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The 3DS Internet Browser Test

First published Feb 10, 2022 at 11:14 PM

Last modified Feb 12, 2023 at 01:47 AM

So you're into making websites that work with a wide variety of web browsers? Then you may want to try the 3DS Internet Browser Test.

The 3DS browser really shows its age in recent years. It does not support SVG's, cannot connect to sites using TLS 1.3, always complains about Let's Encrypt, and cannot handle flex boxes or grids. It may become harder to connect a 3DS to your network with the rise of WPA3. It also probably tries to ping Nintendo for its internet connection test, so if something ever happens to Nintendo, will it still work?

With my website's design, it looks much the same in the 3DS browser as on desktop. Many simple websites will look fine while many others will be a janky mess without the modern web standards they use.

If you want your site to be compatible with browsers from at least 2009 or so, this is a good test. You could maybe even support browsers as primitive as Internet Explorer 1 if you really want to go that far.

Supporting old browsers may be nice to have in some cases, but it would mean sacrificing functionality and bloating the site with many old elements though, so it depends. I like lightweight software and interoperable standards that can allow old computers to coexist with modern standards instead of just using dated ones.