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

[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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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

[Q] What's the best browser on the tab?

I know most of you tab owners have probably installed a third-party web browser. Which one is your favorite and why?
I'm tired of the default browser that came with my Tab. It gets stuck too many times and crashes (signal 11 seg fault)
-dan

Dolphin Browser HD is what I use on all my mobile devices. You really can't go wrong with it.

Haven't found anything better than Miren Browser

dolhpin browser HD for me. nice sidebars, plugins and gesture commands. not as fast in loading pages as opera, but faster than stock browser,and renders page layouts properly. plus it has a plugin for switching from mobile view to standard in one touch.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

Personally I use Dolphin HD. It lets me set the useragent as iPad, so you get a lot of pages in standard view. Plus it has great addons and the sidebars are amazing.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

I use Miren browser and think its great.
However for flash I use stock browser as it seems to run smoother to me.
Last dolphin HD I used seemed to have ads and bloat?
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

What other browsers can I try?
Firefox is so far the ONLY browser that has openned ALL of my required sites.
Opera Mobile nearly gets there but:-
Stock browser - no good
Opera Mini - no good
Skyfire - no good
Miren - no good
Dolphin HD - no good
Dolphin Mini - no good
xScope - no good
If you can suggest any others that I can try then it would be much appreciated.

Miren user here. I haven't tried firefox for the SGT yet. I'll go check it out.
Sent from my SGH-I987 using XDA App

Fire fox support flash?
ziffos said:
Firefox is so far the ONLY browser that has openned ALL of my required sites.
Opera Mobile nearly gets there but:-
Stock browser - no good
Opera Mini - no good
Skyfire - no good
Miren - no good
Dolphin HD - no good
xScope - no good
If you can suggest any others that I can try then it would be much appreciated.
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Dolphin HD is the best for me.
I tried firefox but not flash support =nogo

Dolphin Mini. I think this is better than Dolphin HD. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Dolphin mini is definitely my favorite browser at the moment. Consumes very little, does anything I need from a browser and it does look amazing too.
Swyped from my sexy galaxy tab

Lag time during scrolling/pinching is my biggest gripe with all Android browsers. I haven't found one that equals the iPad in this regard. FireFox responds the best but I'm not crazy about the UI, I like the tab interface on Dolphin better. I hope that Honeycomb's browser is better especially with the new dual core processors.

Wow. I didnt expect such great responses. Thanks to everyone who replied.
I plan to try Dolphin HD and, if it doesnt work well, I will try Miren.
-dan

I use Dolphin Mini, it's very fast and great with flash content. Much better than iPad's safari IMO.

didn't know dolphin had a mini version. will try that out.
i still find that keyboard lag is an issue with browsers

While I was going to say Dolphin HD, I installed Dolphin Mini last night based on what people said in this thread, and a big +1 to the Mini! I like the clean interface better than HDs, and seems a little faster too.

I have a simple method of deciding on the browser. I have installed most popular browsers. Now, first I open the stock browser and open this forum site, then I copy the address to the clipboard. Next, I open let's say Miren, paste the address and hit enter, I count 1001, 1002, 1003.....and mark the number for COMPLETE opening. Do the same with other browsers. So far (for me) Miren is the winner (1016) followed by Dolphin mini (1024).

I've got miren, opera and firefox installed.
Miren is the one I use all the time, it seems the most "balanced" for me, its nicely laid out and is pretty fast (faster than the other two for me at least). Prob is it had an issue with large downloads, it would just load like a few kb and say its done. new update seems to have fixed that though
Opera was second best IMO. Firefox was slowest to load and slow to load pages. But both work more like desktop browsers.
I think I might try out dolphin mini

00r101 said:
Dolphin Mini. I think this is better than Dolphin HD. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
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No sorry but Dolphin Mini was rubbish - it did not open some of my required sites - just gives usual message of "Server Failed to Communicate"
therefore
Firefox so far remains the ONLY browser that will open ALL of my required sites.

Coolsaber57 said:
Haven't found anything better than Miren Browser
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I have to agree

[Q] What's the best web browser for NC?

What is the best web browser for the NOOK Color? I've always been happy with the default Android web browser for my G2 phone, but it seems slow & clunky on the NC running CM7. Curious to hear what other people enjoy using.

I voted first! Anyway, I say Dolphin HD is the best as it is optimized for tablets (thus HD) and has actual tabs. And it's free. Get the Dolphin Browser HD 6.0.0 Beta.

Opera mobile is my favorite as it supports hardware accelerated rendering making scrolling smooth.

I can't use anything except Opera Mobile on the Nook. Everything else that doesn't use GPU rendering is too slow for me.

I think stock is best.
Still rocking the Incredible with the XDA Premium App.

Miren is worth a look; its different.

Ive tried them all and i liked dolphin hd but bookmarks are a downright chore to use on it, so i went back to stock browser. Opera felt clunky and slow to me, and i tried both versions of it.

quepaso said:
Opera felt clunky and slow to me
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This is exactly how I feel about Opera. To me, it's never been this amazing browsing experience people claim it to be.

Boat browser mini has been my favorite browser so far.

For me, Opera Mobile (not Mini). Its the ONLY browser that has smooth zooming and scrolling. Everything else is too chopy for me. There are some incompatibilities (some chat systems like the one used on Engadget don't work) but its well worth the smoothness.

Maxthon for tablet gets my vote.

Opera Mobile is fast but Dolphin HD does better webpage rendering and has support for Lastpass and ReadItLater as well as ad blocking. The ad blocking isn't great but it's better than nothing. Lastpass support is the killer feature for me. Dolphin HD also handles flash better than Opera Mobile in my experience. Opera won't even open Weatherspark, for instance. Dolphin may be slow but at least it will load the page.

reaper12 said:
Boat browser mini has been my favorite browser so far.
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How did you install Boat? I'm using Miren now, but would like to use Boat instead. Problem is that it doesn't appear in the Market at all for me. I could pull the apk from my phone and toss it into the system directory, but would rather install it correctly.
(My NC is running rooted only. No ROMs have been installed.)

new A500...looking for better browser

I picked a new A500 yesterday and I like the way it feels and looks but I'm disappointed with the browser. Everything feels laggy, even as I type this post. I feel that my iPhone 3Gs performs better. It came with 3.1 out of the box. Any tips on how to resolve this lag and poor browser experience I'm going thru? Thanks

Stock browser is good for me. You could try Aurora (experimental version of Firefox) it works well on the A500.
Sent from my A500 using xda premium

i seriously just switched a couple minutes ago but dolphin browser for pad is amazzziinnggggg. It bears but MacBook pro in speed and fluidity and no laggy text anymore and the bookmarks manager seams very nice, its a great alternative

cordell507 said:
i seriously just switched a couple minutes ago but dolphin browser for pad is amazzziinnggggg. It bears but MacBook pro in speed and fluidity and no laggy text anymore and the bookmarks manager seams very nice, its a great alternative
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Dolphin for pad was good for awhile, but it hasn't been updated since July, 2011.
Back to Dolphin HD I went. Still better than stock, and if you get the bookmarks plugin, you can backup and restore all your bookmarks at will.

where can I find these alternate browsers and I need to be rooted right?

exodusx187 said:
where can I find these alternate browsers and I need to be rooted right?
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No root required, and they're all in the marketplace

Opera mobile
Try opera mobile. It is real fast. A500 feels like a different device with opera.

I tried opera mobile, dolphin for pad, dolphin HD. dolphin for pad looks the best for tab dolphin HD is the best
Sent from my HTC EVO 3D using Tapatalk

This is a little obscure but checkout maxthon browser for 10" tablet. I'm not a fan of maxthon for phones but its my browser of choice on my A500.

hardslog said:
This is a little obscure but checkout maxthon browser for 10" tablet. I'm not a fan of maxthon for phones but its my browser of choice on my A500.
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I think Maxthon 1.4 is better than 1.5
I like the previous version

+1 for Dolphin browser for pad. Although it's technically a beta release, I've been using it for about a month on stock 3.2 without any issues. It's very fast and the interface is a little cleaner than the stock browser. Bookmarks are only a swipe away, and other gestures also are supported---though maybe not obvious (touch the right-facing pointer icon located on the right end of the toolbar and enter your gesture anywhere in the shaded area). I've used Opera, Dolphin HD, etc. Like this browser the best so far.

best of them dolphin for pad , it runs very smooth when you are @ 1.4GHz

the neverending story... the browser! I tested all, and all in every new Version that came out, but so far... there is only one Browser i use, not cause its the best or the fastest...no:
Did anyone realize, that EVERY Browser, stock, Maxthon, Firefox, Dolphin etc. have all washed out colors, unsharp text, pictures and so on. The only one with really good looking sites, like on Desktop, is Opera. Try out yourself, open all Browser, look at google news page, then compare...
WHY IS THIS?
Opera has maaaany maaaany problems on Facebook, the Chatbars, Posts not posted etc., Youtube videos sometimes crashes, no adblock, but... fast and good looking!
Can anyone explain me this issue, or is it only my device? A500 Stock OTA update, not rooted...

none of these browsers will play facebook games such as ravenwood, too laggy. I posted a thread on this a month ago and someone said he got it working but the settings he came up with were NOWHERE , it was like he was just making up crap...something about flashmx offline settings.looks like I will have to wait until ICS comes out.

Browser
I like the boat browser myself.

firefox 9 has a revamped ui, especially designed for tablets: it behaves differently in portrait. It's still based on xul I think, but I find the startup to be quite fast and of course with the gig of ram it should stay loaded. quite stable too, but still doesn't run flash.

I use Maxthon the majority of the time. Firefox just doesn't give me the browsing experience that I want but I think eventually it will be pretty good.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App