My favorite browser so far is Dolphin, with the stock android browser running a close second. But, the only problem with both browsers is that they don't seem to utilize much of the cache when it comes to moving backwards and forwards through web pages.
For example, let's say I'm on the General forum of N1 on XDA. I click into a thread, then when I want to go back to the general forum. Instead of taking a split second to access whatever's in cache, it'll go through the whole process of downloading all the content again.
Can it not do what our computer browsers do and just read it straight off the cache?
Opera Browser does that.. is it worth the switch is the question.
You know, I always wondered why the stock browser kept such a large cache, but never seemed to load pages from it... not that I am giving you any assistance with your question.. more like adding one of my own.
Anyone know why this is?
Sorry it double posted me...
erikikaz said:
My favorite browser so far is Dolphin, with the stock android browser running a close second. But, the only problem with both browsers is that they don't seem to utilize much of the cache when it comes to moving backwards and forwards through web pages.
For example, let's say I'm on the General forum of N1 on XDA. I click into a thread, then when I want to go back to the general forum. Instead of taking a split second to access whatever's in cache, it'll go through the whole process of downloading all the content again.
Can it not do what our computer browsers do and just read it straight off the cache?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Desktop browsers do the same thing. It's just a lot faster.
There's no way to load a webpage 100% from cache.
I open new windows/tabs 95% of the time. And that's BOTH on my phone and on my PC. I rarely use the same tab, and have been middle clicking etc for years.
I hope cyanogen can add this functionality, possible with an adjustable time frame. Say to only poll server side if it's been more than 5 minutes since you last loaded the page.
It's frustrating having to wait for a page to reload like the subscription list page.
what is stopping you from loading pages in new tabs like paul was saying. that seems like it would accomplish what you want.
Just to clarify because this may not be common knowledge...
Opening a link in a new tab is activated by long pressing on the link
t0mmy said:
what is stopping you from loading pages in new tabs like paul was saying. that seems like it would accomplish what you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to do that on the desire rom when I had it loaded, because switching tabs was easier and faster on the HTC broswer.
Default browser is kinda of a pain to change tabs, and the press/hold to get to the open new link shortcut is one second to long and moves into cumbersome territory.
I browse a little different on the phone than I do on the desktop. I've been on opera's nuts for years since they first introduced tabs to the world. =D
Related
Android comes with a seriously awesome web browser. It can easily browse regular desktop versions of web pages even over EDGE with no major problems. I'm so glad to leave crippled mobile versions of web pages behind me forever.
EXCEPT
Google, of all places, seems to have some kind of lock preventing the Android browser from gaining access to the desktop versions of their websites. They come up with the mobile versions by default, and even if you click the button to switch it to the desktop version, it doesn't. It takes you to yet another mobile version that is just styled a little closer to the desktop version, but it's by no means identical.
Google built this browser, they know that it can handle desktop webpages, why won't they let us do that with their own sites? I find it really annoying to deal with crippled versions of Google's web pages. In Gmail I can't edit my contacts, in YouTube... I don't know what the hell's going on... all I see is large ugly text, in Google Search I don't have the convenient switch to image search while viewing web results. It's FRUSTRATING.
chefgon said:
Android comes with a seriously awesome web browser. It can easily browse regular desktop versions of web pages even over EDGE with no major problems. I'm so glad to leave crippled mobile versions of web pages behind me forever.
EXCEPT
Google, of all places, seems to have some kind of lock preventing the Android browser from gaining access to the desktop versions of their websites. They come up with the mobile versions by default, and even if you click the button to switch it to the desktop version, it doesn't. It takes you to yet another mobile version that is just styled a little closer to the desktop version, but it's by no means identical.
Google built this browser, they know that it can handle desktop webpages, why won't they let us do that with their own sites? I find it really annoying to deal with crippled versions of Google's web pages. In Gmail I can't edit my contacts, in YouTube... I don't know what the hell's going on... all I see is large ugly text, in Google Search I don't have the convenient switch to image search while viewing web results. It's FRUSTRATING.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really dont know why your browser does that, but I have access to the regular google.com classic view page. I can pic between web, images, local, news.. etc.. I can also log to igoogle.com
I can aswell
Most mobile sites have a link to view the regular site. Google has this.
go to www.google.com then you see on the bottom Mobile is default choice, click on CLASSIC to view the regular website version
Anyone else having an issue with the browser where after a while it no longer renders the pages?
It shows the progress bar filling up and done, but just a blank page.
quedijo said:
Anyone else having an issue with the browser where after a while it no longer renders the pages?
It shows the progress bar filling up and done, but just a blank page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I've had that problem as well as not being able to get into market have no clue why. Frustrating!!!
I keep having this problem too. The only thing that seems to solve the problem is a restart. I dont know if it has anything to do with me clearing the cache but it IS verry annoying.
Yeah, even killing the browser process doesn't do it either.
quedijo said:
Anyone else having an issue with the browser where after a while it no longer renders the pages?
It shows the progress bar filling up and done, but just a blank page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats network issues with thew the 3g when i disable 3g it worked but sometimes it wont
i think it has to do with your cache i wish they come out with a new firmware that lets you save programs to sdcard or cache to sd card
I'm having the same issues. It was working when I first got the phone, but now it only gives me the option for mobile view.
I found a solution to the most annoying, biggest mistake from Google. For those who loved iGoogle and cant find it, here it is:
www.google.com/ig/i?source=mofe
And here is an alternate BETA site from Yahoo as backup:
http://beta.m.yahoo.com/
brooklynite said:
I found a solution to the most annoying, biggest mistake from Google. For those who loved iGoogle and cant find it, here it is:
www.google.com/ig/i?source=mofe
And here is an alternate BETA site from Yahoo as backup:
http://beta.m.yahoo.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess Google found out the shut down the site.
Yahoo's Beta sucks.
I've searched but I didn't come up with an answer...
Is it possible to have Opera return to the last viewed page when it's opened? Mine defaults to my homepage but I want it to resume on the website I was last looking at.
Anyone have any ideas?
After starting Opera, look in History...you will find the pages you visited today, yesterday, earlier this week etc.
So the last page you visited should be there as well
I am pretty sure what he is after is what the Iphone does. Basically you can shut off Safari on the Iphone and then open it back up and it automatically comes up with the page you were last on at the exact same position you were at when you closed Safari. It is a great feature to have and loved this on my Iphone (2G). Unfortunetly I don't know if Opera can do that, have you had a browse through the Opera config page?
AFK_Matrix said:
I am pretty sure what he is after is what the Iphone does. Basically you can shut off Safari on the Iphone and then open it back up and it automatically comes up with the page you were last on at the exact same position you were at when you closed Safari. It is a great feature to have and loved this on my Iphone (2G). Unfortunetly I don't know if Opera can do that, have you had a browse through the Opera config page?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I'm looking for. I looked through the config page but didn't see anything. Anyone have any ideas??
If you configure task manager (the very top right of your home screen) to minimise apps on clicking x (rather than closing), that will keep Opera open in the background. You can still close apps by clkicking and holding on the x
Thus when you click on opera again, the last viewed page will be there.
hope this helps!
To make this short, sweet, and to the point: if someone can tell me how to view only 'full sites' with the browser that would be great. Also, without using an outside browser app. Devs please feel free to delete when felt necessary. I tried a search but didn't come up with anything....
Thanks
Travis C
I suggest using dolphin browser, go into settings > user agent > desktop. I'm not sure about the default browser, haven't used it in a while, but I know a lot of times at the bottom of a site it will have the option to view full site.
Interesting it looks like the feature was removed. I remember on 1.6 you could switch between Android, iPhone, or Desktop.
I believe that was just on the custom browser made by Loccy(sp?). It was based off the regular browser source code, but was still basically custom made.
True. I guess that I had been using ROMs for so long that I had forgotten that the original didn't have that. Guess I will just have to wait a little longer. But some on the sites do have the option but some of them just load straight back to the mobile view on I select it. But no biggy.
MODs please feel free to delete this thread whenever. We can leave it at 'that option will probably be put into a future ROM'.
Travis C
Try Steel, good browser, has user agent Desktop option.
ok. soooo im using the cm6 nightly rom. it all is working wonderfully. no complaints what so ever excepppppt for one thing. the browser, it is the motorola droid browser. i have an incredible and i like the incredible browser for one reason. it has regular view of websites. not the stupid mobile view. now i guess my question is is their a way to get motorola browser to view web pages regularly or do i have to put incredible browser on the cyanogen rom? if so, how do i do it?
thank you very much for any comments back.
I don't know if it's just the Droid browser -- I would imagine it's the stock Android browser. Anyway, most sites give you the option to view the PC version, but if that doesn't work, I think there is a way you can edit your device's ID to appear as a desktop. I'm not sure how to do it, but I remember seeing something about doing it to watch Hulu videos on Nexus Ones so you could give it a search and try it out.
CM4 and CM5 had the option, so I find it odd that they would have taken it completely out.
That said, I thought I'd like "Desktop View" but after a few days, I found that I like certain pages full and certain pages mobile. My workaround for this was to go to the mobile page, switch it to full manually, then bookmark it as such. So anytime I want my pages full, I just bring them up through bookmarks. I know it may be a pain, but you can try this option til you find a better solution you can live with.
it worked!
thank you both so much. each post was very helpful
I want to make a (more recent) comparison of web browsers available to us on the ASUS TF101 and TF201 tablets, something that is useful. In my experience we don't have all that many threads that are Really Good on this subject, that don't get bogged down with noise and opinion drowning out the signal after a while.
The browsers, web sites, and procedures I will use for testing are being collected HERE as they are written.
I am open to suggestions of things to test as long as they don't cost me $$$, are legit, and hopefully widely used by communities of people in general. If it has issues with the stock browser in HC/ICS/GB/Froyo in fast/simple usage, like crashy crashy! Then I am more likely to test a suggestion.
Note for mods: this is cross posted in the forum for both tablets.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
One test i would like to see is which browsers you can put into desktop mode and fool HULU with.
Neither. Hulu knows it's an android because you're running an android version of flash.
Joey563 said:
One test i would like to see is which browsers you can put into desktop mode and fool HULU with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, its the Flash version that matters.
In the Apps forum there's a hacked Flash plugin that works with Hulu.
@topic
Great idea. Looking forward for the results.
The things that i'd like to see reviewed are the rendering speed and image quality while browsing.
Speed will be noted somehow but I really don't know how to scientifically do image quality, past "Looks ...." to me, lol.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Lifehacker is a good website to test. See if any browser can reproduce the two different scrollable objects properly, like it would be on a browser in Windows or Mac. A lot of browsers will simply choose to lock the two scrollable columns into the page, such that if you try to scroll one, the other follows.
I'd suggest testing a website like Verizonwireless.com, specifically the Explore, Shop, My Verizon, and Support buttons. On a computer, a mouse-over shows a drop-down menu, and a click takes you to the next page. The iPad does this very smart where tapping once on "Shop" for instance will bring down the dropdown menu, tapping it once more will take you to the webpage it links to. So far, the Android browsers I've tried have an awkward execution for this mouse-over effect where you have to hold the button like "Shop" for around half a second and then swipe away your finger to avoid going to the link it points to. See if you can find a browser that works mouse-over in a similar fashion to Safari.
+1 for lifehacker/deadspin/gizmodo sometimes (usually) first load is a blank screen and I have to hit reload. After reload its marginally functional, but not 100%
Also try facebook in desktop or iPad mode... Some stuff works well... Other stuff is total fail, like inviting people to events.
I'll post more as I remember them. I've actually been thinking of making a list like this, but you beat me to it.
Edit: thought of one more: google docs... Word processor, spreadsheets, the whole lot of them...
Spidey,
One thing I find very helpful in web browsing on my Transformer is the ability of a browser to scroll using the scroll wheel on a bluetooth mouse. I've noticed some browsers will scroll with the mouse, and some will not.
If possible, during your testing, you might want to add that as a yes/no feature, it would only take moments to test and include in your results.
Thanks for taking this on, I'm looking forward to your results/conclusions, and the inevitable "discussions" that will follow, either agreeing or disagreeing with your results.
Hi!
Can you test logmein.com as well? In stock and Dolphin it is not working.
I know there is .apk for Android, but it's costly.
@ERamseth gdocs is on my list and whenever possible I'll be testing desktop versions of sites. Can't say that I use Facebook very deeply though so a grain of salt may be needed..
@dm36415 Sorry, don't have any bluetooth mice to test with but great suggestion!] If the Windows box doesn't get pissy maybe I can try yanking my wired one off the desktop, but I can only test that on the TF101 as my Prime won't be getting a dock for a while :-(.
@stenc55 my word that site pissed off the stock browser, just trying to scroll the front page. Not sure how much I can test it but I'll try. Out side of Opera/Firefox, everything will probably barf at it though, and those two might as well lol.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Are you just planning on testing rendering quality/performance, or are you going to sum up some of the other UI features that get mentioned (how tabs work, gesture support, how fluid/laggy scrolling down the page is, is there an incognito mode, etc)
How easy/difficult to import bookmarks from a PC browser, with or without folders.
Most browsers use the same back end as the stock browser, i.e. they do about as much work as Maxthon used to do. So the most use on quality/performance I can give versus the stock, I'm sure will usually be load times and usability. Opera & Firefox are the only two that I know of who bring their own magic for the back end. Unless I get something like native libs in the app data to suggest they included their own rendering engine, I'm marking it as "Stock".
I've been testing the Prime's stock browser, Angel, and Boat for part of the day in between taking care of my mother. Current data that I've recorded:
App name (in launcher, usually), market page, version tested, demographic (mobile, tablet, ...), rendering engine, approximate start time and page load times, exit method (menu, closing last tab, etc), available user agent settings, bookmark storage, sync, and folder support, gesture support, quick control support, plugin support, password remembered, speed dial support, max # of tabs, and "Editorial Remarks" like what I've written for Angel Browser:
My remarks on Angel Browser said:
Has a handy sidebar on the left, similar to what you can do in Opera Desktop; quick controls interfere with sidebar.
You can configure what toolbars are visible.
You can configure by pattern, what app handles what URL.
You can configure by pattern, what UA is given for what URL
You can configure the heck out of what clicking stuff does.
You can configure where most data is stored.
You can configure quick controls, UI, and most everything.
Bookmarks UI can have ads unless you purchase the Angel Browser License app.
Handy scroll down button (by default).
Has "Notes" and "Read Later" features.
Good alternative to the stock browsers UX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For websites tested, App/Site/Load Time/Rendering/Date and Editorial remarks are also being made for websites, like this one for the stock ICS browser on the Prime:
Prone to crashing and input lag
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For rendering, it's mostly focused on does it look/work like the desktop site and is it usable? For example, mail.google.com is gitchy in Boat browser and may give you a seizure.
Try editing a document in Google Docs (right now in every browser I tested it's almost impossible and does really strange things).
Note well: I no longer have a TF101 available so tests off TF201 by me are scrapped. People seem to have settled down post Chrome on ICS enough that I may just scrap it totally. If someone would like to pick up on TF101, PM me with your Google Docs address.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Zooming, text reflowing and hardware acceleration.
The most important aspects of a browser, and the only browser that does these properly on mobile, is Opera.