MNT ~ Minimal New Tab

• Wrapped up a number of remaining fixes and gave the overall interface another round of polishing
• Refined the search bar with a cleaner layout and improved interactions to make searching feel more natural
• Finalized the cyclic search engine toggle and ensured switching between providers works reliably
• Improved parts of the backend logic and cleaned up the codebase to make future development easier
• Continued implementing a few upcoming features, including the taskbar workflow and additional new tab interactions
• Expanded the search functionality inside the new tab experience and polished the overall user flow
• Switched the project typography to Rubik and made several CSS refinements for a cleaner, more modern appearance
• Updated and reorganized the project README with setup instructions, features and screenshots
• Finished another complete testing pass, fixed a handful of minor bugs and cleaned up leftover code
• Finally reached a point where the project is ready to publish 🚀

really happy with how this version turned out. i’ve still got a bunch of ideas i want to experiment with, but for now it’s time to ship and start collecting feedback before working on the next set of features :)

• Integrated the news fetching system using the Inshorts API to retrieve the latest technology news dynamically
• Connected the frontend with the API layer and implemented the initial data fetching workflow for displaying fresh headlines
• Refined the overall interface with several UI improvements, tweaking the layout and styling to give it a cleaner, more “new tab” inspired appearance
• Polished the CSS across multiple sections to improve spacing, visual consistency and readability
• Added persistent search engine preferences using localStorage, allowing the selected search provider to remain the default even after reopening the application
• Improved state initialization so previously saved preferences are restored automatically on page load
• Performed another round of cleanup and minor refinements while preparing the remaining features for the next development session

• Continued building the projects reusable UI foundation by implementing a few additional shared components and polishing their styling for a more consistent look and feel
• Built the primary search section that will act as the core interaction point of the application
• Implemented support for multiple search engines, including:
  • Google
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Bing
• Added the corresponding search URL generation logic for each provider so queries are routed correctly
• Developed a cyclic search engine selector that loops through the available providers with each click instead of relying on a traditional dropdown
• Refined the component state management to ensure the active search engine updates seamlessly throughout the interface
• Started integrating the external API that powers the application’s backend workflow and completed the initial implementation along with part of the request handling logic
• Cleaned up the surrounding code while preparing the remaining API integration for the next development session

started setting up the project from scratch today using the latest version of vite and cleaned out all the default boilerplate to keep the codebase lightweight. configured tailwindcss and organized the initial project structure so everything is ready for building the actual application.

after getting the foundation in place, i started designing and implementing a few reusable ui components that will be used throughout the project. built things like a digital clock component, pill badges, section headers and a few other shared elements while focusing on keeping the design clean, consistent and easy to extend. this should make building the rest of the interface much faster as the project grows.