Check out Web Roulette, a new iPhone web browser from the makers of the Clear to-do app that has almost no UI and lets you swipe through your favorite sites.
- If you mindlessly bounce back and forth between your favorite sites, you must check out Web Roulette, a swipeable web browser for iPhone.
- It’s a web browser where you swipe left and right from one website to another. You can choose from popular websites or add your favorite ones.
- There are no tabs to manage, navigation icons to tap, bookmarks to forget about or other distractions. Web Roulette is focused on a single-site experience.
Swiping through websites with Web Roulette for iPhone
Swiping through the websites earns you shake points. And if you shake your iPhone, the app will load a random surprise page to motivate you to read something new.
Web Roulette is designed by Impending, the same team that brought the award-winning minimalist Clear to-do app and the Heads Up! game for “The Ellen Degeneres Show.” The team calls Web Roulette “a new class of web browser on iPhone ,” one that’s built “purely for mindlessly checking the internet.”
I’m digging the description a lot!
“This is how I spend much of my web browsing time— I bounce back and forth mindlessly and semi-randomly between my favorite sites, hoping for something fresh. Maybe there’s something here?” Impending’s Phill Ryu told TechCrunch.
Designed for the short attention span of the TikTok era
From the splash screen to swiping through websites, Web Roulette is a fun, rock-solid app that will delight you with confetti animations, subtle sound and haptic feedback when swiping through your websites and other thoughtful details.
You can use Web Roulette without any customization, but you’ll want to create your own list of websites by clicking the hamburger icon in the top-left corner. From there, you can add from pre-defined websites organized into categories like News, Tech, Pop Culture, Gaming, Lifestyle, Social, Shopping, Sports, Tabloid, etc.
It’s time to “get spinning”
You’ll find the usual suspects in those categories—news sites like the New York Times; aggregators like Google and Yahoo News; technology blogs like The Verge and TechCrunch; and shopping sites like Amazon and Etsy. As mentioned, you’ll want to add your favorite websites to fully customize your experience.
There are no navigation elements in Web Roulette. There are only the settings and share icons in the top-left corner, with the number of “shakes” you earn by swiping through websites shown in the top-right corner.
Swipe horizontally to go from one site on the list to another. If you see an article you like, touch it to load. To get back to the previous page, swipe right. If there’s no previous webpage to get back to, swiping right will load the previous website.
Initially, you’ll need to supply logins on websites like Twitter, Instagram and Reddit. Also, you’ll need to tap through privacy warnings and app banners. But after you’ve done that, you can just swipe through and enjoy your favorite websites without those distractions getting in the way.
@phillryu Our new indie app Web Roulette! Free on App Store today. Cat made this a botched take but it felt right for Tik Tok. The idea is a browser designed for the way you mindlessly check the internet. #ios #apple #iphone #apps #orangecat #adhdtiktok
Shake for a surprise website
This web browser pre-fetches all websites in the list, so swiping between them feels smooth and natural without almost no load time spoiling the fun.
So the new app idea is called Web Roulette and the premise is a simple browser built for mindlessly checking the internet.
1. Add your favorite sites
2. Swipe through them randomly
3. Shake when bored for a surprise web page 🎊We could submit in a few days? (It's that simple!) pic.twitter.com/5wtY7zEQ27
— Clear (@UseClear) May 24, 2023
I was especially impressed with the shake function that loads a random website. Every time I shook my iPhone, the app produced an exciting read. I like being exposed to new content outside my echo chamber, so I’ll be using this daily.
But there’s a catch: You must regularly swipe through websites to earn the shakes. The more shakes earned, the more chances you have to shake the device to produce a fresh website you didn’t expect.
How to download Web Roulette for iPhone
Web Roulette is free to use, with no features locked behind a paywall. There’s no sign-up screen; you click through a splash screen and use the app right away.
Web Roulette is an iPhone-only app that requires iOS 15.0 or later.