Database Users

[Q] Zoon in browser, how to get it back?

hi there, i recently bought my first android, a nexus 7 and before i started to mess with it, i noticed something cool that i been missing a lot on apple devices: when i clicked small buttons or links in the browser, it zoomed that area so it was easier to choose. SUPER COOL i thought..
ofcourse later i had to root it, change rom to PA, and all the stuff a new android newbie has to, and i didn't really see this little feature anymore, is it something i have to install again, did i loose it when changing from stock rom > PA rom? don't even know what this "feature" is called
any help appreciated
-Deco

RealDeco said:
hi there, i recently bought my first android, a nexus 7 and before i started to mess with it, i noticed something cool that i been missing a lot on apple devices: when i clicked small buttons or links in the browser, it zoomed that area so it was easier to choose. SUPER COOL i thought..
ofcourse later i had to root it, change rom to PA, and all the stuff a new android newbie has to, and i didn't really see this little feature anymore, is it something i have to install again, did i loose it when changing from stock rom > PA rom? don't even know what this "feature" is called
any help appreciated
-Deco
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Click to collapse
I can't get it to work all the time, but it seems to happen most often on dropdown menu links or where there's a lot of small links close together (like page number links in a long thread on XDA.) I'm still not 100% sure what activates it, but I just loaded this subforum on my Nexus 7 and touched the lag thread title/page number links and it popped up magnified. Same thing for the "Quick Links" dropdown menu at the top of the page. I clicked the menu, then tried to click "Social Groups" and the section of the list I was on became magnified. I think it only happens when there's a certain text density on the screen, because when I zoom in I eventually stop getting the magnification box, but at that point it's really easy to click individual links.

RealDeco said:
hi there, i recently bought my first android, a nexus 7 and before i started to mess with it, i noticed something cool that i been missing a lot on apple devices: when i clicked small buttons or links in the browser, it zoomed that area so it was easier to choose. SUPER COOL i thought..
ofcourse later i had to root it, change rom to PA, and all the stuff a new android newbie has to, and i didn't really see this little feature anymore, is it something i have to install again, did i loose it when changing from stock rom > PA rom? don't even know what this "feature" is called
any help appreciated
-Deco
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does Paranoid android use Chrome? It probably doesn't. That very useful feature is a google chrome thing. Here is the Play Store link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome&hl=en
And if at any time android ask's you which browser to open, tap on chrome and tap on "Remember" or something like that.

as there is no other browser on stock on nexus 7 i assume you have been using chrome before. and this feature pops up most likely when you are not zoomed in and navigate through a site where diffrent links are very close together. just to avoid clicking the wrong link of course.
as McMichael96 said, you can just install chrome afterwards when using 4.0+ on your nexus which is quite common obviously haha.
maybe you should also check out the other browsers which are available in the market which also have their unique advantages compared to e.g. chrome.
for once there is Opera Mobile, which renders the text on pages when you zoom in to match the screen width which makes it very easy read without scrolling sideways.
for chrome, the major advantage is, if you are using chrome on other devices as well, that everything is synced.
if using e.g. opera on other devices, syncing is available as well.
there are even more browsers like firefox (which i don't like much) even though favourites and bookmarks are accessable quite nice, dolphin browser which is very popular and have a sleek userinterface, or more.
consider to give them a try... happy to hear your feedback after trying out. cheers.

Browser issues?

I just got a Nexus 10 and I'm considering returning it because of all the crashes. (At least twice a day since I got it.) But I'm even having trouble finding a good browser. Does anyone else find they have these problems, or is it just me? Opera was my favorite browser on A100, but its unusable now.
In chrome mobile if you click anywhere near the X button (on a tab), the page will close. Chrome also causes tablet crashes. (Chrome is the stock browser on my tab.)
Boat takes up high battery
Dolphin - clicking on a tab closes the tab
Opera buttons/menus are so tiny it can't be used.
Firefox (regular And beta) - parts of or the whole screen goes black sometimes. (Resizing the page fixes it.) Requires effort to scroll fast. Some images don't ever load, like on Google images (middle of page). No speed dial or even a way to organize bookmarks. Previous session tabs don't reload automatically.
Maxthon - maxthon tablet - sometimes no links work, tab fonts too large
I'm using Firefox mostly, but don't like it for above reasons.
Not a browser but, my favorite keyboard on my a100, Thumb keyboard - if i click near the top edge of the comma key, I get an apostrophe. (Rt. Side) also, it becomes erratic sometimes, like cursor jumping to the wrong places.
Do you have these issues, or did I get a bad Nexus? Thanks.

I still would like to hear if anyone is having these troubles on the Nexus 10, but I think I found happiness with Ocean Browser. I'm already familiar with it because it came pre-installed on my Acer A100, but I don't think they ever gave the name. It was re-branded or something. Glad I found it again. About the only thing it's lacking is the ability to rearrange bookmarks on the screen. But you can use folders. I think I found the winner.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2

[Q} Why use "browser" over Chrome?

I used stock for a little while and was really liking chrome on my N7. I just went through a few ROMs and settled on one (see sig) which has the original android browser on it just like Galaxy Nexus has. My question is why would anyone use that over chrome? What are the pros and cons of each browser?
Thanks in advance.

Some use browser due to it supporting flash, personally I stick with browser because I'm used to it, like the quick settings function, and have all my bookmarks saved with it so all I have to do is sync.
I do keep chrome installed as I do have occasional use for it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

well i havent played with the new chrome version(s) but back then when most of us tried chrome it was hella 1) buggy 2) slow 3) didnt support flash. and i believe it had that annoying feature of constantly refreshing pages (again not sure if newer versions have smoothed everything out)
and the fact that it's the stock browser was quick, snappy and that it was able to synce my google bookmarks too, it was a winner winner

Chrome is trash. It's slow, no flash, text is blurry. The only redeeming quality is that it syncs with chrome desktop.. But even that isn't enough to save it from being a horrible mobile browser
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 02:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 AM ----------
The constant refreshing pages is annoying as heck. Hate that! Safari on my iPad Mini does the same thing. Pisses me off. It's not even a memory issue either, cause I'll leave the tab and come back and it still refreshes smh
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

thevuman said:
Chrome is trash. It's slow, no flash, text is blurry. The only redeeming quality is that it syncs with chrome desktop.. But even that isn't enough to save it from being a horrible mobile browser
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 02:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 AM ----------
The constant refreshing pages is annoying as heck. Hate that! Safari on my iPad Mini does the same thing. Pisses me off. It's not even a memory issue either, cause I'll leave the tab and come back and it still refreshes smh
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
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So true !
I was a die hard Chrome fan on my laptops etc, so when it came to Android I never looked back.
Until literally a couple of months ago, I though I'd give a different browser a go.
I'm afraid to say, EVERY other browser I tried, was better than Chrome.

Being rooted, I replaced the default N7 browser with the AOSP browser and side-loaded flash. It works great. Fast browser and excellent flash videos.

AOSP browser is just smoother than Chrome... a light feather gossamer touch is all that is needed to scroll up or down - and apart from frighteningly fast page download speeds, it's also Adobe Flash compliant.
The one feature missing, that would make the AOSP browser a 10 marks out of 10 browser is 'text-flow' (pinch zoom, and text 'flows' and automatically reformats into the space created, instead of going off the edge of the screen). But even Chrome doesn't have this feature.
Dolphin Browser Beta - (http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dolphin.browser.lab.en&hl=en) has 'text-flow' , but unfortunately isn't entirely stable... and doesn't support Flash.
An interesting new contender is the (relatively) new WebKit version of Opera...
Opera Browser Beta - (http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.opera.browser.beta).
Smooth scrolling and a nice 'clean' interface... supports 'text-flow'... but not particularly fast... and doesn't support Flash. Like Dolphin Browser Beta, it's also a bit flaky.
--------
So for me, it's going to be the AOSP browser everytime... it's fast, smooth and supports Flash. It's not perfect, but it's the best Android browser available... IMHO, of course.
Now... what was that question about Chrome again?.
Rgrds.
Ged.

I can live with Chrome pretty much, it's slowly getting better with each update. But it would be follish to reject the fact that AOSP Browser is faster and simply more appealing in terms of UI. Though the address/search/control bar in the upper part of the screen takes too much space, while Chrome's panel is minimalistic (though nowhere as close as Opera Beta one - the smallest bar evar)
Lack of Flash support in Chrome is again not a big trouble, since it's not OFFICIALLY supported in 4.1.x and above => Browser tends to crash from time to time forcing me to completely close it and reopen with opening all the tabs again or wait until it opens the same cached tab again until it hangs dead once more. HTML5 is more than enough (at least for the sites I visit from my tablet)

I'm thinking of changing browsers from Chrome soon, lately EVERY click gets that popup balloon and I have to click it again, even if there is no other buttons around what I pressed, it's getting kinda annoying. And what they do with the text, instead of just displaying everything nicely, browsing the forum looks awful. These two 'features' should be disabled somehow, other than that I don't mind chrome. It's not the best, but not the worst either.

GedBlake said:
The one feature missing, that would make the AOSP browser a 10 marks out of 10 browser is 'text-flow' (pinch zoom, and text 'flows' and automatically reformats into the space created, instead of going off the edge of the screen). But even Chrome doesn't have this feature.
Rgrds.
Ged.
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Click to collapse
If you zoom to where the text goes off the page, double-tap the screen to make the text flow reformat back to fit the screen.

Groid said:
If you zoom to where the text goes off the page, double-tap the screen to make the text flow reformat back to fit the screen.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I know about the 'double-tap'... it just enlarges/zooms... but doesn't reflow - or at least on my version of AOSP browser it doesn't.
If you have (or know of) a version of the AOSP browser that does that... then I would be most interested in it.
So any download links, CWM/TWRP flashable's... or even something I can 'push' to /system... or maybe flashable ROMs... that would be most appreciated.
Such a browser - (AOSP, Adobe Flash Compliant... and Text-flow capable) would be the sine qua non of browsers... IMHO.
Rgrds,
Ged.

Yes, if I just double-tap it zooms or zooms back. But if I have zoomed the text too much to fit the screen, a double-tap will re-flow the text to fit the screen. The ASOP browser I'm using shows in All apps as Version 4.1.1-eng.sparkyman216.20120801.074324. I think I got it from an XDA thread but I'm not sure which one. It is dated 8/5/12 and is about 1.6 Mb. I have the .apk available if you want it.

Groid said:
Yes, if I just double-tap it zooms or zooms back. But if I have zoomed the text too much to fit the screen, a double-tap will re-flow the text to fit the screen. The ASOP browser I'm using shows in All apps as Version 4.1.1-eng.sparkyman216.20120801.074324. I think I got it from an XDA thread but I'm not sure which one. It is dated 8/5/12 and is about 1.6 Mb. I have the .apk available if you want it.
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Sounds ideal!
And it also sounds like 'not all AOSP browsers' are born equal!
I would definitely be interested in a copy of your .apk... probably going to have to too screw around with some ODEX stuff to make it work.
But if I can get text-flow working in an AOSP browser... with Flash Support... that would be great.
Rgrds,
Ged

OK, the process once you get the browser.apk file: you must be rooted and have a root file explorer like 'Root Explorer' or 'ES File Explorer'. Navigate to /system/app, mount as R/W, and rename BrowserProviderProxy.apk and BrowserProviderProxy.odex by adding a .bak extention (i.e. browserproviderproxy.apk.bak). Copy browser.apk into /system/app. Verify the permissions are set as owner=Read Write, Group and Others as Read. Restart the N7. Place a shortcut for Browser from the app drawer on your dock or home screen. Try it out. (Sideload Flash from the Adobe website if not already installed.)
I just noticed you have a custom rom and kernel. I don't know if this works with that combination. I'm stock rom, and kernel and rooted. You might want to check some cyanogenmod forums. If you want to pm me with your email, I'll attach the browser.apk file.

Dolphin. <<<<<<emphasis on the period.
Sent from my cell phone telephone....

[Q] REQUEST: Closest browser experience to the Sense 5 browser?

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!

[Q] Chrome pause / stutter on certain sites, report bug?

I think chrome on android has improved quite a bit since it launched but I feel like it's especially bad on my nexus 10, and on specific sites. Some sites, such as this one, are very responsive to touch and there isn't any lag to speak of. Some sites, however, seem terrible. One example is androidcentral.com - the desktop version. The lag I'm referring to is when you're scrolling down the page, and you try to stop the scroll, or scroll back up the page. It seems like the browser goes unresponsive for a second and then jumps up the page a bit.
This happens on many sites I visit, but androidcentral.com is one of the better examples. It kind of kills the browsing experience for me and is one of the reasons I don't use my nexus 10 that much.
I've googled and the closest complaint I can find was on this forum - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1986212 However it's an older post and when I checked on the link to the issue it looks as though it had been resolved.
So, my question(s) are:
1) are others experiencing the same issue?
2) is there a fix / workaround for those specific sites?
3) Is there a way to report this to google?

Mine freezes while browsing...I blamed Chrome Beta, and went back to Chrome recently.
Remains to be seen if the problem is gone.

Hi,
First, if you're using Chrome Beta (like me), I'm facing a similar problem as well, but usually mine goes blank and doesn't work till I restart the app. If you want the best fix, then it's best to download the Chrome or a different browser like Firefox or Dolphin.
You can report a bug here: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/list
~Lord