Netfront 3.5 browser on HD? - Touch HD General

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has tried this browser on their HD yet? I really want to try a different browser as Opera is just a little bit annoying with the freezing thing!! I really want to have a go with Skyfire but until they do an update for WVGA screens I can't.
So how does Netfront compare to Opera?

So no one has tried netfront then on the HD?
May have to be a guinea pig then lol

AFK_Matrix said:
So no one has tried netfront then on the HD?
May have to be a guinea pig then lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please do because i have used it in the past on my Kaiser and liked it from what i remember.

Ok just had a little play with Netfront 3.5. Here is a brief review, please ask any questions you may have.
Pros:
1. Loads very quickly compared with Opera
2. No freezing when scrolling (very annoying on Opera!)
3. The highlighting on this is much better than on Opera. I can actually see if I have selected a link (highlights the link in blue when touched)
4. Renders webpages fine, only thing being is the text is noticeably different. Although it actually makes it easier to read this way.
Cons:
1. No on screen zoom, you have to go through the menu everytime.
2. It will only zoom to 125% which maybe ok on smaller screens but means text is still quite small on the HD
3. Won't turn into landscape, cant even use Gyrator 2 as it doesn't see Netfront in its applications list
So at the moment its not a replacement for Opera but if they solved the cons for this then I would use this over Opera in a hearbeat.
I am going to see if there is a feedback email or something on the Netfront webpage.

it runs and it's quite fast. but I don't like the usability some how so I stick with opera. but it's not bad.
worth to give it a try.

I like it. It's fast, though page redraws are somewhat flickery. Once the page has loaded it's very fast.
I did notice, however, that this beta version is due to expire on the 30th Nov 2008! :-(
J

One other thing - if you're interested in other browsers on the HD, there's also the webkit-based Iris Browser:
http://www.torchmobile.com/
Again, I prefer Opera, but it's good to try alternatives.
Still waiting for an HD-compatible version of Skyfire!
J

I think not being able to zoom (or having to go through menu's) would be a deal breaker for me

Related

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
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.
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

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/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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..
Click to expand...
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.

Skyfire browser

Hello,
just today I tried Skyfire browser for the first time.
Especially interested in flash support...
I didn't see any topics lately regarding this app so I created a new thread.
OK, so it supports flash...
But my question is - does it look so bad-quality on your X1's?
Like a bad graphics/quite pixaleted?
'Cos it doesn't match the OperaMini neither OperaMobile 9.5 graphic quality...
Please let me know!
Yes, rendering in this browser is a flaw. But nice browser anyway. Now I'm waiting for Opera 9.7. That one will kick Skyfire but until then it is the best browser. (Cannot use Mach5...)
oTToToTenTanz said:
Yes, rendering in this browser is a flaw. But nice browser anyway. Now I'm waiting for Opera 9.7. That one will kick Skyfire but until then it is the best browser. (Cannot use Mach5...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Actually this rendering is just disgusting.
Also, it doesn't seem having the picture download ability?
I could download all the pictures I wanted. I just went to google and used google images and downloaded them there. It downloads all the stuff in your "my files" folder. I like that function.
Maybe you want to try Mach5. Currently this is a free beta with some more media abilities. I cannot use this mach5, don't ask me why.
Greets
oTToToTenTanz said:
I could download all the pictures I wanted. I just went to google and used google images and downloaded them there. It downloads all the stuff in your "my files" folder. I like that function.
Maybe you want to try Mach5. Currently this is a free beta with some more media abilities. I cannot use this mach5, don't ask me why.
Greets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but what is "used google images and downloaded them there".
I don't see any download function in skyfire.....
the images are clearly scaled from wqvga 400x240
use mach5 its a lot better than skyfire but its not gonna be free
THE GRIZZ said:
the images are clearly scaled from wqvga 400x240
use mach5 its a lot better than skyfire but its not gonna be free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx... Apparently scaled pictures are the last thing I need.
Currently OperaMini scales them when saving what is SH..T when you use an advenced device.
Anyway too many browsers. Seems I'll stick with Opera,
looks like they're still the best. The quality of it just kills probably any other solutions.
Skyfire is fast but looks very bad on X1. I suppose Mach5 is not thaaaat better.
All of the concern here is caused just by one thing - using my FlashLite 3.1 plugin is very buggy on my stock Opera 9.5, it's the thing which crashes.
The rest of this browser is just outstanding.
I suppose Mach5 is not thaaaat better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
give it a try its a lot better than skyfire
also consider using more than one browser
i use opera(wifi) and ucweb(cell)
THE GRIZZ said:
give it a try its a lot better than skyfire
also consider using more than one browser
i use opera(wifi) and ucweb(cell)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I generally use OMini which is marvellous in most cases,
plus OMobile 9.5 for flash and on WiFi...
try mach 5 browser. it's hella sweet.
In my oppinion Skyfire is the worst of all browsers. The rendering quality is optimized for ugly low end devices and the advantage of the X1 with its WVGA screen to be able to read pages without zooming in is totally lost.
Opera disappoints me as well. Rendering quality is perfect, but I often can't click links without zooming in first or i have to click a million times till it works. The Soft-Keyboard pops up all the time what makes no sense at all in landscape mode with a hardware keyboard.
At the moment I'm using Netfront. No problem clicking Links, same rendering quality as Opera, no soft-keyboard popping up and it starts 5x faster than Opera.
SE-X1 said:
In my oppinion Skyfire is the worst of all browsers. The rendering quality is optimized for ugly low end devices and the advantage of the X1 with its WVGA screen to be able to read pages without zooming in is totally lost.
Opera disappoints me as well. Rendering quality is perfect, but I often can't click links without zooming in first or i have to click a million times till it works. The Soft-Keyboard pops up all the time what makes no sense at all in landscape mode with a hardware keyboard.
At the moment I'm using Netfront. No problem clicking Links, same rendering quality as Opera, no soft-keyboard popping up and it starts 5x faster than Opera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I thought they only make it for feature phones.
But apparently no Flash support?
Opera Mini rules!!!!

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?
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you watch Freeview on the HD2?
steveianson said:
How can you watch Freeview on the HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)?

[Q] Opera Mobile 10 For TP2?

So I downloaded the latest version of Opera Mobile (10) from Opera's website but I've noticed now that it is not compatible with the zoom slider on the bottom; it does not give you the option to minimize when you click on exit like 9.7 does; and it always uses the whole screen so it's slightly harder to multitask.
Is there a TP2-specific version that retains all the previous compatible features of 9.7?
Thanks!
I just installed Opera 10 on mine last night.... and I uninstalled it within 15 minutes of use. Opera 9.7 native to the rom is slow and buggy. PIE functions far better IMO. However, Mini is still the first go-to browser for me. It just flat works and is fast. I still keep PIE as the default browser, and use Skyfire for when I need to view desktop version of sites. So I rotate between those three depending on what site I need to view.
Hmm ok thanks for the input. I installed Mini the other day but it looked and seemed to perform exactly the same as Mobile 10 so I uninstalled it (didn't see the point of having both installed). Maybe I'll give it another chance. I used Skyfire on my Titan but haven't tried the latest versions on this phone yet so I'll give it a try.
PIE seems to run really slow for me.
unL33T said:
Hmm ok thanks for the input. I installed Mini the other day but it looked and seemed to perform exactly the same as Mobile 10 so I uninstalled it (didn't see the point of having both installed). Maybe I'll give it another chance. I used Skyfire on my Titan but haven't tried the latest versions on this phone yet so I'll give it a try.
PIE seems to run really slow for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes PIE is slow, and it sure looks a whole lot like Opera 9.7 IMO. But it does function better for some sites. For example, if I'm on Youtube's site, PIE will open up the video links in Steaming media, Opera Mini will not. But Mini flys through most wap/mobile sites, and that is why I use it 75% of the time. Skyfire can be slow too, but it will open up a site like a desktop... for the most part.
Opera 10 from what I can tell, is a bloated version of Opera Mini.
I too tried Opera 10 a while back and got rid of it quickly - however, I have come back to 10 and have learnt to live without the zoombar, since it is faster and takes up less RAM I was finding Opera 9.7 would often quit, even if I wasn't trying to multitask, whereas 10 deosn't seem to, even if I hit the Windows hard key and open up emial or calendar etc.
Wow, 9.7 closes on you? I have yet to have an application close on this phone even when I have lots of stuff open. But I've been running mostly MightyROM since I got it.
Opera 10 only has 2 levels of "zoom". It does not have a scalable zoom, so there is no way to make it compatible with the zoom bar on the TP2.
redpoint73 said:
Opera 10 only has 2 levels of "zoom". It does not have a scalable zoom, so there is no way to make it compatible with the zoom bar on the TP2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, O10 has 7 levels of "zoom" within the settings tab. OMini has "text size" for it's pseudo zoom.
Skyfire for tilt2
is skyfire working for anyone on their tilt2?? i loved skyfire when ti was workigmn but a month ago it quit due to the iphone introduction to skyfire. All i want to do is listen to my www.skysports.com/radio on the tilt but no luck lately. tried opera mini but no luck
I would like to ask to anyone who uses Opera10 or 9.7 on your TP2 : How in the world can you cope with the scrolling thing with this browser? I mean the scrolling is really sluggish - I move up with my fingers, the scrolling is delayed by some seconds, and when I tried to scroll left/right/down, the scrolling respond after some seconds and the page scrolls by itself in all directions since it remembers the movements made of my finger.
I find this browser sluggish and very difficult/annoying to use - how can you guys still be using Opera 9.7/10?
I have never had those problems with Opera 10 on my (T-Mobile) TP2 running WM 6.5. It works fine for me.
Telyx said:
I have never had those problems with Opera 10 on my (T-Mobile) TP2 running WM 6.5. It works fine for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure the scrolling is smooth with Opera10? I've tried on 2 tp2 and the results are the same. I think it's called ghosting. The finger scrolling lags and is a pain to browse the whole page.
Opera 10 working fine
I too had experienced some issues with the early builds of Opera 10 both beta and finals, but I have come back to it and use it a good 98% of the time when I want to surf the net on my phone. Seems that they may have fixed the issues with the lag from the early builds.
Then again, it just may be the ROM that I am using.
Seriously???
I don't know how you can think 9.7 is faster or better than 10!?!?! Simple one click zoom, fast page load times, speed dial on homepage. 10 is alot better, besides, if you want to minimize, just hit the end ket and go into task manager in upper right corner. There is also a TRULY final version on opera's website....it is very stable and smooth. I too had issues with the beta and switched to skyfire (mistake) but when the final came out, amazing.
I have a tip......its seems that whatsoever version of roms..the integrated Opera browser seems to be slow and not working well. So I removed it from my programs and downloaded Opera Mini 1. This browser is with in 2 sec on a website page. My advice?.....dont use the browser on the ROM ..it doesnt work well...
opera mini best
imm useing opera mini on my tilt 2 with no problems whatsoever. best web browzer that is compairable to a computer browzer iff u overclock urr device. iff there was a way to make the zoom bar compatible with opera mini even to just 1 or 2 zoom levels ide b happy.

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