Database Users

Emulation of iPhone Browser? Why not?

This question always crossed my mind, how come nobody has emulated the iPhone web browser? I've tried IE, Opera, and the mobile Firefox but they're all junk compared to the mobile Safari - mainly because of the finger movements that make it super easy to navigate. This is really the only advantage other than GUI "swiftness" the iPhone has.
Please discuss, and if your response is "why dunt u buy an itele lolz", you totally missed the point.

you have to try picsel browser, some ppl say its better than safari,
and about opera, if you tried opera mobile you have the wrong version because opera mini is the one you want to have. It is not very finger friendly but it is very fast and also very good to use with d-pad
cheers

well i only use opera mobile mini is not really my cop of tea

Look at skyfire.com. It's not out yet, but seems promising!
jv

Anyone know if skyfire is a proxy? or is it just a different engine? WebDAV?

johnnyv5 said:
Look at skyfire.com. It's not out yet, but seems promising!
jv
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Yes it does, nice demo.

Thanks, SkyFire looks very nice! I'm using Opera atm because it's the only half-decent browser I've found - however the zoom features suck because it can't render text correctly and you can't browse as swiftly compared to Safari. However SkyFire is very interesting, I'll be looking into this further.
Cheers

Saw in the Hermes thread that the WM6.1 PIE has an option that allows you to view the entire webpage then tap to zoom in on a certain portion of it. Sound familiar?

Wonder whatever happened to M$ deepfish browser? I wasn't one of the lucky ones who got on the beta test list. And I don't see anything new posted on the project website.

Is there any way to fool PIE into telling a site that it is an iPhone??
I know it's possible to get PIE to broadcast that it is a desktop, so why not an iPhone??

gregoryx said:
Anyone know if skyfire is a proxy? or is it just a different engine? WebDAV?
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Yes, it is proxy-based . However, it is the best browser Ive seen for a mobile device to-date. They have a video on YouTube & it looks very promising. Definitely better than Safari because it not only supports AJAX, but full FLASH 8 & 9 as well. If you access ESPN.com, you can actually see the video's of the highlights to the right of the page just like you would on a regular desktop.

gregoryx said:
Anyone know if skyfire is a proxy? or is it just a different engine? WebDAV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is proxy-based . However, it is the best browser Ive seen for a mobile device to-date. They have a video on YouTube & it looks very promising. Definitely better than Safari because it not only supports AJAX, but full FLASH 8 & 9 as well. If you access ESPN.com, you can actually see the video's of the highlights to the right of the page just like you would on a regular desktop. Full sound & everything! Ive just been waiting for them to send my invitation since I signed up 2wks ago.

Well... Opera Mobile 9.5 will be released in a week or so. It's much better than Safari

Pisel would be just as good as safari - correction, better - if it supported flash. My only two gripes with picsel is the inability to view flash, and not being able to set it as my default browser. Its fast, the nearly-limitless zooming beats the pants off of anything available now or in near future. If I'm not planning to edit them, i open my text files with it too. :thumbsup:

Before we get Opera 9.5, the top two browsers in terms of speed are Netfront 3.5 followed by Opera Mini 4.
Netfront is way better than Picsel browser. Picsel is slooooww. It also have memory full problem, on top of other bugs.
I hve done some bencemark between all these browser in the Athena forum, if you're interested.

i been playing around with netfront... and im very impressed... its prob the fastest browser per load time... and its browsing is very nice allowing finger movements... also double tap on screen to zoom out of the page
which in turn opens up a window and allows u to use a nav box to scroll along the bigger portions of the page... i highly recommend for people to try it out ....
Edit: Netfront also has full ajax2.0 support

Best mobile browser?

Hey guys what is the best browser on the vogue? opera, netfront, picsel?
Im waiting for my skyfire beta code btw cant wait to get it.

Opera mini 4 is great ---Skyfire was buggy,
already deleted it.

Don't like Netfront.
Opera 9.33 look promising.
But my favourite is still Opera Mini 4, very fast and very reliable. Ok so it doesn't support flash etc. but hey this is a phone!

I like NetFront. It hast a fast page load, nice zoom in out feature, and works well for forum and news sites. Still no flash but, no body has that working perfectly yet for PPC.

wldthng842 said:
I like NetFront. It hast a fast page load, nice zoom in out feature, and works well for forum and news sites. Still no flash but, no body has that working perfectly yet for PPC.
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I second that!

skyfire out,when?

honolulu said:
skyfire out,when?
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There was a sign up for the beta but only a handful of the people who signed up got it. I'm still waiting for mine....

I hear skyfire is a scary data mining company anyone else catch this?
I like picsel and pieplus/tpcmp for watchig youtube.

fuzzydeer said:
I hear skyfire is a scary data mining company anyone else catch this?
I like picsel and pieplus/tpcmp for watchig youtube.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
because its on BETA skyfire has it in its agreement that they can keep records of all and every website you access- so they can see what people use and access most
AFAIK

alpha_omega said:
I second that!
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With netfront .. can you zoom in and out of the page like with picsel Browser? Only option I see is the zoom (25/50/75%) style not drag and zoom style

MattOktaNZ said:
With netfront .. can you zoom in and out of the page like with picsel Browser? Only option I see is the zoom (25/50/75%) style not drag and zoom style
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, when you double tap on the webpage, it'll zoom out and show the whole page in the foreground and the zoomed in part in the background. You have to see to understand. I've tried opera 9.5 beta and netfront. Netfront is better right now for format when zoomed in view, although the latest opera beta is an improvement. Haven't seen skyfire yet, but I've read that it's not living up to the hype.

i love my picsel browser but it used to be slow as hell!! after a rom update and registry tweaks i got it as fast as opera so its sweet!!!! i just wish you could download straight from the browser otherwise id delete opera mobile, but opera mobile is the best browser pound for pound

I am a big fan of irisbrowser

Opera Mobile 9.5 hands down

If you really really use the browser to surf the web, the only real choice is Internet explorer. The others are really fancy but, for the majority of the website, reflow on IE work much better and a lot more stable.
Opera Mobile 9 will be the best when they came out. I am using the beta version it is great! It has zoom capability and reflow together!
Zooming alone like Netfont doesn't help if you really really us it to surf the web.
The other one hasn't been out of beta yet.

skyfire is hands down the best. i have experienced no bugs thus far and have not found a single site that does not work with it.

gold_sprinter said:
I am a big fan of irisbrowser
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I just gave Irisbrowser a try. It's suprisingly good and fast. I'm astounded that this is the first time i'm hearing about it.

I find myself using Skyfire for most things. It really works well, especially for Digg and Drudge Report. The only problem is that the code on some pages it seems prevent Skyfire from properly reformatting the text to fit in the zoom window, so you have to scroll all over to read them. The most annoying place this occurs is Google Reader - there is just no good way to view this site on Skyfire that I have found. However, Opera 9.5 can view the iPhone interface of Google Reader (www.google.com/reader/i (instead of /m), so I use that when I'm browsing RSS. The version of Netfront I had was buggy, and cut off my data connection somehow when I minimized the app (couldn't get mail, check the HTC home weather, etc.). Prolly just a bad build, but Skyfire and Opera kill it anyway.

ok i have the verizon vogue or xv6900. what browser is best for that device cuz i went to operamini.com and said this wasnt a compatible device

mcforan23 said:
ok i have the verizon vogue or xv6900. what browser is best for that device cuz i went to operamini.com and said this wasnt a compatible device
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You must of somehow skipped over the entire thread...........!

iris web browser must try!

its easily faster than opera... runs pretty smooth and i actually enjoy the small scrolling screen they got from the netfront browser as well.
http://torchmobile.com/

boinger66 said:
its easily faster than opera... runs pretty smooth and i actually enjoy the small scrolling screen they got from the netfront browser as well.
http://torchmobile.com/
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its faster over wifi but I don't think it's as quick over gprs.
Its definitely getting better each release though.
I still use netfronts' simple browsing for things like forums, nothing is a quick as that one..

fards said:
its faster over wifi but I don't think it's as quick over gprs.
Its definitely getting better each release though.
I still use netfronts' simple browsing for things like forums, nothing is a quick as that one..
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UCWEB6 flies! It's basic html only though. I use it for very basic functions like really quick google searches, spelling corrections, eBay etc.

Tried it a long time ago and didn't like it...

Its page displaying seems to be slower than opera

spr33 said:
UCWEB6 flies! It's basic html only though. I use it for very basic functions like really quick google searches, spelling corrections, eBay etc.
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its a java proxybrowser though isn't it? I'm not very keen on those..

orelsi said:
Tried it a long time ago and didn't like it...
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Try again, they update quite often. I use it sometimes since it can display anything. It has perfect javascript functionality.
I use Opera Mini for common browsing, but when I find a page it has troubles with, Opera Mobile usually has problems too.
Still Opera Mobile is best adapted to screen size and touch controls. Give me Opera Mobile with compatibility of Iris and I will be happy.

Dr.Sid said:
Try again, they update quite often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just did. I still don't like it . It feels uncomfortable to work with, and has much less options than the Opera. I keep it installed though, along with other browsers, in case my Opera brakes down hehe.

right now, Iris is only great for Iphone optimized sites... for everything else, Opera is the way to go.

fards said:
its a java proxybrowser though isn't it? I'm not very keen on those..
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Click to collapse
i think you should give ucweb a try. its tiny and it does not require JAVA and its much more funtional than opera mini
its a really good secondary (when on EDGE or 3G) efficient browser.
good 4-min video review http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=7232

It is a very good browser, and a fast one. It definitely renders HTML better than Opera Mobile 9.5. It works very good with X1.
My only concern is that when I double tap a page, the zoom is not to 100%, but less. I mean the image I see after a double tap is smaller than if I choose zoom to 100%. Anyone having the same issue?

I use Iris for few months and must say - it's getting better and better. Still it's not a perfect browser - but show me one that is. I'm waiting for update which can allow to watch youtube movies directly from pages like www.pocketnow.com etc. Now for those pages I use Skyfire.

Does it have embedded Flash support, like on desktop browser? Any news on such upcoming feature?

http://www.torchmobile.com/products/faq/
How do I make YouTube work?
YouTube's standard desktop version requires Flash 9 or above. This is not available for Windows Mobile. If you leave the browser in Mobile Mode (Page->View->Mobile Mode in the menu), you can visit YouTube and will be redirected to the mobile edition. If you happen to have the FlashLite 3 ActiveX control installed, Iris Browser will automatically use it and videos should work.

For youtube.com I use Zenyee application. More usefull would be possibility of playing implanted movies on sites. This is possible for now with Skyfire and Mach5 I suppose.

Why isn't anyone adding Skyfire as the default browser....

Why isn't anyone adding Skyfire as the default browser on any of these ROMS? Just asking. I've heard great things about Skyfire but I'm guessing you guys must know something that I don't. I'm sure there has to be a reason. Would it work with the Push Internet function on Rhodium?

When I had my smartphone I used skyfire all the time, but when I started using HTC devices skyfire just looked crappy to be honest. Its pretty low resolution and opera looks soo much better.

Yup yup!
Low res
Crappy looking
I ONLY use it for flash player to stream videos off websites.

i knew there was a reason.
but does Opera support flash and play videos on as many sites as Skyfire?

Robes1,
Opera doesn't support flash, but you can stream off it. I have Coreplayer so when I click on a video off a website like youtube. Coreplayer would open up and play the video. Unlike Skyfire it would open right from the site and play.

I have a different problem, ive had my TP2 for 2 days now and flashed my first ever rom onto a phone just last night (thanks to the great walkthrough on this site)
So I went to put skyfire on my phone but when I go to the skyfire site on my phone it tells me it's not compatible with my phone? I don't think I'm doing something right. I downloaded the skyfire software to my computer, same with google maps, and I guess I just dont know how to add applications to my phone. I couldn't find a walkthrough on how to add apps through any faq or with the search function (including google searching lol)
I apologize for being such a noob but can anyone help? I imagine adding an app should be as simple as clicking dragging and setting up but I guess I'm just not technologically smart enough to grasp this. Any help would be appreciated!

make sure that you are installing the cab file. If I remember correctly, you can download a pc installer and a cab file. the cab file is what you install on the phone. I use skyfire all the time even though it looks terrible on my beautiful TP2 screen.

HeavyComponent said:
Robes1,
Opera doesn't support flash, but you can stream off it. I have Coreplayer so when I click on a video off a website like youtube. Coreplayer would open up and play the video. Unlike Skyfire it would open right from the site and play.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Opera does support flash. Search for fixOperaFlash on xda, and you'll find it The only thing opera doesn't support = Silverlight, which skyfire does

pnxsinned said:
Opera does support flash. Search for fixOperaFlash on xda, and you'll find it The only thing opera doesn't support = Silverlight, which skyfire does
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Click to collapse
hmm... Silverlight's great and all, but I see it being used more for interactive applications than passive media. I thought that skyfire wasn't being built for games?

roms not having manila folder
about everyone adding opera as default browser having it embedded in the rom is a bit of a pain. it seems that a lot of them are removing the manila folder out from application data folder and also removing the internetportal.xml file. that file was able to be edited and have you launch whatever browser you wanted from the internet tab in touchflo3d. only rom i have found that still has this folder and file is Romeos rom v1.04 which is available to download. u can then go here http://www.fuzemobility.com/how-to-change-the-tf3d-default-browser/ and make skyfire your default. works with romeo rom

Robes1 said:
Why isn't anyone adding Skyfire as the default browser on any of these ROMS? Just asking. I've heard great things about Skyfire but I'm guessing you guys must know something that I don't. I'm sure there has to be a reason. Would it work with the Push Internet function on Rhodium?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not only does it display poorly on newer WVGA devices, Skyfire is not ready for daily use
I was using it yesterday after a fully charged battery and in 2 hrs my battery needed to be charged again

skyfire is kinda low res and isn't as appealing on a wvga screen.

sayoonarachue said:
skyfire is kinda low res and isn't as appealing on a wvga screen.
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Very well said

sayoonarachue said:
skyfire is kinda low res and isn't as appealing on a wvga screen.
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Click to collapse
Yeah but is it functionally better than opera?
I have IE, Opera 9.7 and Opera Mobile. Not sure if I should try to uninstall one of the previous and install skyfire.

jmsnyc said:
Yeah but is it functionally better than opera?
I have IE, Opera 9.7 and Opera Mobile. Not sure if I should try to uninstall one of the previous and install skyfire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Opera runs smoother than Skyfire, Stick with Opera.

A short time back Skyfire did come out with a version that greatly improves the resolution on VGA and WVGA devices.
Skyfire uses a proxy server. So your data all travels to and from someone elses storage. There is the potential of them collecting personal info on you. Not that I'm paranoid, but it is a good reason for a manufacturer not to build it into a device.
Skyfire tends (IMHO) to not handle a lot of different web sites. I have more issues with it then Opera.
But I keep it installed in case I want to visit a flash enabled site.

It looks ugly and it doesn't use the zoom bar.
Wait, so it supports silverlight? Does that mean I can watch netflix on my phone?

Robes1 said:
Why isn't anyone adding Skyfire as the default browser on any of these ROMS? Just asking. I've heard great things about Skyfire but I'm guessing you guys must know something that I don't. I'm sure there has to be a reason. Would it work with the Push Internet function on Rhodium?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Skyfire 1.5 is nicer to look at and will allow you flash on over 90% of the internet sites.

if it worked with games i would be all over it, otherwise my broswer of choice is opera mini.
i've noticed most flash content on websites are in the form of advertisement anyway lol

This is the latest and greatest skyfire for tp2.. its a close 2nd to opera.. looks nice now and loads quicker.. Enjoy!

Latest SkyFire any good ???

Anybody have any experience with latest ver of Skyfire browser in HD2 yet?
How does it compare to Opera?

1.5? used it for a bit.
its generally good.
lags a bit when trying to navigate though.

I use it for Flash only, like for watching Freeview on TVCatchup or, everynow and then, YouTube.
I think the quality of the webpages produced is poor, it's like they are hazey, not clear and crisp like Opera is, however I like the main page which has a Skyfire home page and a bookmark and history page.
I have 4 browers installed on my HD2, two versions of Opera, 9.7 and the new Opera 10 beta, Skyfire and Internet Explorer, and I use them in that order. 99% of my web browsing is done on Opera 9.7, you can't beat it.

SAman1 said:
Anybody have any experience with latest ver of Skyfire browser in HD2 yet?
How does it compare to Opera?
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Click to collapse
For general browsing it's rather sluggish. In particular, every time to cklick a checkbox or radio-button it has to do a round-trip to the server, so filling in a survey is a nightmare. But it scores highly for compatibility - just about any page is rendered correctly, much more often than is the case for Opera. It also handles Flash and Silverlight very nicely.

Kalavere said:
I use it for Flash only, like for watching Freeview on TVCatchup or, everynow and then, YouTube.
I think the quality of the webpages produced is poor, it's like they are hazey, not clear and crisp like Opera is, however I like the main page which has a Skyfire home page and a bookmark and history page.
I have 4 browers installed on my HD2, two versions of Opera, 9.7 and the new Opera 10 beta, Skyfire and Internet Explorer, and I use them in that order. 99% of my web browsing is done on Opera 9.7, you can't beat it.
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How can you watch Freeview on the HD2?

steveianson said:
How can you watch Freeview on the HD2?
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www.tvcatchup.com
pretty good quality too!

Thanks for your responses guys. I read about it on another site where people were raving about how much faster the latest version made their internet experience and how the user interface had been improved, so i figured maybe it's a good alternative to Opera, but judging from the general consensus here I think I'll just give it pass. Especially since I don't really have a problem with the pre-installed ver of Opera.

you could always try it out yourself...

would be good to get a HD2 specific version, i think the bad text/page rendering has something to do with the massive resolution of the HD2. Some pages I have problems getting the keyboard out, any tips?
Sucks that Adobe said they were going to support flash for 6.5x then changed their mind for WM7

lepszy said:
you could always try it out yourself...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took your advice and did just that. It sucks! Poor resolution and very slow, no match for Opera.
BTW How do I check what version of Opera I have?

paulking said:
www.tvcatchup.com
pretty good quality too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's the one.

SAman1 said:
I took your advice and did just that. It sucks! Poor resolution and very slow, no match for Opera.
BTW How do I check what version of Opera I have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
open opera >menu>help>about>version on the top

SkyFire is no doubt a good browser. It has full flash support, and is meant to be the fastest web browser for WinMo! However, it is laggy when it comes to navigation ie scrolling up and down the website, and once certain Opera tweaks are applied (and Wifi N enabled) NOTHING beats it! Especially Opera 9.7. The downside of Opera is that it has lack of Flash support
But it's 100% smooth, and in my opinion a much more User-friendly and a lot more suitable for casual, usual day-to-day web browsing

skyfire is my default browser on my HD2, thoroughly recommend it.
it doesn't have and pinch to zoom function but the double tap works perfectly also it is the only browser with FULL flash 10 desktop support, pages look amazing.
only other nag is that there is no multiply tab support.

azahoth said:
open opera >menu>help>about>version on the top
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Click to collapse
I already tried that, but help brings up a page with 2 icons to choose from either desktop or mobile. Selecting mobile takes me to a page to select my phone and language, but HTC is not even listed ???
I'm using OS ver 5.2.21869, Official Rom 1.66.707.1 (76641) WWE 01/12/2010.
Thanks,

YauMannn said:
skyfire is my default browser on my HD2, thoroughly recommend it.
it doesn't have and pinch to zoom function but the double tap works perfectly also it is the only browser with FULL flash 10 desktop support, pages look amazing.
only other nag is that there is no multiply tab support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Si it lacks gestures & no multiple tabs. ....but, how do you get the pages to look good? I Agree Opera beats it in every respect including the failings already mentioned.

Kalavere said:
Yep, that's the one.
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I can't sign up to it because it seems to be for the UK only, does anyone know such a site for the rest of the world (or the Netherlands)?