perfect browser? - Nook Color General

What browser is everyone using? I tried many of them, but they all lack something. I am using CM7 RC4.
- Firefox. Excellent in all areas except for speed. Scrolling and loading is too slow to be useful. Does not support flash - I do not care about flash much, but for some it would be a dealbreaker.
- Dolphin HD. Slow scrolling. Supports flash. Incorrectly renders some pages (iclarified.com). Too slow to be useful for me.
- Opera mobile. Very fast. Supports flash. Would be perfect if it had an ability to change browser agent. Without it many websites insist on using mobile version.
What I want is Firefox features with speed of Opera. Does such thing exist?

Maybe mirin browser. I haven't tried it so much but it seems fast. Don't know if it supports flash though.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

I use Dolphin HD. Never had any issue except slow scrolling for graphics heavy sites.

by the way you cab change user agent in opera mobile. look at the Opera thread on how.

i use xscope. I have tried dolphin but i cannot stand how it renders some pages (one that comes to mind is reddit).
Firefox like you said is too slow
Opera seems promising, I am using that every once in a while now but still always find myself going back to xscope

Skyfire 3.0
I would suggest skyfire. Been the best of all worlds for me!

I love and use the stock browser just fine.

Since Opera 11 got flash, I feel the other browsers can't compete. up until that point I was a Dolphin HD Guy.

I use xscope or dolphin HD. I do not like Skyfire or Opera since they proxy your web traffic.

Opera Mobile 11 is the only browser I use now. Too many of the websites that I frequent have really slow scrolling on the webkit based browsers. Now that Opera Mobile has GPU acceleration and flash support I can't use anything else.
painter_:
Opera Mobile does not use a proxy unless you turn on turbo mode which will just compress images for you.

was using miren, but i prefer opera mobile now, i like how it render pages much than miren or firefox. Miren is pretty fine too, i like how it handle tabs.

Opera has font rendering issues, particularly in its always-on overview mode. And it's bookmark management sucks. I don't understand why they made their browser have so little in the way of configuration options.
Dolphin HD is my favorite but Opera is definitely faster.
Firefox is a disaster yet with some serious issues. I hope they continue to work on it.

opera has tons of config options, if you go to "opera:config" way to much. But I do agree there are few options that I would like that doesn't exists. like disable page overview/preview, bookmark ordering, disable navigation bar. I have a phone and nook, both running 2.2, and same version of opera. On the phone I can disable the navigation bar but I can't do it on the nook. They must be doing some filtering of configs based on device type or resolution.
swaaye said:
Opera has font rendering issues, particularly in its always-on overview mode. And it's bookmark management sucks. I don't understand why they made their browser have so little in the way of configuration options.
Dolphin HD is my favorite but Opera is definitely faster.
Firefox is a disaster yet with some serious issues. I hope they continue to work on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

opera is faster, but the speed isnt enough to make me switch from dolphin hd. it just flows so much better. I dont like the gestures, but like the swipe actions with the shortcuts on the left panel. I also like how it goes to full screen when a site is loaded, and the address bar goes away once it's scrolled away. the tabs are also a joy to use.

Opera Mobile has now replaced dolphin HD for me. The great increase in speed and performance made me switch. I still hope Opera gets better tab and bookmark management though. Once that happens, Opera will easily be the best IMO.

Opera is a complete piece of trash.
The scrolling doesn't lock when you scroll up/down so it jitters left/right as you scroll down a page. It looks awful. Every other mobile browser in existence has this feature. Why did they leave it out?
Websites that are not formatted for mobile always load first in completely zoomed out mode with the letters at 0.5 font, regardless of what you set the "zoom" to in the settings. This means browsing around some websites becomes extremely painful since you have to zoom in a TON for every. single. page click.
And the worst of them all: on content heavy pages (ie when a website doesn't have a mobile version), after it finishes loading, the entire page just goes blank. Literally, completely white. The weird thing is when switching tabs, the tab preview still shows the content. But going back to the page and it's still just fully white. Reloading the page doesn't help.
Opera Mobile has "nice scrolling" but that's about it. What a bug-ridden infuriating, and not to mention HUGE (25+ mb) app.

Related

Skyfire Pwnz

Got this e-mail from Skyfire, tested it and yes...it's true sometimes even better than the benchmarks but never worse...
In a recent review by Laptop Magazine, Skyfire was put to the test against Opera 9.5.1 and the new 3G iPhone. Skyfire raced ahead of its competitors with download speeds that far surpass our competitors. (Source: Laptop Mag)
NYT.com
Skyfire Beta: 6 (sec)
Opera 9.5.1 Beta: 60 (sec)
Safari: 29 (sec)
I'm not sure what you're talking about. Things have varied for me when I tried skyfire against PIE. Both seemed to load about the same, yes skyfire was easier to move around in but skyfire failed serveral time to be useful.
I wasn't able to open links or download files that PIE would with no problem.
I don't mean youtube stuff, I'm talking about opening email from aim.com (just like hotmail.com) and downloading any file at all.
skyfire for me = fail
My browser needs to do it all, if it's slow thats ok but it can't lead me somewhere and then not complete what I need. If I surf for something for 20 minutes and then I can't open a link I get pretty pissed off. PIE can do it.
Also I couldn't copy the URL I was at. I don't think
the initial page may come up faster, but skyfire only initially loads up an overview of the page. it still needs to load the individual parts as you zoom in on them. so those results are very misleading....
for me it's annoying...i'd rather wait a bit more on initial page load (opera 9.5/safari) than waiting every time you scroll around inside the page (skyfire).
for me the fastest is opera mini.
I'm a skyfire fan, but I imagine things would speed up if everything wasn't passed through their servers first....I guess it has to be though
yeah i does load quickly and have embedded flash, but zooming is more combersome compared to opera mini, and when you look around when zoomed in the page has to load even more.
opera: fast but no flash
PIE: slower but plays mobile youtube
skyfire: embedded flash but cumbersome zoom.
take your pick. however skyfire is currently in beta testing, the zoom loading could be a problem they're working on for final product
Anyway to turn off the zoomed-out mode on ALL pages?
It makes mobile-friendly pages unusable, and SkyFire unusable. I don't have a 800x600 screen so I really wish it wouldn't assume all HTML-compliant (meaning content will auto-flow) pages such as Google Reader Mobile loaded as such.
MineralGray02K said:
I imagine things would speed up if everything wasn't passed through their servers first....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually the opposite. Their servers have fast access, will recompress the page data and pre-render them, just like with opera mini. That's what speeds up the whole process so much. a 1MB page will be recompressed by the servers to a few dozen kBs, speeding up not only the download but also saving a lot of time the small processor of the PPC would need to render that amount of data.
That's why it's faster than the others, which have to deal with it all. It just can't be compared. And to me a browser that requires the availability of a 3rd party server isn't really a browser.
If only it had text wrap like opera mobile/mini.
kilrah i have to disagree.
opera mini may take slightly longer to load a full page but it renders the whole page, which means zooming, any where fast. in the long run its faster than skyfire beta browsing wise (for now)
All i can tell you is i can do the streaming tv on skyfire and that makes me happy.
I hope they add the "touch flo" like feature to Skyfire. It really is cumbersome to scroll around the page without it. Perhaps, though, it is not possible because skyfire doesn't preload the pages.
Just my thinking.
Having tried opera mini 4.1, opera 9.5 beta, and skyfire beta 1...first of all, O mini is like the kindergarten browser version of opera 9.5 so it's almost not even worth mentioning unless you're looking for the simplest of pics n text browsing. Opera 9.5 is the most fluid, responsive, intuitive, and easy to navigate browser. Then you boot up skyfire; supports every online video and audio codecs, from youtube, redtube, comedy central, fm radio streaming; any websight imaginable; even apple web trailers stream flawlessly. As much as I dig Opera's interface, getting the "this device does not support flash 8", is simply not an obstacle for skyfire, and does something not even the "delivering the real internet" Iphone can do. Hopefully, opera will soon follow suit
I tried Skyfire on my Kaiser, BlackJack II, and Dash. I already stopped using it on all three. I browse mainly mobile friendly sites with my phones so I didn't gain much. But I missed the tabbed browsing which I would have expected from the "greatest browser ever" comments I kept seeing.
I'm a huge fan of Opera Mini and keeping an eye on Torch Mobile's IrisBrowser. If they can make Iris work as smooth as the iPhone's browser, it will be a winner. OperaMobile still seems buggy...
Until then, I'm back to PocketIE and Opera Mini.
-Mc
looks like PocketIE PWNZ!!!
Opera 9.5 + Flash 3.1 = FTW

Throwdown dolphin vs xsope

Xsope is more responsive and swiping between tabs is nice too. I also like the way it fills the screen better but I have to admit: dolphins gesture function for jumping to a site by drawing a letter on the screen rocks. I wish I could combine the two but I'm thinking of keeping both.
Dolphin Browser HD v4.2
Pros:
Screen gestures
Organize bookmarks in folders
Cons:
Once the bookmarks are organized in folders, neither the bookmarks, nor the folders containing them are visible on the Bookmarks Bar. What's the use of organizing them?
Flash panels seem to float above other web page elements and at times these panels appear to cover up some other elements.
When scrolling these Flash panels cover the status bar at the top of the screen.
Tabs are too narrow. It is easy to close a tab when you want to turn over to it.
xScope v6 Trial
Pros:
Speed/responsiveness throughout the browser.
Fewer FCs.
Wider tabs.
Better use of the limited screen space.
Cons:
Cannot organize bookmarks.
Flash stopped working. Still works in the stock browser and in Dolphin Browser HD
No gestures.
I personalty like Opra mini but I have messed with both the others opra has been relyable using it for bout a year an no problems
Sent from my CBW Blaze using XDA App
baric88 said:
I personalty like Opra mini but I have messed with both the others opra has been relyable using it for bout a year an no problems
Sent from my CBW Blaze using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The topic is "Throwdown dolphin vs xsope".
I've tried both, but keep coming back to dolphin, the bookmark organizing and gestures make for a more pleasant experience. Plus on xscope kept having were I would be scrolling and randomly my movements would start zooming instead.
I find this is very much like the old "Netscape and IE" days. I use Dolphin for 95% of my browsing and if it's slow or frustrating I switch to XScope.
Unfortunately, I can't see XScope with my Market hacked to think it's a Galaxy Tab (I do this for Swype keybaord) so I can't update it. ><
I'm partial to Dolphin HD. I never had a problem with it. I tried Xscope a couple of times but I didn't really like it.
Dolphin feels like a more polished experience to me.
For example:
Tab management "feels" more intuitive in Dolphin. The active tab has a close button right on the tab. You have to make other tabs active or longpress them to close, which I'll admit is a little cumbersome (ideally there'd probably be an x on each tab), but it looks and feels better than xScope's tab button, then hunting for the x for each tab's thumbnail (which are overlapped, making it harder to see).
xScope allows you to shrink text pretty much as small as you want. This might be good for a few specific use cases, but I find it preferable for the browser to lock a minimum zoom level like Dolphin.
I will admit that xScope feels quicker than Dolphin but at this point I'd consider it analogous to the initial Chrome browser release. I think it will do well in the future and probably surpass Dolphin and other mobile browsers, but right now it's not something that's enjoyable to use for mainstream (not that this forum is anything near mainstream lol).
I use and love xscope as flash has worked flawlessly for me on everything from hulu, youtube, ch131 and surfthechannel. I love bein able to stream any videos I want on my gtab
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
I didn't care for the swipe to change tabs in xscope because I kept accidentally triggering it. Dolphin lets you map the volume keys as tab switcher, and I much prefer that.
Out of the blue, xScope Flash has suddenly stopped working for some folks and I am one of them. The most bizarre issue is it DID work and there was no update in between it working and not working.
As a result and by default, Dolphin wins. No funky a55 problems like xScope. I bought the app, so I have the right to beeeeeuuch!
ThinkinBig said:
I use and love xscope as flash has worked flawlessly for me on everything from hulu, youtube, ch131 and surfthechannel. I love bein able to stream any videos I want on my gtab
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean, any except for silverlight right? (Stupid xbox preview videos!!!!)
Dolphin works for me
i like Dolphin the best, never had an issue with it myself
Dolphin vs.......
Have used both on both my EVO and G-tablet and find I like Dolphin better, just seems more polished. The only problem that I have with both my EVO and G-tablet is that when I post to Facebook for some reason the keyboard will not display. A minor irritation but can be a little frustrating.
Dolphin is definitely a better experience, less FCs and the flow is much close to Firefox to me. This is only my opinion!
Dolphin HD gets my vote
xScope, a long press let's me download images. Wallpapers of course.
Dolphon wins for me since Flash does NOT work using xScope. Has not for a few months, regardless of xScop or TnT version. Works fine on my Incredible.
Perhaps the goobers at xScope will fix the issue now that more Tegra tablets coming.
I've been using xscope for a few weeks now and love it. Flash didn't work at first, but all I had to do was reinstall flash from the market. Has worked ever since. I love how going back is instant. Dolphin would reload the page which was annoying. I do miss the swipe right to see your bookmarks. Also, if you like dolphin, try miren, its nice.
Yeah xscope has problem with flash from time to time. I think it's an issue with the cache. To solve this clear up the applications cache from androids settings.

Browser Alternative

Here's 2 alternative browser I like and use...
Miren taken from another forum run great on the gtab (will update once installed)
UC is a great browser as well.
+1,000 on Miren. It's my browser of choice for Android devices. You can change the settings to allow you to use every inch of your screens real-estate, plus it's fast and intuitive.
Curious to know what advantages it has on Dolphin HD.
Is the Miren browser compatible with Flash 10.2?
I tried Miren for about an hour but it ran really slow for me. I do like the features and how it renders compared to Dolphin HD. For now speed is my main issue so I'll have to check back on this browser after a few updates and see if it gets better.
I really like Skyfire 3.0. Though I haven't figured out how to close individual tabs yet.
Can someone tell me how to set MIUI for desktop view? All the sites are coming up mobile.
Thanks
EDIT: Switched to the Miren Browser and took care of the problem.

[Q] What browser do you prefer and why?

Hey guys, I was wondering what browser you are using and why you use the one you use. Share your experiences.
Personally I've tried some different browsers and I think Opera Mobile is one of the best, because it scrolls real nice when reading a lot of text like on a forum. It kinda sticks to the text when scrolling up or down. Thereby when you click at a link that's really close to another link, so close you easily make a mistake when clicking, it zooms in real far and marks both links and let you choose one of them.
These options I found really helpfull.
Browsers I've tried so far:
- Mirren Browser
- Dolphin Browser
- Stock Browser
- Opera Mobile
-Boat Browser
->fast and smooth
->html5 support
->desktop view
->flash support by clicking once a symbol on web page, so there you save time, if you don't want to view flash ads
->pinch zoom (not standard on some! See opera)
->tabbed browsing
->text reflow (also not standard on some browsers!)
-Skyfire
-Its quick
-Smooth
-Tabbed browsing
-Pinch to zoom
-Quick links
Ive tried several browsers to include all of the ones you listed, and of them all this one has been my favorite. Although I have not tried the one listed above (Boat) I don't feel the need to try any others as this one for me is perfect.
Stock Browser
Simple !
I would aslo say it has better quality than some other browsers such as, Firfox !
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Stock, all the others are crap.
Sent from my LG-P990
Stock browser is the fastest, you can find tests on google, and none of the other browsers are as fast..
I personally like the new opera mobile 11 browser. In integrates flash nicely and scrolls very smooth through the webpages. I especially like the fast scroll option.
Hm, if there is an option to change the user agent, I can fell in love with the stock browser.
But it can't and some webpages are in mobile Optic. I can't live with mobile optic.
Opera is really good but some webpages looks strange with it. Forums are such sites. I don't know, why the opera websites looks other than normal ones.
koboltzz said:
->pinch zoom (not standard on some! See opera)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
opera has pinch zoom..
tried boat and skyfire, but i still like opera mobile more. it may not be the fastest one around but it has a great user experience imo
Stock browser? Can only show mobile view and forget about:debug settings!
For me, that is no real internet browsing.
Only used stock. However I liked the one on HTC Desire HD better then the one on this phone (LG optimistic 2X) . Wish it comes in a custom ROM soon.
Sent from my LG-P990
Using Boat browser atm, but Opera 11 has been my choice since it came... Never testet flash in Opera, but it may be integrated now(other post here)?
Testet skyfire, xscoope, miren, firefox++ Miren was my favorite on my G2, but 2X somehow lags when trying to switch tabs, so I switched
Stock with AdFree
Sent from my Optimus 2X using XDA Premium App
dolphin hd,is speed
Miren. Really a fantastic browser.
Opera Mobile, mostly because of the great Computer <--> Mobile Phone synchronization.
Operamobile:
best text reflow ever seen
Opera link
doesnt have problem with login pages at wifihotspots like stock one do
seems to run smoother than stock on O2X
unfortunatelly sometimes Im experiencing issues when i want to download something
I tried Mirren and Firefox4.
I'd love to use Firefox 4 but it causes my LG Launcher to crash and makes the phone nearly freeze.
Mirren seems really good, but i don't like the colors.
Using the stock browser most of the time.
I've always used stock on phones - I have a tablet for heavy web stuff and a phone is really just there to quickly visit a specific site or serve a request, not spend any amount of time on it.
FireFox is certainly nice but I just don't need all the things it offers.
The only time I used a non stock browser was on my very old k800i where Opera's proxy make viewing heavy pages much faster.
Nowadays with fast connections and better CPU there's no need for it though.
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA Premium App
I have to say boat browser mini really is the best browser I've tried so far... and I've tried a few: Opera, Dolphin HD, Miren, xScoope, Firefox ++
Boat has html5, flash, pinch to zoom, tabs ++

Best browser for Xoom?

Honestly I prefer the stock browser most of the time but I have issues with it displaying the mobile version of certain websites (I changed the UA String to Deaktop as well as iPad). Firefox and Opera also seem to do this. Dolphin HD has been better but honestly it runs like crap compared to some of the other browsers. Ideally I'd like a browser that runs as smooth as the stock browser but consistently loads desktop versions of webpages. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Try them all is the answer. Really cuz there are not many browsers in the market. I still think the stock browser is just fine. Plus until someone has a better idea than tabbed browsing then I might change my mind.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
downloaded the Miren Browser... works nicely but it does force close when you back out of the app instead of hitting menu/exit
I use both opera mini and opera mobile. they both work great.
Dolphin HD is a lot better now that it doesn't force close every time. I liked the stock browser best but now that they fixed Dolphin, I'm using that one.
I find Opera much faster. Downside is that it doesn't have incognito browsing(I think?), and Flash doesn't work, on XOOM anyway... But some would argue that you wouldn't need incognito because Flash doesn't work anyway.
I like the stock browser, but I find it a little laggy when scrolling through pages with a lot of content. And between Miren, Opera, Dolphin, and stock.. I would say Opera is by far the fastest.
pyee0124 said:
I find Opera much faster. Downside is that it doesn't have incognito browsing(I think?), and Flash doesn't work, on XOOM anyway... But some would argue that you wouldn't need incognito because Flash doesn't work anyway.
I like the stock browser, but I find it a little laggy when scrolling through pages with a lot of content. And between Miren, Opera, Dolphin, and stock.. I would say Opera is by far the fastest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Opera is definitely the fastest, but the greatest down fall is the scrolling.
when trying to read something opera doesn't lock the scrolling so you will never be able to scroll perfectly vertical or horizontal.
If they added that I would never look back at another browser
Also the long press actions on opera are pre 2.3.X so text selection and other things are a pain in the ass
I prefer dolphin. I set it up to view pages like a computer and I get great speed with it. It also uses flash. The stock browser is nice, but you can download the blue color pack and make dolphin blue also. took me a couple days to get use to it. Tabbed browsing and quick access to bookmarks is nice.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
I keep switching between stock and Dolphin. The only issue I have with the stock browser is that it refuses to load the videos on ESPN most of the time. It just loads the pic but will never play the video.
PearlMikeJam said:
I keep switching between stock and Dolphin. The only issue I have with the stock browser is that it refuses to load the videos on ESPN most of the time. It just loads the pic but will never play the video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you on that. ESPN displays video just fine in Dolphin, so I find myself switching back and forth between stock (I love the quick navigation tool) and Dolphin.
I am a fan of the stock browser but after a while it freezes and then force closes . My other fave is Dolphin HD and it doesn't always want to open a new tab when I long click.on a link.
opera mobile has been hands down the best for me, its the only reason i'm keeping the xoom instead of an ipad.
I've tried/used Xscope, stock browser, the latest Dolphin browser and Opera on the Xoom and lack the knowledge to do any factual testing differences.
Since it's all personal preference based on end users experience as well as what he/she downloaded and actually spent time with - My preference leans towards the stock browser but Xscope pro isn't far behind.
It doesn't appear many people use Xscope comparatively speaking (including phones) but it really is a gem and I would encourage people to at least try out the free version.
I'm curious why anyone uses anything besides opera mobile at this point? I've tried all of the browser options and opera renders and scrolls through pages far better than any of the others, they all just seem slow an unrefined in comparison.
I use the Dolphin Lite version of Dolphin browser. Been doing so for a while on my Droid X. On the Xoom I go back in forth with that and stock. I find the lite version does not have all the extra fluff that the HD ver has included.
bleomycin said:
I'm curious why anyone uses anything besides opera mobile at this point? I've tried all of the browser options and opera renders and scrolls through pages far better than any of the others, they all just seem slow an unrefined in comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried Opera but it refuses to load anything but mobile versions of sites. If you can tell me how to get it to show desktop versions like all the other browsers can, I'd be sold
Firefox does the same, and again doesn't seem to have an option to show desktop :-S
Sent from my MZ604 using XDA Premium App
I am actually leaning tordards Dolphin browser HD mainly because I hate having to press "about:debug" every time just to hit desktop.
bleomycin said:
I'm curious why anyone uses anything besides opera mobile at this point? I've tried all of the browser options and opera renders and scrolls through pages far better than any of the others, they all just seem slow an unrefined in comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Flash Support?
-no quick launcher
-loads mobile sites. Not sure how I can modify the UA string.
-embedded videos do not load on certain sites.
tkdkenny81 said:
I tried Opera but it refuses to load anything but mobile versions of sites. If you can tell me how to get it to show desktop versions like all the other browsers can, I'd be sold
Firefox does the same, and again doesn't seem to have an option to show desktop :-S
Sent from my MZ604 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
enter opera:config
You can set the User Agent string under User Preferences. For example: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:2.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0.12011-04-22 22:08:44
el-zilcho said:
My other fave is Dolphin HD and it doesn't always want to open a new tab when I long click.on a link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS ^
I was thinking it was possibly just me, but I often have to do the long click several times for it to take.
On the other hand, I set it to open a link as a new tab by default, and that seems to work.
In any event, I'm somewhat tied to Dolphin because with the addition of the LastPass and XMarks plugins I can keep my bookmarks and passwords synced with my desktop AND still use Flash. So far as I know it's the only browser that can do all of this.

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