/ Topics / Hz in your Browser

Hz In Your Browser
Hz System Overview, The Sandbox
Asset-based, Nonlinear Workflow
Authoring Musical Notes . Soundscaping
Audio IO . MIDI IO
Debugging Your Scripts
Comparing Programmable Audio Systems

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flag   HzWeb is so approachable because it is a zero-install web application. Running the app is as simple as browsing a website. This convenience has implications that may surprise users accustomed to Desktop apps.

Traditional desktop applications and web applications approach software delivery and user experience differently. Desktop apps run locally on the operating system, offering maximum performance and offline access, while web apps run in browsers, providing instant accessibility and cross-platform compatibility.

Browser Storage

HzWeb stores all your workspace data in your browser. This has important implications.

Potential Data Loss

warning WARNING  if you clear your browser cache for cannerycoders.com your workspace data will be lost.

Workarounds:

• regularly perform workspace backup. This is as simple as invoking Backup in the Workspace Panel menu. Backups may require that you select a download location on your computer. You can restore backed-up files via the Restore item in the same menu.
• don't do that!

Browser and Computer Portability

flag INFO  if you move between computers or browsers, your browser cache data doesn't follow you.

Workarounds:

• stay on one browser for one project.
• store backups (discussed above) on your favorite cloud storage site (eg. iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive). Now you can move between computers or browsers with a combination of Backup and Restore.

Different Browsers, Different Behavior

While the W3 consortium does a great job defining standards to ensure minimal behavioral differences across browsers, it remains true in 2026 that different browsers behave differently, often in subtle ways. We have done basic feature validation across Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox. That said, the testing matrix across all hardware and browser platforms is beyond our ability to cover.

We generally develop on Chrome and therefore it's likely that Hz runs best there.

Browsers and your focus

Most web-browsers attempt to reduce energy consumption for windows or tabs that aren't visible. This can cause running soundscapes to stop, hiccup, or otherwise behave unusually.

Software Versioning

Like most webapps, HzWeb is continuously improving. When you visit the app, you are seeing the latest and greatest version. This may account for some surprise or even discomfort if our changes bend your brain or especially cause your project to behave differently.

It is our intention to prevent such hiccups but, hey, what can you expect from free software?

That said, when we are aware of potential breakage we will bump our version number. The initial version of HzWeb is 1.0.0. Each time we bump the version we store the old copy on our website and this means you can access the older version via a versioned URL that looks like this:

https://cannerycoders.com/apps/HzWeb-1.0.0

You will likely guess correctly that the default, unversioned URL looks like this:

https://cannerycoders.com/apps/HzWeb

and always references the latest-and-greatest version.

You can find your version's details via the home page of these docs. Also, the menubar's settings menu includes About....