/tutorials/launch-url-schemes-with-gestures-in-icab-mobile/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=MacStories |language=en-US}}</ref> being released in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |title=iCab Mobile - The Internet Taxi for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad |url=http://icab-mobile.de/history.html |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=icab-mobile.de}}</ref> The app is available on the app store for $1.99. iCab Mobile includes custom gestures, quick links for sharing, a drop down window that provides previews of tabs, a customizable user interface, [[Apple Watch]] integration, quick form filling, customizable filters for CSS pages, URLs, and cookies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Writtenhouse |first=Sandy |date=2018-11-09 |title=iCab Mobile review: a different web browser for your iOS device |url=https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/11/09/icab-mobile-review/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=iDownloadBlog.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chavanu |first=Bakari |date=2014-04-12 |title=iCab: Another Powerful Alternative to Safari on the iPad |url=https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/icab-another-powerful-alternative-safari-ipad/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Make Use Of |language=en}}</ref> It also has a file downloader and manager and integration with the [[Files (iOS)|Files]] app.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Viticci |first=Frederico |date=2018-01-20 |title=Installing tvOS Betas Over-the-Air from iOS with iCab and Dropbox |url=https://www.macstories.net/ios/installing-tvos-betas-over-the-air-from-ios-with-icab-and-dropbox/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |language=en-US}}</ref> Some reviewers have criticized it for its cluttered user interface.

== See also ==
* [[List of web browsers]]
* [[Comparison of web browsers]]
* InScript (JavaScript engine)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}}
* [http://icab-mobile.de iCab Mobile Website]
* [http://www.icpug.org.uk/national/journals/jnls2000/ej600/art6.htm "Thoughts on the Memory Efficiency of iCab and Programming in the 80s"] by John A. Ardelli

{{Aggregators}}
{{Timeline of web browsers|1990s}}
{{Web browsers|desktop}}

[[Category:1999 software]]
[[Category:Macintosh web browsers]]
[[Category:MacOS web browsers]]
[[Category:News aggregator software]]
[[Category:Software based on WebKit]]