I'm making a web app and need a web browser (a wrapper) in .NET. It will run inside a wrapper like a native browser for my app.
My current goal is to make it as small as possible in size (maximum 30mb). Only features I need is html, css and js. No opengl, d3d or other rendering frameworks. It will connect to the server and display a page in this window. I would remove all browser controls to make my users navigate through the app.
I tried cefsharp. Works flawlessly but I only managed to reduce it to 120MB with all features included (opengl framework etc). Removing unused dlls of course resulted in errors. With compression might go as little as ~90-100mb but it's still huge.
Also tried open-webkit-sharp but any version resulted in errors. I never managed to compile it. And still would be close to 40mb.
DotNetBrowser is a great alternative but cost ~$1,000 and still 60MB. I would avoid paying that much money and surely for the software that doesn't fit exactly my needs.
gefofx with xulrunner never rendered all the css and js on my app since it's outdated.
The best thing would be using IE control since it's include in the .NET Framework but this thing is... Internet Explorer. Not rendering all CSS and the wort part throws security errors on version < 11 in javascript.
Firefox/Chrome browser would be an option if I could manage to make it look like a native app. I would just ask my users to install it if it's missing. But who missing a good browser nowadays. I tried writing a code to start a new window with new profile etc but can't manage it as native in many ways. Can't use it easily because it runs under parent firefox process and I don't want to mess around with the users' everyday productivity. Tried to create a new instance under new name etc but it's a pain in the back part.
Is it an option to make a webview (?) and add jscore, html, css etc? Or my only solution is to compile cefsharp with components I need? It will take me ages to do.