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!
I'm sorry in advance about this question, its answer will probably be humiliating for me
DISCLAIMER: I'm not using Dream, but instead an alpha 1.5 build for the Blackstone. I realize this could be the problem.
Anyway: I'm trying to find stuff in the Market, however, most searches end up with some hundreds of results while I can only see about 8-9 of them in the scroll pane. I can't flick scroll below that however hard I try.
Which is the "normal" way of browsing through applications from the handset, e.g. skipping to the next page of results? Is it a hardware button I don't have because of Blackstone?
Thanks.
The normal method is to just keep scrolling, it should load a bunch of other results. Then when you get to the end, it loads some more and you can just keep scrolling until you reach the last result. That's how it's supposed to work, no hardware button or pages.
Just as flobin said. Side note, if you want to just look around the Market you can use Cyrket. Find what you're looking for then just search for the name from your Market app.
Thanks, now I know it's some sort of mis-function by my build.
Just like the title says, i'm looking for a browser that functions as well as the Sense 5 browser and its silky smooth scrolling, instant text re-flow, fast page loading, and even it's pleasing visual design. I own an HTC One and while I do enjoy it, I choose to carry the Nexus 4 most days because of better battery life and my preference of Google's stock UI. I've accepted that the Nexus is going to have some short-comings compared to other devices, but the browser experience has never been a factor for me and now it is. I've always used the AOSP browser and it wasn't until Google began packaging Chrome as Android's browser that I realized just how much I liked the AOSP option. I've tried several times to like chrome as it' my desktop preference, but it's just a terrible mobile experience for me I purchased an HTC One first for my Wife and the day she received it I feel in love with the browser after using it. I compared it side by side with the AOSP browser and also Dolphin browser and it seemed to well outperform both. I've done some Googling and confirmed that I won't be able to pull the APK and get it running on a device that doesn't have the Sense framework, or at least not in any simple or straight forward way.
So does anyone that has used the HTC's browser know of any comparable alternative? I've gone to the Play Store and installed at least 15 or so of the most popular options, and some less popular but highly rated browsers, and nothing seems to compare. Dolphin or Dolphin Beta have long been my secondary browsers and they are far superior to anything else available but still fall a little short in my opinion. I run into trouble sometimes with secured site log ins, embedded video bugs even with flash installed & enabled properly, and its lack of force enabled zoom which is problematic when visiting any mobile site because I have very poor vision and the text on many mobile sites is often unreadable for me. The AOSP browser has seemed to develop it's share of compatibility issues with certain pages as well, and one of those often issues is the page turning blank & reloading continuously when I either zoom in or select a field to enter text in, but it only happens on desktop sites and not mobile. I believe it's probable lacking support,updates, and security since Google dropped it quite some time ago?
So I'm sure it's clear that I'm frustrated jumping between two browsers just for casual web surfing. I understand a secondary browser is pretty much necessary on almost any platform, but it shouldn't be required to alternate constantly just to browse my bookmarks and catch up on the news.
I feel it's unlikely that there's a solution in the Play Store for what I need, but with all of the app development and testing here on XDA I'm hopeful that someone has come across a browser here that's close to what I'm wanting in performance and features. I can't imagine that I'm the only one frustrated with lack of a high quality browsers on mobile, I just never realized it could be so much better before using HTC's.....Sigh!
So I started taking notes...
- S NOTE: It works great, feels great.
The 3 finger gesture is retarded for sure. (The one that hides / shows toolbars.)
But. How do you deal with the new page thing?
Like I write up a task or anything... and I'm already at the end of the page.
Lecture Notes let me see two pages at once, so it's like a huge endless toilet pape that I can write on. (what a reference!)
It's not an issue AFTER I'm done taking notes, but if I work on a problem, I'd like to see the whole equation I wrote up, instead of switching between pages.
- Lecture Notes: Works kinda great, but performance issues/weird scrolling.
So...
-- When I scroll, the page x / y shows, and the scroll is god-damn slow. It's really slow, like laggy as crap.
I tried the "fast temporary render" option, using it like that. But it didn't help.
-- I enabled the hardware stylus detection, but like 20% of the times, the screen jumps around when I try to write on it. I'm holding the pen close as possible, and then place down my palm.
Do you guys have a solution for these, or a better app?
I have zero issues with Lecture Notes. There is an entire thread on this topic on the front page of the themes / apps forum here. I would refer to it and read it. I bet there are fixes for each of your issues. Also, I would ask for help there to avoid yet another S Note vs. Lecture Notes thread.
Edit: Link to other conversation: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2473844
Thread closed as per OP's request.