Brewser DocsSwitch Runtime
Hardware APIs
Talking to real hardware from web apps
Brewser exposes hardware to web apps through the same APIs Chromium provides. The Switch's USB port and Bluetooth radio can reach microcontrollers, MIDI gear and other peripherals.
Supported APIs
| API | Status | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| WebSerial | Verified on hardware | ESP32/Arduino over USB CDC |
| WebBluetooth | Verified on hardware | BLE sensors & peripherals |
| Web MIDI | Yes | MIDI controllers (e.g. AKAI pads) |
| Web NFC | Yes | Reading NFC tags |
| WebUSB | See support matrix | Direct USB device access |
Permission model
Apps must declare required hardware in their manifest. At runtime, the user picks the device from a system picker modeled on Chrome's WebUSB/WebSerial flow. There is no auto-connect: nothing talks to your hardware without an explicit user choice.
Example: ESP32 over WebSerial
Hotplug, connect, and exchange data with an ESP32 over USB CDC exactly as you
would in Chrome: navigator.serial.requestPort(), open, read/write streams.