Database Users

Browser wars

I am currently using Skyfire, i've used everything from the old beta of opera... stock, dolphin browser (hd), and such.... with the new opera browser coming out on nov. 9, and mozilla aka firefox also out with a new browser... what do u think is the fastest, best design, and such or might be?

Tried them all too and still give it to the stock browser. Works best for me, fast, stable and works great.
Firefox is not ready for primetime really, I find dolphin a bit slow and cumbersome, skyfire is ok but so so for me.
Waiting to see what Opera brings to the table.

whats so special about the stock browser? ive been using dolphin hd and it works pretty good for me. unappealing layout though. cant wait until firefox is out of beta and is working properly. im wondering if there are plans to bring chrome to android.

(Note, I am biased, I work for Mozilla)
With the latest set of changes to Fennec (Firefox Mobile) it is finally getting to the point that it is useful to me as my main browser. Biggest improvement was memory reduction. If you haven't seen the coolness that is Firefox Sync, you have to check it out. Being able to open a tab from your desktop immediately in your phone is great. Obviously, still beta, but I love it cause I don't mind beta software.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

fromchaos0646 said:
whats so special about the stock browser? ive been using dolphin hd and it works pretty good for me. unappealing layout though. cant wait until firefox is out of beta and is working properly. im wondering if there are plans to bring chrome to android.
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Well for one, the stock browser doesn't look like a pile of (insert most foul feces you can think of here). Also, the stock browser doesn't waste screen space with unnecessary nonsense, which Dolphin seems to LOVE doing.

I aggree with muyoso, stock is best option for me. Dolphin took up too much room. I do have skyfire also, but only use it for flash vids when needed. When 2.2 comes around ill drop it all together. Firefox is still very much a beta, and a huge ram hog.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Must go with stock as well. Anything the other browsers do that stock doesn't, they don't end up doing it well. Stock is fine and will be even better when F comes out.

thanks, all. i guess i didnt give the stock browser enough time. uninstalled dolphin and put browser back on and liked it immediatly.

DEinspanjer said:
(Note, I am biased, I work for Mozilla)
With the latest set of changes to Fennec (Firefox Mobile) it is finally getting to the point that it is useful to me as my main browser. Biggest improvement was memory reduction. If you haven't seen the coolness that is Firefox Sync, you have to check it out. Being able to open a tab from your desktop immediately in your phone is great. Obviously, still beta, but I love it cause I don't mind beta software.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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No text reflow, slow and laggy, no go. Sry.

FireFox
Just played with it... nothing worked. But damn! When its done... going to be awesome!
I want that more than flash/2.2 lol. Its nice.
Sent from my SPH-D700

I hated colors and design of dolphin hd and almost gave up. Until I found dolphin browser (not hd!). Much better design and layout, my default browser! I've used dolphin/hd/stock/fennec/opera/mini/miui. Miui is my second favority, google its apk. The baidu default is annoying though...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Xscope is what I use daily..love it
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Yup, xscope user here as well. It's quick, out of the way, tabbed browsing, file management, text copying, and an exit feature with clean-up.
Shame it went pay-only (the trial version really isn't worth it with the watermark), but the old pay version went freeware on the website, so people can still enjoy a quick, minimal browser that's well beyond stock's capabilities and well below Dolphin's system load.

josidhe said:
Yup, xscope user here as well. It's quick, out of the way, tabbed browsing, file management, text copying, and an exit feature with clean-up.
Shame it went pay-only (the trial version really isn't worth it with the watermark), but the old pay version went freeware on the website, so people can still enjoy a quick, minimal browser that's well beyond stock's capabilities and well below Dolphin's system load.
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What can it do that the stock browser doesn't?

Skyline is my favorite next to stock. The ability to play flash videos, plus being allitte faster than stock.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

I wouldn't mind stock if it could do adblock without rooting. As it is, the delays and text wrap changes to load ads really irk me.

Despite feeling the need to root and install custom ROM and kernel within an hour of using the phone, I have not felt the need to replace the stock browser... it seems pretty much perfect.

Dolphin hd for me. Blue theme add on installed as well. It is more flexible than stock browser too. Itd like stock android vs launcher pro.

I tried out FireFox a bit and its not too bad actually..still onyl tried it for a day and there is no flash support yet...also not used to the menu key not giving me an actual menu lol..there are a few minor bugs with it...
it loads pages faster but redraw is a lot slower..
Did an ACID 3 test for fun
Desktop FF 3.6: 94/100
Mobile FF: 97/100
Stock 2.1 Browser: 93/100
Would like to see them make a final release with flash and all the issues worked out.

Messed around with a few browsers. The stock one is deff nice/stable but opera mini picks up the slack in other areas. Opera also let's you download/play flash video. Both browsers and the stock videa player don't support any mpg format. Still working on finding a decent player compatiable with all formats like tcmp player. Download time are very close..pretty much even. Comming from the win mobile/tp2..when I was prompted to download to phone or sd card I could rename the file according to my liking..not so with either browser, could be an android thing. Figured Id give some detailed info on some specs of what each browser can do

New MIREN Browser is FASSSST!

Just sayin:
http://www.goodandevo.net/2010/11/m...intuitive-browsing-experience-to-htc-evo.html
** My favorite parts:
1) Doesn't show the page until it is fully loaded and ready to view top to bottom.
2) Instantaeous back/forward - no waiting while pages reload.
3) Zero screen lag while scrolling.
4) Clean iPhonish interface (which I personally have always liked).
5) Very intuitive. Stuff is where you expect it to be and works like you expect it to work.
Did I mention it's fast?
** The ultimate test - I just loaded www.redskins.com. This website has always absolutely destroyed every other browser I have tried - usually just giving up 20 seconds after clicking the link. Miren loaded this ready to go in 5 seconds.
Update >> 6) Saves your spot on your bookmark list so that when you go back to it, you can see where you left off instead of starting again at the top. This is something I always liked about Dolphin.

Nice thanks.. trying it nao

Seems to be a lot of browsers floating around. It's hard to stick with one when I keep trying out new ones and they all seem to have some perks.
On to try this one out

It is blazing. these chinese devs know what they doin. Tnx again for sharing.. Hope they add skins soon

Skeptron said:
It is blazing. these chinese devs know what they doin. Tnx again for sharing.. Hope they add skins soon
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Yep. It's almost funny. I guess I am used to pages taking a certain amount of time to load then being kind of jerky as you scroll through them - especially if the page isn't 100% done loading.
Anyway, first webpage I opened with this actually kind of made my head jerk back like damn, that was quick. Then I noticed how smooth the scrolling was and I was in love.
When you double tap the screen it transitions very quickly from overview to close-up - again without the stuttering your get in other browsers. Its kind of like they took the best bits of Opera, Dolphin and Stock Browser and mashed 'em up.
** Oh yeah, another thing I like. When you open a bookmark, if you go back to the bookmark list from the webpage, it "saves" your spot and doesn't take you back to the top of the list. I like this because I often like to go through my favorite links one by one and hate having to start from the top again every time.

Going to test it out..thanks.

It just became my new default browser, buh bye Dolphin

Just tried it and didn't seem any faster than the stock browser
Sent from the void...

No doubt its the fastest ive used thus far... but no mobile view? I hate scrolling from side to side when im looking at a webpage.

brownhornet said:
No doubt its the fastest ive used thus far... but no mobile view? I hate scrolling from side to side when im looking at a webpage.
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Agreed but I think the speed more than makes up for side scrolling.

brownhornet said:
No doubt its the fastest ive used thus far... but no mobile view? I hate scrolling from side to side when im looking at a webpage.
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An alternative would be just to double tap screen. It quickly goes to overview mode. Then double tap the place you want to read and it zooms in. It's pretty quick doing this - sort of like Opera.

I use XScpe and I tried this just now, I'm keeping XScope. Others should try it as well. BTW Dolphin HD the slowest browser out there, even slower than the stock browser, only tooted for it's abilities for themes, plugins, settings, etc, no big deal, I think speed is way more important on 3G.

Plancy said:
I use XScpe and I tried this just now, I'm keeping XScope. Others should try it as well. BTW Dolphin HD the slowest browser out there, even slower than the stock browser, only tooted for it's abilities for themes, plugins, settings, etc, no big deal, I think speed is way more important on 3G.
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I prefer this over xScope simply because I like the UI better. xScope is fast but when you scroll webpages it has a tendency to stutter. This does not. One of the reasons xScope is fast is that it has no overhead, even bookmarks are rendered in html; however, if you want your browser to be fast and pretty, I recommend this

mitchellvii said:
I prefer this over xScope simply because I like the UI better. xScope is fast but when you scroll webpages it has a tendency to stutter. This does not. One of the reasons xScope is fast is that it has no overhead, even bookmarks are rendered in html; however, if you want your browser to be fast and pretty, I recommend this
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I've noticed scrolling is laggy but I only notice it when I zoom through a website, so the lagginess doesn't really matter to me since I'm not trying to read anything obviously and I'm still able to make out pictures and certain texts. I like that it's a lightweight browser, it loads quickly and does not have so many bells and whistles.
Q.Does Miren have the option to render a page before it's fully loaded, I don't like that it doesn't?

Isn't this the MIUI browser?
Very well designed but I don't like the clashing look with stock Android. WAY too iOS like. I might make a Android themed version.
Sent from my CM6.1 powered HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk

Similarity to iOS is purely a matter of personal taste. Some like it and some don't. An Android skin would be quite popular I'm sure ;-)
One other thing I noticed that I like is that you can arrange your bookmarks into folders - yay!
One odd bug I noticed that is probably the result of this being translated from Chinese. All the folders are listed in REVERSE alphabetical order.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Ah just found out where it has a setting for mobile web page browser. You need to adjust "bandwidth-saving mode" in settings.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Some pages were cruising some were sluggish as all hell. Been messing with it but can't tell if I really like it. Am so used to the layout of Dolphin. Some claim its slow but no other ones feel "faster."
I did like the instantaneous forward / back loading of pages though.
SWYPED from my SUPASONIC

Hulu is kind of sluggish, but everything runs real smoooth.

conqu1stador said:
Some pages were cruising some were sluggish as all hell. Been messing with it but can't tell if I really like it. Am so used to the layout of Dolphin. Some claim its slow but no other ones feel "faster."
I did like the instantaneous forward / back loading of pages though.
SWYPED from my SUPASONIC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think what you are interpreting as sluggishness is just a different way this browser loads pages.
Most browsers load pages a piece at a time. Because of this, the page "looks" like it is loading fast because you see the page even though it is not usable yet.
With this browser it only shows you the page once it is fully loaded, thus it may appear on occasion that it is slower.
I prefer the wait-till-its-ready method.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

[Q] dolphin hd the best browser?

Stock browser just cannot compete.
should I even bother downloading firefox?

Not a huge fan of Firefox, not all that great and way to big of an app for a browser IMHO

It's a shame that if you should use something else besides the stock browser, you can't change out the stock browser icon in the dock. It feels like dead weight to just have it there. Given Google's propensity for open-ness and customization, not sure why Android stock doesn't let you change these dock icons. Unless I'm mistaken?

Firefox for mobile(aka Fennec) is really slow for me right now. It might be great eventually, but right now it's super slow and has alot of bugs.
Dolphin Browser HD, to me, is like Firefox. Alot of extension, alot of addons, alot of enhancements but still kinda slow. Dolphin Browser Mini is more like Chrome in that it has a few extensions/addons/enhancements but it's extremely quick.

unremarked said:
Firefox for mobile(aka Fennec) is really slow for me right now. It might be great eventually, but right now it's super slow and has alot of bugs.
Dolphin Browser HD, to me, is like Firefox. Alot of extension, alot of addons, alot of enhancements but still kinda slow. Dolphin Browser Mini is more like Chrome in that it has a few extensions/addons/enhancements but it's extremely quick.
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gotta remember it has a Beta tag for a reason
its come a long way, from when it was a 60 meg install

slowz3r said:
gotta remember it has a Beta tag for a reason
its come a long way, from when it was a 60 meg install
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Click to collapse
Yes, sorry! Meant to mention in my post that I have hopes it'll be something nice eventually hehe.

Try skyfire. feels like stock browser, is much smoother and faster and has way more options.

Is the Dolphin mini like Opera mini which uses an external server to render webpages?

NexusDro said:
Is the Dolphin mini like Opera mini which uses an external server to render webpages?
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No, it renders on the device. The difference between Dolphin HD and Mini is that the first is based on the stock Eclair browser and the second on Donut.

for me the best one is the opera mini.

I use stock and xscope.

To me dolphin is extremely slow even when loading Google. I'm using the stock since it gives me what I need. When it comes to video I use dolphin
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

stock browser vs chrome

Both from a factual view and a personal preference view what do you guys think is the better browser of the two?
I found with the jb update the Stock browser began to load faster than chrome although the keyboards generally still worked badly in forums, swype being worst.
With chromes new update I find it to be about equal. I've tried running the ms fish HTML test on both and it doesn't run well on either so I didn't find that a good test to give any solid facts but right now I prefer chorine purely based on using it to write in forums but other than that they seem to perform roughly equal as far add I can tell. What do you guys think?

To be honest I have not found any better than stock. I don't care for gestures, synch or any fancy features, all I want I a fast browser that doesn't lag while reading and rendering pages. Stock is awesome, chrome not so much. Flash seems to work on stock and if it didn't video and mx player do a good job.
I'd like, however, that it would organize pages as opera mobile does. Opera's brilliant in this. Sadly is rather buggy in other departments. That's the only thing I'm missing. Other than that, stock is just about perfect and that's what I use.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium App

Some good points well made, since Google make both browsers its strange that they should be so different though maybe stock is optimised to each device and chrome is one size fits all.
I love a lot of things about chrome but for raw speed as far as I can tell like you say, stock is the Best in that department. Difficult to Test without 2 phones

stock browser all the day
its faster smoother have more feature like full screen mode
but chrome has cool feature too but its suck :silly:

The stock app is awful, I have Firefox, Chrome and Skyfire installed on my S3

None. I don't like the stock browser's messy menu configuration. Chrome is just... odd. I rather enjoy Dolphin, but I've been using Boat Browser for a while now, and I've grown fond of it...

dodgebizkit said:
Both from a factual view and a personal preference view what do you guys think is the better browser of the two?
I found with the jb update the Stock browser began to load faster than chrome although the keyboards generally still worked badly in forums, swype being worst.
With chromes new update I find it to be about equal. I've tried running the ms fish HTML test on both and it doesn't run well on either so I didn't find that a good test to give any solid facts but right now I prefer chorine purely based on using it to write in forums but other than that they seem to perform roughly equal as far add I can tell. What do you guys think?
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Chrome causes S3's running Jelly Bean to reboot when you use cut and paste, so I'd have to vote for the stock browser, or dolphin, or firefox, or any other browser.
Seriously, try it. Load up Chrome (on your GT-I9300 Galaxy S3) and long-press on an area of text, select some text and then either press on the selected text or press the copy icon (two overlapping rectangles). Do this between 1 and 20 times and your phone will reboot. It's great!

after so many months, the chrome browser sucks, i admit it looks nice, cool features, but its so laggy, even scrolling mobile sites, its a joke, i feel sorry for the nexus 4 owners

Nothing beats the fluidity of the stock browser. Sure, it might not be fully compatible with all the websites but it is miles better than having frustration over laggy scrolling found in Chrome.
Moreover, the browsing convenience and speed using Quick Controls is unmatched.
I don't know why Google doesn't implement these things in Chrome.

Stock is noticeably smooth in scrolling.

i think stock is better but chrome has better sync abilities with desktop

Back before I was an android user (and therefore didn't pay much attention) I'm sure I read that they intend to eventually replace stock with chrome as default browser in android... Is there any truth to this? I hope not, while I love having chrome I like to have the choice, and the different things that stock browser has.

I really want to like chrome... I really do. I keep giving it a chance for a few days every time they push an update out. The deal breaker for me is the lack of full screen mode and the relatively choppy scrolling in general - emphasis on 'relative' ! I guess if the stock browser wasn't so smooth (and very fast to use with quick controls) I would be perfectly happy with chrome.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

The new JellyBean stock browser seems very nice, has some features from ICS Browser+, this is from my limited time playing with it at least. Which of them all probably would make this one my favorite browser, but of course it could be because it is new.

thaBuzzed said:
I really want to like chrome... I really do. I keep giving it a chance for a few days every time they push an update out. The deal breaker for me is the lack of full screen mode and the relatively choppy scrolling in general - emphasis on 'relative' ! I guess if the stock browser wasn't so smooth (and very fast to use with quick controls) I would be perfectly happy with chrome.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
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Couldn't put it better myself. I also "give it a chance" every now and then... but get annoyed about the same things as well as lack of flash support.
When referring to "stock" browser, I feel the cm10 stock browser is also far superior to stock Samsung however...
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

kickassdave said:
Couldn't put it better myself. I also "give it a chance" every now and then... but get annoyed about the same things as well as lack of flash support.
When referring to "stock" browser, I feel the cm10 stock browser is also far superior to stock Samsung however...
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, totally agree. Though since I am making UCCW theme's, I kind off have to link my widgets to Chrome for universal support
Still use the Stock CM10 browser more though. Chrome sometimes feels slow and not so smooth when scrolling.

Best browser for N10

I'm just looking for a good browser to use on a regular basis while Google gets their act together and fixes the freezing and crashing issues that exist with Chrome and the N10. What have you found works best with the N10? I'm using Firefox right now, which is fine but I would like to use something that handles tabs better.
Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app

If you like the feel of the normal stock browser on the phones I would suggest giving ocean browser a go. Personally I use that and chrome. Ocean is noticeably faster but some pages it looks a bit strange, like the screen ratio is a bit off. Hard to explain but other than that it's great. I'm hoping chrome will become decent with a few updates

If you are rooted you can download and copy the good old stock android browser into /system/app. Its extremly fast and fluid.

I highly recommend Scope Browser. I thought is was my Tablet causing crime to crash and lag. Been using it with no complaints. Its a paid app, but the dev keeps it updated

I really enjoy using the boat browser.....best one I have tried so far.

i agree with boat browser
i agree w/ dolphin and boat
they give the best desktop-like experience so far

You can't really go wrong with the ocean browser. Its the fastest browser experience on any android tablet IMO. Almost on par with the iPad

I've settled on the Boat browser after Dolphin and Opera abandoned Flash for I want a desktop experience similar to using Windows on my laptop without needing to install loads of apps to use some sites like Apple.
I tried the Ocean browser but gave up after it crashed when selecting full screen mode and there was no option to have desktop mode on all the time and got fed up re-selecting desktop mode every time a site changed it.
I paricularly like the Boat speed dialer implimentation and I use it for all of my book marks. It does mean that I need to return to the speed dial page for my bookmarks but because I have set that as the Boat home page then that is easy and quick to do.
It means my book marks are all stored within the browser and are not taking up space on the Android home screen which I can fill with app short cuts.
It also means there is no need for multiple tabs to be open at once for the Boat speed dialer page becomes the multiple tabs.
The bookmarks can still be saved as they are seperate from those on the speed dialer page.

AOSP Browser for me. There's something about the AOSP browser that I just love. dunno what it is though!

I love the layout of ocean, but for me, its not any faster than chrome on 4.2.1

for me its ASOP or Ocean they seem to be smoothest

I like chrome's layout, where it has the back and forward button built into the address bar which is nice since the N10's centered buttons are not rhe best design choice. But its really glitchy sometimes. It will run fast and smooth on some websites, then just call it a day and slow way down on others.
Dolphin Browser Beta has great potential it's quick scrolling and zooming, almost never stuttering. But Is very much a Beta and likes to close itself when things don't go quite right.
Regular dolphin browser felt the slowest on my N10
Ocean is Very fast and I love running it in full screen. But I've had some issues with websites not loading correctly.(scored 1,037 on Peacekeeper)
Boat is good all around. Stable, decent interface. it just seems to be a bit more sluggish than ocean and Dolphin Beta.
I did find another Post where someone figured out how to fix the Opera 12 User interface so it's not tiny. I'm giving that a shot for sure. Opera runs great on my O-Gnote.
I think any of these four is a Good choice depending on who you are and what you like.
I want to root and put the AOSP browser on there to try it, I'm just really gun shy with rooting.

ShaolinRaiden said:
I like chrome's layout, where it has the back and forward button built into the address bar which is nice since the N10's centered buttons are not rhe best design choice. But its really glitchy sometimes. It will run fast and smooth on some websites, then just call it a day and slow way down on others.
Dolphin Browser Beta has great potential it's quick scrolling and zooming, almost never stuttering. But Is very much a Beta and likes to close itself when things don't go quite right.
Regular dolphin browser felt the slowest on my N10
Ocean is Very fast and I love running it in full screen. But I've had some issues with websites not loading correctly.(scored 1,037 on Peacekeeper)
Boat is good all around. Stable, decent interface. it just seems to be a bit more sluggish than ocean and Dolphin Beta.
I did find another Post where someone figured out how to fix the Opera 12 User interface so it's not tiny. I'm giving that a shot for sure. Opera runs great on my O-Gnote.
I think any of these four is a Good choice depending on who you are and what you like.
I want to root and put the AOSP browser on there to try it, I'm just really gun shy with rooting.
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Boat is the only one which provides a Flash player desktop experience off the shelf.

I've only tried Chrome and Dolphin so far. Dolphin was much faster.

do any other the browser do Tabbed browsing?

I used AOSP or ocean, ocean is really good for stock

Gaugerer said:
Boat is the only one which provides a Flash player desktop experience off the shelf.
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Click to collapse
That's true, ocean does default to the android agent.
I don't mind Boat at all. It's very good and is still installed on my N10 so I can bounce back and forth. I just find myself going back to Ocean more often because I like the popup controls. You mentioned before it was crashing on you, I haven't had that issue so far.
I do agree with your earlier post, being able to set the user agent to desktop by default would be a nice option to have in ocean instead of having to hit request desktop site everytime.
---------- Post added at 10:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:43 AM ----------
ady702 said:
do any other the browser do Tabbed browsing?
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The best options for Tabbed browsing (in my opinion) are Boat Browser and Dolphin Browser/Beta