One thing I've really noticed since I got my Tab, is that many of the news sites I used to access through tailor made apps (reddit, engadget, to some degree this site) are now nicer to use directly through the browser. This is undoubtably due to the larger screen size and the improved browser.
So, with the appearance of more devices along these lines, maybe the days of the isolated apps for everything are starting to come to an end. What do you think?
No, the apps will stay for now. All they have to do is allow you to choose text size. Ive already asked them to do this for xda, but since its just tapatalk software, i doubt it will change quickly.
My real problem with the apps is that they like to run themselves as services on android. I see no real point in this when most forums allow you to recieve notifications via email already....
I think as well that apps for just displaying content will be quickly outdated. I run websites for a living and a year ago I was still considering to upgrade some of them to have mobile sites while it is now almost unnecessary already because the phones display regular sites kind of ok.
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.
Hello everyone!
I'm about to buy my first eReader. After watching tons of reviews of Kindle, Sony TS1, Pocketbook, Kobo, Nook Simple Touch, I've decided to order that last one (possibilities of Android are just amazing).
What bothers me is the risk of broke NST during root process (I've never done this before) - I wouldn't even have a chance to send it to Nook service (it doesn't support my country - Poland). Also I don't own any Android device (but I know the basics - a lot of my friends has it).
I'm looking for some advice - what modification will be the best choice for me (as much as simple, fast and minimalistic)? Here are my preferences:
- ePUB reader: the Nook's one looks great, it's really fast - don't need anything else (Library is ok - simple catalog/list of books is enough for me)
- PDFs: I'm a student and I have a lot of books in text PDF, but also scanned images combined into PDF; that means zooming/landscape/norefresh features are essential
- highlighting text: don't care
- sync/dropbox/games: don't care
- other: web browser would be nice (wiki, news, gmail, wunderlist etc.), maybe some dictionaries (polish<->english, polish<->german etc.), wiki offline, support Google Play (if it doesn't have negative effect on battery consuption), handwriting notes
What guide should I use? (some links would be nice, as I said, I'm newbie with Android and I'm not really understanding the whole process of rooting).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1346748 here's the one I used, I've tried a few rooting methods and this one has worked best.
Hello All
This is sort of a lengthy post and I do apologize for that ahead of time. I've been idle on the Nook Color front since I first bought and rooted one during the 2011 holidays and am looking to do a fresh setup. Just have some questions and concerns first to see if I'm being realistic here.
SETUP
OS & Hardware Tweaks
After reading through several posts and guides, it sounds like the best OS (performance & stability-wise) is the latest stable CM7.2 (http://download.cyanogenmod.com/?device=encore&type=stable). I intend to run this off a SDCard. Do I need to do anything after installing other than the Nook Tweaks app to modify the clock settings such as installing a "kernel"? Additionally, is there a generally agreed upon clock/voltage setting I should choose? I've read that setting the minimum clock to 600MHz is ideal to prevent some idle lag, but I have no clue on how I should handle the voltage side of things.
Themes
I was going to follow joenathane's awesome guide on installing a Transformer theme (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1130271), but I've heard that Beautiful Widgets can cause the NC to become glitchy. Any truth to that or is it just a memory-hog sort of deal?
USING
For daily use, I'd like to access the internet, check my stocks, and start getting into some other features I've found sort of frustrating such as eBooks, gaming, and media.
eBooks
I've used Aldiko in the past and loved it for its ease of use and compatibility. But when I try viewing some PDF, the simple act of turning a page can become extremely slow and frustrating. Is there something I can do to circumvent this such or is this the NC's limit? This is more noticeable on graphic PDFs like magazines than actual books in PDF format.
Games
Besides Angry Birds and Words with Friends, I haven't found anything I'm happy with. I'm definitely not a big gamer, but am just looking to get into some other things. Most notably a good copy of chess that plays like the stock one on Windows 7 and perhaps some emulators. I see the N64 and GameBoy Color emulators, but is there anything that would play GameBoy Advance? Additionally, when playing these emulators, do you need to pair a remote?
Media
On my current setup, I basically have Google Music and that's that. I like having the cloud music idea, but would also like to have some tunes that might be available offline. Is there a good program that would allow me to easily manage music files? And then there's the videos. This is what I've very anxious about. I am a Comcast Xfinity subscriber. Am I able to actively watch OnDemand on this device? Also, is there a list of video formats supported so that I might be able to load this thing up with some videos before a car ride? I have a Aimersoft video converter on my PC and it has a bunch of presets. Certainly wouldn't mind converting if need be before moving over to the NC.
One Miscellaneous Thing:
Is there a feature that makes a user enter a PIN from the lockscreen?
So that's that. Again, really sorry this so wordy but I want to tackle this once and for all and really optimize my experience with this. I'm hoping to perfect my build before doing the same thing for my mother's NC. Thanks for any advice!
I really would like to have the best of both worlds! I like the almost every Amazon has implemented on the Fire HE 10, except their apps and app store. And I like everything about Google Play services and their apps. Here on CAR are many threads on topics to customize one world over the other. But not anything I would characterize as the best of both worlds.
Most Amazon topics are generally like tips. And Google topics generally involve a complete wipe of Amazon's implementation of launcher and product offering.
Is there anyone who has created an implementation that utilizes the best of both? It seems as though I've read all the posts or searched all the posts here and nothing that really says to me this is the solution. I would especially like to see a custom rom like we see for our phones.
cfedata said:
I really would like to have the best of both worlds! I like the almost every Amazon has implemented on the Fire HE 10, except their apps and app store. And I like everything about Google Play services and their apps. Here on CAR are many threads on topics to customize one world over the other. But not anything I would characterize as the best of both worlds.
Most Amazon topics are generally like tips. And Google topics generally involve a complete wipe of Amazon's implementation of launcher and product offering.
Is there anyone who has created an implementation that utilizes the best of both? It seems as though I've read all the posts or searched all the posts here and nothing that really says to me this is the solution. I would especially like to see a custom rom like we see for our phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check around here for my tips, hacks etc. I have been trying to build a ROM for a bit. It may not be possible on this device (as long as it's bootloader locked), at least not like the Fire 7. Either FlashFire won't install one on the HD 10, or Amazon did something that doesn't allow the traditional updater-scripts or FlashFire to do their job properly. I suspect they removed something from a .bin file or modified it like they did the bootanimation.bin (FireOS stock bootanimation is written into the bootanimation bin file in /system/bin. So if you don't replace the bin file, and try to change bootanimation, it would fail.) So far I have been doing it the slow way: replacing the Amazon apps one by one, with Android. My hope is to create a 'ROM' that way, and at some point distribute the system.img.
cfedata
Follow DragonFire1024's posts about the FIre HD and you have a great approximation of both worlds. I have Alexa and Google Assistant voice activated on all my Fire HD's. The Amazon Appstore is pretty useless in my opinion. Once you get the Google Play store installed, you'll probably never use it. I tend to sideload apps on all my devices anyway but the Play Store is occasionally useful for updates. Just make sure you have "Do Not auto-update apps" selected in your Play Store settings since some updates for certain apps make them unusable or unstable on the Fire HD's