Related
http://www.access-company.com/products/netfrontmobile/browser/35_wm_tp.html
been trying it out for a few minutes on x51v -- it's pretty darn fast! It loads up Engadget in its entirety in around 10 seconds and is fully surfable after that.
I've goten it too and set it to my default browser. I defineatly like it but it is a memory hog. The only problem about this is if I leave it open in the background it errors saying not enough free memory.
Other than that it loads up in about 3 seconds on my titan andloads most big sites in about 10-15 seconds.
One issue is that sometimes while scrolling it seems the page has to refresh and keep up.
i am really liking this tech preview. i installed it last night and it's really zippy, although one time i got an error saying that it did not support javascript (even though it does elsewhere).
other than that one instance, everything works perfectly, and it renders web pages really quickly with the "Full Browsing" mode. (don't bother with Rapid-Render, it's actually slower than "Full Browsing"). also, for anyone that's used 3.4 tech preview, this 3.5 beta has working visual bookmarks, meaning it makes the thumbnail based on the part of the page you're viewing. it's great
My "Browser View" settings are (in order):
Full Browsing
Normal
75%
640x640
Medium
and with those settings, it is just flying.
A couple questions:
1) Does anyone know how to get the "External Tools" to work? I added .flv to work with TCPMP, and i went to YtPocket.com to test it out, but nothing happen. ytpocket sends flv format to TCPMP, so I don't know what happened. any ideas?
2) What is the difference between "Full Browsing" mode and "Simple Browsing" mode? they both render the pages as we would see on the desktop, and i can't see much speed difference.
this blows skyfire out of the water. i keep getting the memory error.
I tested netfront 3.5 for a few hours. It seems to me that it is faster than opera mini. However, I am waiting for opera mobile 9.5. I heard it will a lot better than skyfire and netfront 3.5
They finally come up with an update after all these years! (alright, well months...) and obviously, it still doesn't do it.
sounds like a lot of WM browsers around here. PIEPlus has been stuck at 2.2 for as long as I've been using WM, but I'm waiting to see what Opera's next attempt will be like.
rzanology said:
this blows skyfire out of the water. i keep getting the memory error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You keep getting the memory error with which program? And could you give us more of an in-depth comparison since you've tried both?
For me it seem to take forever to download a website.
Like cnn.com take a good 3-6 minutes to download when using IE take less a minute.
But once downloaded it scroll the page very fast but I do notice if I use my finger to scroll the page around it keep opening up my battery status setting apps.
I was no where near the battery icon which does that when you touch it.
Bill
its decent, it doesnt support youtube or any other video site... in addition to that, there isnt a dedicated back button lol, which is crucial. ill wait for opera... itll own all the other web browsers, bar none.
Hehe
i wil keep ma fingers crossed and jus wait for the new Opera 9
well...skyfire feel too unpolished. even though its fast...its just not ready yet. there is no mobile few. im a fan of mobile few...meaning...i like the browerser to org everything in on coloumn so there is no need for scrolling to the right or left. how ever.....netfront does a good job of the zooming out and zooming in. so i can live with that. its also faster than skyfire. but i still find myself needed to launch up opera mini....for my myspace and facebook needs...as well as general browsing like gizmodo.com and engadget....opermini offers the best experence. but netfront really isn't bad. im looking foward to trying the new opera...as i didnt really care for 8.5 or 8.6 what ever it is.
Guys, Some questions.
I have never had the need to install 3rd party web browser.. due to the fact that I think the more apps you install, the slower your device will be... so, I always keep my apps to minimum...
Now, is skyfire/opera much faster than PIE? (how much faster?)
What makes you guys think that it is necessary to install 3rd party apps?
What makes you guys "hate" the default PIE?
joseph.sapri said:
Guys, Some questions.
I have never had the need to install 3rd party web browser.. due to the fact that I think the more apps you install, the slower your device will be... so, I always keep my apps to minimum...
Now, is skyfire/opera much faster than PIE? (how much faster?)
What makes you guys think that it is necessary to install 3rd party apps?
What makes you guys "hate" the default PIE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even though pocket ie has gotton better...it just isnt up to snuff. you should really try opera mini...you're in for a treat.
um...the more you install on your phone doesnt really make it slower. but it is good practice to keep your 3rd party app to a minimum....to the device atlease. i install everything to the storage card.
TechBill said:
For me it seem to take forever to download a website.
Like cnn.com take a good 3-6 minutes to download when using IE take less a minute.
But once downloaded it scroll the page very fast but I do notice if I use my finger to scroll the page around it keep opening up my battery status setting apps.
I was no where near the battery icon which does that when you touch it.
Bill
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It takes me a good 3-6 minutes to load up CNN as well, in fact most sites PIE opens up faster. :/
I just timed cnn.com opening and it only took 44 secs on AT&T 3G connection. In fact, Im replying while on Net Front right now. So far Im really liking this browser, besides the fact that it burns through my battery with incredible speed.
I've been playing with this browser a lot over the weekend, and so I'm here to post sort of an explanation of it.
1) MEMORY HOG, wow that is my biggest issue. In Task Managers, it's only using up about 1.4 mb of RAM, but seriously, if i just open the browser (not even opening a webpage), then go to PointUI, every single animation is slowed down. That's just an example, but everywhere else, the device is slowed. Well, except for the browser itself.
2)I figured out the little differences between the Browser View Settings.
Browsing Mode
Full Browsing: Desktop Mode. As you see the site on your Desktop. My favorite by far.
Text Browsing: All Text. Pretty Straightforward.
Simple Browsing: Basically all text, except for some small images. For example, loading up the "Development and Hacking" here on Xda loads as all text, no formatting, but shows the little thread ratings stars, the little paperclip, the little thumbtack, etc.
Rapid-Render: Pretty annoying, from my tests anyway. Loads up the page as all text, then goes back and loads all the formatting so it ends up as a Desktop View. Seems good in theory (get the speed benefit of "Text Browsing", and you still have the option to wait for the full formatting of "Full Browsing"). HOWEVER, your reading is always interrupted because the screen refreshes itself and goes blank when it goes from Text to Full. I tested, and it takes the same amount of time to get to full formatting of a webpage whether you use Rapid-Render or Full Browsing, so I prefer to avoid that screen refresh.
Display Mode
Normal: Normal. Duh.
Just-Fit: Shoves everything into one screen, messing up all formatting.
Smart-Fit: Resizes web page tables and stuff to fit on the screen. Better than Just-Fit.
Zoom - It's obvious. Kinda annoying how NetFront reloads the page when you change zoom levels, though. I leave mine at 75%.
Virtual Canvas - Changes the screen size. Think of it like the size of your desktop monitor. Best setting for me is 640x640, because anything bigger shows tons of blank spaces on web pages (since NetFront auto resizes text to fit in one screen), and the "Disable" option doesn't allow you to double-tap the screen (or double click the Action Button) for the zoomed out screen.
Text Size - Obvious. I leave mine on Medium. Along with the 75% zoom, I am able to read text comfortably, as well as maximizing the screen area.
Whew.
Azimuth21 said:
I've been playing with this browser a lot over the weekend, and so I'm here to post sort of an explanation of it.
1) MEMORY HOG, wow that is my biggest issue. In Task Managers, it's only using up about 1.4 mb of RAM, but seriously, if i just open the browser (not even opening a webpage), then go to PointUI, every single animation is slowed down. That's just an example, but everywhere else, the device is slowed. Well, except for the browser itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is because it is a CPU hog. This is the best browser on memory I have used so far, especially on Simple Browsing mode. I have to close the browser when I am finished using it because it uses about 80% cpu when minimized. But it is so fast I don't mind.
I think everything else you have said is spot on.
Netfront 3.4 didn't use up any noticable CPU when in the background, 3.5 uses up a huge amount, since it's obviously something they changed/added, hopefully they fix it before release
i already posted this in another thread about netfront, but this thread seems to actually have people viewing it
after putting this browser through multiple speed tests, it continuously produced slow results...especially in comparison with IE
when connected to wifi, i tested multiple times, and heres about the averages i would get with the browsers
IE-1.7 mbps
Opera-800 kbps
Picsel-1.0 mbps
NetFront- 300 kbps
the only reason i wanted to speed test was because netfront felt slow, and according to those tests, it was alot slower than my other browsers...
i LOVE the browser, the wordwrapping to fit on screen works great, i like the scrolling, tabbed browsing, and everything.....featurewise, its better than opera, speedwise its terrible...
EDIT** i have been speed testing at www.mobilespeedtest.com
lupes5 said:
i already posted this in another thread about netfront, but this thread seems to actually have people viewing it
after putting this browser through multiple speed tests, it continuously produced slow results...especially in comparison with IE
when connected to wifi, i tested multiple times, and heres about the averages i would get with the browsers
IE-1.7 mbps
Opera-800 kbps
Picsel-1.0 mbps
NetFront- 300 kbps
the only reason i wanted to speed test was because netfront felt slow, and according to those tests, it was alot slower than my other browsers...
i LOVE the browser, the wordwrapping to fit on screen works great, i like the scrolling, tabbed browsing, and everything.....featurewise, its better than opera, speedwise its terrible...
EDIT** i have been speed testing at www.mobilespeedtest.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this... so basically, PIE is still the best in performance?
hey all!!
Can someone give me a link for the best browser for my touch please??? like the iphone or the nokia browser plz??
And for Skyfire, I have download it but it tell me that my number is not good, I want to know how to use skyfire without the number problem.
Bye!!
If you want skyfire you must sign up for the beta program and you will eventually be sent the installation package.
Try Opera or Opera Mini.
i'm working through browsers now, trying to figure out which one i like the most. here's a quick personal rundown of browsers I have installed...
Opera Mini 4
Positives:
SUPERFAST with the latest Jbed, absolutely the fastest browser in the WM market, hands down
Very light on cpu
Negatives:
can't select text
no easy way to quickly edit the current URL
can't copy link location
everytime i minimize then reopen the browser, i'm asked if i want to exit or resume Opera Mini. just gets annoying after a while
if i want to save the url of a page i'm on, i have to go to "add bookmark", then copy the url out of there. something else that's annoying is, if i'm zoomed in a page, and i click on a link, the new link loads and prevents me access to the zooming out feature. i have to be missing something here.
Opera Browser 8.65
Positives:
Good standards compliance as far as i know
Works with some flash, but not stuff like regular youtube
Tabbed browsing
Negatives:
feels sluggish, especially with tabs open
Opera Browser 9.5 Beta, build 4905 (aka 9.405)
Positives:
Fast
Customizable (zoom levels and stuff like that)
Negatives:
Only two zoom levels accessible
Clearly a leaked beta, with little niggles in the qVGA skin (for example, URL history is annoying)
Cannot be used with PCMKeyboard, because it inputs s p a c e s (<--like that) when typing in input fields
Page-Panning is slowed down because of FTouchFlo. There's a lag in screen movement when you pan around, but it works perfectly when I try it without FTouchFlo enabled. Therefore, should be fine for you, since you have built-in scrolling on your Touch
Netfront Browser Technical Preview v3.5
Positives:
Nice interface, I like the double-tap view because of it's ease of access
Negatives:
When loading a page (full browsing rendering mode), it'll load, then freeze for about 10 seconds, THEN allow you to finally browse the loaded page
Missing some features because it's a tech preview
Horrendous CPU Hog, you have to remember to go into bookmarks everytime you switch to a different application in order to prevent device slowdown
ibisBrowserDX v1.0
Positives:
Fast
Negatives:
Designed for usage with keyboard and pretty difficult to use with only the touchscreen (basic browser controls are hidden in a menu)
Internet Explorer Mobile from WM6.1 (with zoom-out feature)
Positives:
works perfectly with all Windows actions, like opening links, downloading things, etc
Negatives:
slow
zooming-out feature isn't that useful, because it's stuck inside a menu.
no built-in scrolling in IEM itself, but you can use FTouchFlo or the system-scrolling in your Touch with it perfectly fine.
I haven't been invited to the SkyFire beta, although I did sign up for it a while ago. Therefore, I can't comment on it. Looks really promising, though.
Hope that helps. I got CARRIED AWAY, hahahah.
By the way, this is my current setup:
Opera 9.5 build 4905 for long browsing sessions
Opera Mini 4 if I just want to quickly look up something, or if I'm surfing heavy sites like ESPN or Yahoo and want the speed.
Internet Explorer Mobile set as my default browser, to ensure there are no setup hassles when internet is crucial to something (for example, FlashVideoBundle, ytpocket.com, downloading files, etc)
Picsel Browser without a doubt!
you forgot deepfish...
its not perfect, since its a closed beta.
but it is a nice browser.
i have noticed that i cannot log in to websites... like this one. not sure why, but i am sure it will be fixed in later editions.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=327568
Azimuth21 said:
Netfront Browser Technical Preview v3.5
Positives:
Nice interface, I like the double-tap view because of it's ease of access
Negatives:
When loading a page (full browsing rendering mode), it'll load, then freeze for about 10 seconds, THEN allow you to finally browse the loaded page
Missing some features because it's a tech preview
Horrendous CPU Hog, you have to remember to go into bookmarks everytime you switch to a different application in order to prevent device slowdown
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the best I have ever tried....
I haven't this kind of problem you said....
I think because I have Battery Status with Cpu Scaler which can set the cpu clock until 260 mhz...
might as well add a little postscript to my previous post.
1) As with SkyFire, I am also not part of the Deepfish closed beta, so I cannot comment on that.
2) I abandoned Picsel Browser a loooong time ago, for too many factors to count. Menneisyys seems to be in-depth on these things, he'll tell you why.
3) flaviopac, I really hoped that it's just me, but countless other people have experienced it. I'm playing with all of these browsers on my Hermes, whose 400 mhz Samsung processor hopefully trounces the 200 mhz TI OMAP processor of the Touch you have (ok, 260 mhz since you overclocked it, lol). Keep in mind that it isn't Netfront itself that slows down. Open up Netfront 3.5, minimize it by pressing the red End Key, and now go about daily functions. Horrifically slow, if I recall. Not to mention the battery drain. Like I said, there IS a workaround. Whenever I'm using Netfront and want to switch to a different app, I first go to the bookmarks screen of Netfront, THEN switch apps. Device runs normally when I do that, it's just that doing that is a tedious extra step.
It's cool, though, to each his own. Wish I could try out SkyFire or Deepfish now, though...
thank for everyone !
I have tied all these browsers and it's so cool!
For those of you fortunate enough to be beta testing Skyfire, I just found out that they released an updated beta. It is a lot quicker, gives you an option to make Skyfire your default browser, and has an option to install a start screen search box.
The new version also adds Flash to Windows Mobile. Haven't played around a lot with it yet, but looks promising. Looks like they are listening to everybody's comments/complaints.
Downloading it as we speak, I'll let you all know as soon as I run it through afew tests. Lord knows it needs a speed increase. the load times were silly.
Edit: Hmmm, seems my download link + sms link I got are still to the Skyfire_6843_PPC50.CAB link. Do not see or have access to the 0.8 beta.
EDIT EDIT: Wow I am stupid. That is the 0.8 beta. Running it now. lol i'll give feedback shortly.
WooHoo thanx for the info!
Awesome, thanks for the heads-up!
thx... installed it
Well after 8 hours and they finally fixed the authentication server error I have been able to use it. For those curious 0.8 does have a vast improvement in the speed and usage factor for the browser. I do like the way it runs however I have to admit that the scrolling and zooming feels clunky and just not very fluid. However this opinion is based off of using Opera 9.5 beta and it's functionality.
It has greatly improved in the browsing used with it and having flash working now is a very nice addition. But I still prefer Opera based despite the annoying out of memory error that pops up occasionally mainly due to the appearance and fluid browsing capability.
I do however look forward to a finished product as I am more then sure these issues will be addressed. Good chance they'll get my money for a purchase
scrolling still needs work. I get the checkers at the bottom. also, I notice a huge memory leak when using it. I Need to soft reset.
Improved interface but still VERY slow. IMO, not worth it until they deal with the speed issue, which has been there from the start.
I'm not sure what exactly happened today, but I uninstalled 0.6, installed Skyfire 0.8 this morning and put the phone in my pocket. About 2.5 hrs later I noticed that my pocket was a little warm. I pulled out my phone, noticed that my data connection was active and my nearly full battery had about 15% remaining life! I did a soft reset and the phone cooled down to normal again. Anyone else have this happen? I don't want to use Skyfire if it is causing my connection to stay on and my battery to die.
I'm amazed that you got 2.5 hours -- I was down to 50% in about 40 minutes of moderate use -- this app currently still eats battery... My biggest gripe followed by the delays/unreliable bookmarking in the app... The bookmarks ultimately work, but it may be the next day before they show up again after being "gone"...
It has new features and is better looking but ultimately it is unusable. The previous version was stable, this thing just lags, hangs and won't quit. I find myself having to terminate its process and/or soft boot or it will run in the background and obliterate battery life. At least for the Mogul, this update has been a big step backward. Maybe more RAM would help things?. I wish Opera would get a decent hardware keyboard capable non diamond v9 product out. Opera mini has a good feel, but is the worst of the bunch with memory usage (at least until Skyfire .08) and no downloads, Opera 8.65 feels ancient and ie is a very sad joke of a browser. Right now, I have 4 browsers on my phone and none are even close to being acceptable as my main browser, not to mention light years from Safari on the iPhone.
can't wait for VGA version.
First of all, Skyfire is a great product with real potential to be the hands down best mobile browser.
Some observations on 0.8:
I like the fact that text entry is now done in the input field (saves the step of pressing "ok".
Video playback has been improved.
FILE DOWNLOADS work!! One less reason to swap back and forth to IE.
The main thing I do not like is the zoom "improvement". It's cool that it tries to decide for me what to zoom into, but I miss being able to size the zoom box to exactly what I want.
Thank you and keep up the great work.
Hi fellas,
Something's been peeving me lately with the Atrix, and it's got to do with its memory handling & auto-killing functionality.
This particular situation has been driving me nuts:
I like to use both the native browser & and the Opera browser. Primarily I use the native browser, which is set as the default, and Opera when I want to check something and I want the full (non mobile) webpage layout and its superior (in my opinion) rendering quality and speed.
So, say I've got Opera open on Engadget or XDA, one or two tabs open. I hit the Home button and open Youtube to look something up. Finish the video, hit the Home button again, and launch Opera, and it has exited already and has to reload my tabs again. This of course can cause issues like losing my place in the page or a flash video I had paused, or a message I was typing and wasn't done with.
In this simple example, all I did was launch a browser, open 2 tabs (40-60 or maybe even 80 MBs of RAM usage, depending on page complexity), hit the Home button, launch the YouTube player (30 to 50 MBs RAM usage), hit the Home button again and Opera's already been killed.
OS Monitor shows there's about 470 MBs of RAM free.
What gives? Checking the autokill settings it shows that the OS will kill empty processes when free RAM hits 82 MBs of free RAM (default settings, haven't messed with them)
This behavior doesn't happen only right after a fresh reboot. Once I've opened a few apps, google readers, twitter, facebook, camera/gallery, browser etc., it happens every time. I say this because, while I'm not a programmer (beyond high school level C++ and general computer curiosity), from what I understand by watching the app life cycle videos on Google's Android programmer site, if Opera and YouTube were the last apps to be launched, they should have the highest priority in being kept in memory and not being killed, and previously open apps should be killed off to reclaim memory before them.
I found that using Gemini app manager I can set an app to not be killed automatically, and while I understand that it's not recommended that this is done by end users, it does work, and I use the Exit button in Opera to exit it once I'm done using it.
It just seems ridiculous that I always have between 350-450 of free RAM available to the system, while apps that I use often end up being killed in the background.
Before someone jumps on me, I understand that Android apps are designed to be shut down and reopened seamlessly. My annoyance stems from the behavior of a phone that has 836 MBs of RAM to work with, and about 570 available on startup (I've frozen several motorola processes I don't use, such as the social network integration and home launcher).
I just tried what you did (open opera, loaded bbc and endgadget, watch a youtube video than returned to opera) and opera retained everything including webpage, where I have scrolled to etc. I would suggest you to unfreeze the moto apps and try again, maybe that is what is causing the problem. Sorry I could not be of greater help =(
I'm not disagreeing with you -- like I said, it's not the case after a fresh reboot, or perhaps when not using the phone heavily. It had been a couple of days since rebooting the phone for me, and kept happening all evening long every time I switched apps.
Still, even when I force keep Opera open through the Gemini third party app manager, and while opening other apps, the RAM usage never goes below 300. The OS is overly aggresively in keeping RAM free, and considering it never falls below 100 MBs free of RAM, it shouldn't be shutting down apps EVER -- at least according to the autokill levels. Is there something else I should be looking at in determining when Android kills apps open in the background?
Was it just a fluke due to memory leaks, etc?
Edit:
Further research shows that Gemini app manager doesn't stop it from being killed, but rather removes it from its own auto task kill list (which I don't use). Seeing Opera stay open for a while after a fresh reboot shows that after two or three days of being used, the phone's memory management gets bogged down & that's what caused the very short app lifespan.
I wouldn't mind rebooting more frequently if it wasn't for that damned battery jumping issue.
I just got iconia 2 weeks ago and its not refurbished however I feel it is slow web pages take 8 to 12 seconds to load sometime if I'm performing any task it is stuck for 6 to 9second no response n then it works fine. There is a lag usually for 5 to 7 second. Is that normal I didn't root my tablet didn't install a whole lot app yet I just little bummed due to the lag n slowness. Any thing you can suggest or share your experience.
Many thanks
I'm not a fan of the stock browser. It tends to lag and has rendering issues. You might want to try Opera Mobile. ( be careful not to download Opera Mini- it's intended for phones) I've been using it for a week or so and really like it. Better rendering, smoother scrolling, less crashing.
I use dolphin browser works good.
bad browsing experience
I have tried many of the web browsers on the market..
My experience is Some view some sites better then others. I use the stock browser for most sites.There is NO real solution to this issue.avoiding portal type websites. Such as yahoo.com helps. if you need content from there or similar sites YOU can d/load there app from the Marker.
Also try this.. Advanced task killer app .This tool should not be allowed to auto start and run in background. but can be used to diag. a rouge app.
Get Advanced task killer from the market..
try opening it from time to time and see what apps are actually sitting in the TRAY. if you see some apps that you installed and have not used since your last reboot. try killing them and see if this helps.. Use this Tool for one app at a time. If you find the app causing the sluggish internet. See if you can adjust settings on it . Maybe tell it to not START to not push notifications and so on..
NOT All apps play nice . you might just have one of them that decide to steal bandwidth on a constant basis.
Good luck and we all feel your frustrations.. I will point out runny task managers in the background is BAD IDEA. not all apps setting in the try are actually running Many are static and waiting for your input..
Erica Renee.... Memory management Trick #1
I don't experience the lag you are posting about. You may have a misbehaving app on your hands.
I too have experienced random sluggishness at times with the stock browser. Its especially bad on javascript-heavy sites. My bigger complaint, however, is the random typing issues I have, like goofy text selection and seemingly stuck shift states on the keyboard.
This appears to be a problem with the latest update. Beforehand, this lag simply was not there. Some sites (XDA Developers being one) lag with the banner ad at the top loading. This happens on almost EVERY vBulliten 4.x forum. I think a lot of us are hoping this issue will resolve with ICS, since it's doubtful Acer will do much more work with HC.
I will echo what the others have said.
When I first started messing around with my A500 I too noticed a small lag. My solution was to root my device and load a ROM from the ROM list:
http://www.acertabletforum.com/foru...-a500-501-rom-list-updated-29-jan-2012-a.html
Most of the ROMs work much better than the stock android that comes installed on the A500. Also once I had pretty much cached the sites I use the speed issue vanished.
The stock browser lags. Especially when you use your keyboard (there are some videos on youtube) other browsers does not have this lags.