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Need Help Picking a Mobile Web Browser (4.4.4+)

sardonicus87

sardonicus87

Member
So, I just got a new phone (Galaxy S5) and now I need a new browser.

I looked up reviews, but they give me no useful information for what I am looking.

Absolute "requirements":
- Has true tabbed browsing (as in tabs that can be selected in the nav bar, not a sub menu that must be opened to select tabs)
- Ability to both open link in a new tab (and focus to that tab) AND to open a tab in the background (and stay focused on the current tab)

Actually basically what I am looking for is Dolphin Browser minus the inability to delete useless home page links (I forget what this is called, but they have 3 now that you can't delete).

I absolutely HATE the new Dolphin since the last major UI update.

Also, I could not care less about gestures and voice, etc.

But it seems almost no browsers have true tabbed browsing. I don't mind losing screen real eestate, this phone is huge.

Or like, if anyone can remember the version of Dolphin before they changed to the current UI, or like a comparison of their UI's... then I could better explain what I am looking for.

UPDATE:
Dolphin Browser HD 9.4.1 is the last version I liked (UI was perfect). That's basically what I am looking for in an up-to-date browser.

For me, at this point, it is 90% I need a great UI and something that doesn't try to force crap on me and so far, absolutely everyone fails miserably at it and are almost all using practically identical UI's.

It's really frustrating. What I have tried so far and hated (most hated at top):
- Chrome
- Opera
- FireFox
- Dolphin

So... yeah.
 
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Check out "Naked Browser"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fevdev.nakedbrowser

1418796437081.jpg


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Read the full description in the Play Store to see if it's really what you want.

Either way, it doesn't suck. ;)

But it is about browsing and not eye candy, so depending on your point of view the UI is either lacking or absolutely fabulous.


Btw - welcome to the forums! :)
 
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Thanks, and yeah... visual appeal is an aspect of UI, but not all of UI.

While that's definitely "naked", I see it does have true tabbed browsing and the link opening options.

Despite being crudely ugly, if it has the homepage thing with buttons (speed dial?) that you can set to specific sites and supports both Flash (because some devs are Luddites that don't yet recognise the superiority of HTML5) and HTML5 by about the same levels as any other, it is definitely along the lines of what I am looking for.

Really, Dolphin HD 9.??? (mentioned in OP) was absolutely perfect to me, but as web standards change, it falls behind.

Anyway, I will definitely check it out, thanks.
 
Try Javelin. It has the tab options you're looking for and if you're in to that sort of thing, it has "link bubble" like functionality for opening links via emails/other sites/facebook etc.

It's a bit bright, but other than that, it might do the job.
 
Eh, naked is just too ugly and it doesn't really have a menu as far as I can find/tell and doesn't truky have the speed links.

Dolphin 9 did it all. But then, like everyone else, they had to take what was perfect and dump all over it. Then, when the majority complained about the changes, they just had to dump on it more.

I would sacrifice flash support just for a clean UI that has true tabs, open link in background or foreground options, and a speed dialer home.

I will check out Javelin, but I may just have to go back to Dolphin 9.x.x.

:/
 
Eh, no true tabs there either. It has the speed dialer, but it's ugly and I never could be productive with it.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I think I am just going to go back to Dolphin 9.

UPDATE:
Crap! I can't use it because there's no button to get to settings (Dolphin 9.x).

:(

I guess I should learn Android Programming to make a browser that isn't 90% suck. Ugh. And they're all basically the same now.
 
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Maxthon has tabs.

Puffin is another choice.

CM Browser.

UC Browser.

Boat Browser (also has a mini version).

xScope (I used to love this, but the dev appears to have abandoned it).

It doesn't have tabs, but my browser of choice at the moment is Atlas (only because it defaults to desktop view as opposed to mobile).
 
I'm a Boat fan personally, have never had a problem with it and I am the kind who will try out new browsers but I always go back to Boat.
 
I really like CM so far, especially having full screen. Really, it is perfect aside from not having real tabs, but has everything else. I don't know about navigating tabs as i haven't tried it yet. Thanks guys. CM destroys Chrome at the very least.

Going to try Boat next.

UPDATE:
Oh WOW, CM's tab system is horribly annoying and inefficient, that just dropped it back to the bottom with everything else I hate. Also, it's inefficiency and dis-ease of use in full-screen mode is a joke.

Boat honestly looks a lot better and more like what I am looking for, but I don't know if it's worth paying for it yet, still have to play around with it to see.
 
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OK, yeah, Boat wins, hands-down. Worth paying for it in my opinion.

The ONLY issue is that some pages are really small because it doesn't auto-zoom and wrap text the way most browsers do.

Well, one other issue. Other browsers, when in landscape mode and you bring up the keyboard to type and there's not enough room they extend the page and move it up so you can see where the text-box isn't obscured by the keyboard.

I also wish it used the website's Favicon for the dialer buttons instead of a snapshot of the page, but that's a very minor/non-issue compared to everything else working great.

Other than that, bloody fantastic. Thanks everyone.
 
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