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Browser Wars

T

tyscat

Lurker
Just wondering what people are actually using.

GB Stock
ICS Stock
Dolphin HD
Dolphin Mini
Opera Mini
Chrome
Maxthon
Firefox

I'm really interested to hear thoughts on Maxthon and Chrome (or other browsers I've missed). I have always been a Dolphin user but am broadening my horizons to see what else is out there. Maxthon was a great browser back I will the day. I wonder how it will play with Android on phones and tablets.

What does the community currently think on the oft-asked browser question?
 
I use Honeycomb Stock for most purposes. (I don't think my tab will ever get ICS) Then switch to Dolphin for Desktop style browsing
 
I use Marathon on my Xoom and once they updated to 1.6 it got a lot better. I find the tablet edition pretty easy to use and like the way it syncs up to my PC. It's not perfect by any stretch but seems to have no problems rendering most of the sites I visit - except for ZDNET.com. It'll render it fine but will invariably crash while I'm reading a blog on there.

That said, I use Boat on my phone so...
 
I've been only using the stock browser on the HTC Droid Incredible and now my Motorola Razr Maxx. Just the past couple months I've been using Dolphin HD and I'm digging it.
 
I had Opera Mini for about a year, it was better than stock, but I needed to make space. I realized that my Optimus is what made browsing a pain, regardless of browser, so I tossed Opera and went back to GB stock. I use it about once a month, just like I did with Opera.
 
chrlswltrs said:
I've tried a few. Chrome is my go to unless flash is needed, then it is stock ICS.
Click to expand...

Chrome still feels unfinished to me. Lack of options (for example, changing the UserAgent string) is a bit of a deal breaker.

I have it on the Xoom but it's the least used browser right now.
 
I've actually been bouncing around different browsers. I used to use Opera Mini quite consistently. Then I used Dolphin HD for a long time. Chrome was interesting for a month or two. And Firefox Beta looks promising but still has some glitches.

This is what I'm looking for in a browser, and I haven't found anything even remotely close to having all these features:
  • The button to show all tabs or to switch between open tabs is somewhere in the bottom-left or bottom-middle of the screen.
  • Tabs opened in the background will really start loading in the background and not start loading only when you switch to the tab (otherwise, what's the point of "loading" it in the background?).
  • User agent switching can be permanently assigned on a per-site basis. So if I visit site X and always want to visit it in desktop mode, it will always be in desktop mode, and if I visit site Y and always want to visit it in mobile mode, it will always be in mobile mode.
  • Full integration with Android. So YouTube videos give you the option to play in the YouTube app. Addresses give you the option to open in Maps.
  • All text should be highlightable, but long-pressing on a link should not highlight the link but should open it in a new tab in the background.
  • Scrolling vertically should scroll vertically, not swish side to side. I should have to make a deliberate horizontal gesture to get off the column of text I'm reading.
  • Text should always reflow if I'm zooming in and out.
  • If a connection is slow and it takes a page a long time to load, the text should always load first and the pictures and other garbage should load later... or not at all.
  • If I opt to "remember" a password, the password should actually be remembered.
  • Even if I visit a website in desktop mode, I don't want an overview shot of the whole page. Zoom in so I can actually read the text. If I want to zoom out later, that's my choice.
  • The browser should not attempt to reload a page unless it's a time-sensitive page (something like a Twitter feed), I've manually tried to refresh the page, or it's been over 24 hours.
I've tried just about every browser there is in Google Play Store: Maxthon, Skyfire, Opera Mobile, Opera Mini, Boat and Boat Mini, Dolphin and Dolphin Mini, stock Browser, Firefox, xScope, etc.

No one browser does everything I want, so I'm probably going to keep bouncing around until updates get me closer to my ideal web browser.
 
Opera mobile & Boat browser.

I have firefox (new version with the new UI) but it seems much slower & hangs compared to the old version.

Opera mobile has never let me down, Boat is great for a simple browser & has a night mode. I tried dolphin but uninstalled it, on many occasions.
 
@aysiu: Firefox is now out of beta.

@ion: ??? Firefox is FAST! Fastest full mobile browser going. Pretty stable for me on ICS.

Nice add-ons available like Adblock, Fullscreen, etc. Zoom and text reflow work great, super-smooth scrolling. Flash works good. My only complaint is the new version lacks copy/paste the old version had. Hopefully they add it back in soon.
 
chrome uses to much space, over 50 megs, Opera is only useful as they have their own apps store, though it stopped working on my ICS tablet after a week.

Dolphin HD is the clear winner
 
Hi, tyscat! Maxthon is a good browser for your phone too! It reads RSS feeds on your mobile and adds and edits your RSS feeds. Scroll the feeds and get the latest news on the go. It has download resuming support. Download files, view pictures and listen to music with Maxthon Downloader. Place the most visited sites on your new tab. Easy to use. View last closed tabs and the most visited sites. Seize your surfing. Use gesture to create, close and switch tabs without clicking. Create your own gestures in Advanced Settings.
 
Chrome (for Android)

“Pros: Fast. Streamlined interface. Easy navigation. Voice search. Excellent tab implementation. Quickly syncs between all platforms and devices.

Cons: Requires Android 4.0 and higher. No Flash. No plug-ins. No support yet for Safe Browsing or sandboxed applications.”

What I don’t get is why is there a stock browser, presumably from Google, and Chrome, certainly from Google. Or are they the same thing...
 
first one i tried was firefox, i think it was because of flash, but i forget why exactly, i switched to dolphin HD. i find dolphin HD is very good. i use chrome also because it is synced with my chrome at home, which is cool, but i don't find the double click zoom zooms in enough and it doesn't seem polished enough yet. but it has potential to become my go to browser.

jefboyardee said:
Chrome (for Android)

Click to expand...
 
They could be trying to avoid the whole MS pitfall of bundling their browser in windows, so they give you a "stock" stripped down generic browser and then leave it up to you, to download something else.
 
Opera Mini is good as long as you stick with version 6.5. The new 7 series really seemed to screw it all up. Opera Mobile (the large version) doesn't seem to have that problem. It also has Turbo mode, which greatly reduces data usage (Mini has it by default). Good for people who have bandwidth limits. Mini also has the advantage of being a small app (not so with Opera Mobile).

UC Browser claims to work on a similar principle as Opera as far as using the cloud to reduce data. Also a smallish browser.

The stock browser is just plain clunky and slow. Tab browsing (or what loosely passes for it) is not very efficient.
 
I am using Chrome right now, mostly for the reason that it's really simple to sync bookmarks from my phone to my tablet and PC. This is a pretty important feature for me.
 
Mostly Harmless said:
I am using Chrome right now, mostly for the reason that it's really simple to sync bookmarks from my phone to my tablet and PC. This is a pretty important feature for me.
Click to expand...

That sold me, so I went to get it, and was treated with, “This app is incompatible with your Sprint LGE LS670.” That doesn’t quite make sense, that my basic gingerbreaded stock droid can’t even run a browser from the same company that cooked the gingerbread.

I am chopped liver.
 
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