Apple iPad....Part III: Other Alternatives of Safari to iPad

This is the article with continuation to the earlier blog Apple iPad.... part II.

Other Alternatives to iPad Browsers:

There are several features which we look in for mobile browsers:

è     Flash Player- To play maximum videos and animations a Flash player is needed. Why Apple has not included flash player ?

è     Search Engine Assumptions- The search Engine in Safari is not as we generally search on the Search Engine. Safari has inbuilt search assumptions which is greatly a nuisance.

è     Full Screen Feature- We generally want to use the browser in full screen mode which gives us a feel in reading cartoon WebPages, articles, magazines, journals etc. Since the screen has also a rotating mode so each time it’s create inconvenience to the user who is busy reading the articles with a feeling.

è     Simultaneous Page Browsing- We want to see two pages on a single screen. It’s just like comparing those two pages on a single screen.

è     Single Touch Tab buttons- In Google Chrome or Firefox when we click on the links of different domains, the link opens in another tab just by clicking on it which allows easier and faster browsing

è     Private Browsing- Suppose, at a time, we opened some transactional bank sites and after browsing we need to delete the history as to keep my account safe. If the browser has Private Browsing or surfing options enabled, we need not delete the browsing history every time.

The other Browsers are as follows:

BROWSER DUO

           

If you want to access two WebPages on one screen .This will be a good alternative. Full screen mode is quite weird. It can’t utilize the whole iPad’s Screen very well. So for Full screen mode this iPad is not to be counted. Private Browsing is also possible.

Cost: $1.99 in App Store

  

 SKYFIRE

     Features:

è    Released recently in December last week for iPad

è    Available in App Store

è    Only browser to allow flash videos.

è    iPad runs on iOS and apple does not allow to run flash videos on iOS.

è    It runs flash on its own server and send flash data back to iPad.

è    For flash lovers a must buy app.

è    Full screen and private browsing features are present

è    Facebook feature is present. Directly go to Facebook by taping a single icon on the bottom.

è    Similary, Google Reader Integration icon is also there to check the newest feed on Google Reader.

è    Can search for favorite WebPages based on no of ‘likes’ on that site.

è    Miss Desktop style tabs

è    Lack of simultaneous browsing

Cost: $4.99 in App Store.

ATOMIC BROWSER

   Features:

è    Full screen mode is perfect in sync with iPad’s screen.

è    Private Browsing .Setting-> Private surfing enable.

è    Opacity of the full screen menu button is also adjusted so that the user can easily navigate from one webpage to other simultaneously.

è    The most important feature of this browser is single touch tab. If the link of other domain is found on the page it will be opened in another page by just one tap.

Setting Page of Atomic Web Browser

è    If you need to open a page in background just as similar to “open in new window” hold on the link for a moment option menu will come click on the option to “open the page in background”.

è    Ad blocking- name itself tells everything

è    Multi-touch gesture support is one of the hot features of Atomic Web. When the browser is in full screen mode, by two finger swiping we can switch to another tab and by three finger swiping we can close the webpage. We can also go backward and forward during full screen mode.

è    All tabs are present below the address bar and switching between tabs are instantaneous.

è    In Page Search Feature.

è    Font Adjustment Feature

è    We can also view the source code of the webpage.

è    Best iPad Browser in App Store.

è    Also works on iPhones.

è    Once you quit the browser, it reloads all your pages again which sometimes create frustration.

è    Problem while displayng java script contents sometimes.

Cost: $0.99

ICAB MOBILE

   Features:

è    Full screen mode is perfect.

è    It also has Desktop  Style Tabs

è    It can open the links in the background with just one tap. The best feature. Probably one step ahead of AtomicWeb. This feature isn’t available in Atomic Web.

è    Private Browsing is possible

è    We can also download through iCabmobiles and then transfer it to our PC or Lappy.

è    Google Language Translation is also one of the features

è    As similar to Atomic Web, Ad Blocking feature is also available in this browser.

è    Single touch tab Feature is similar to Atomic Web.

è    It has ‘Dropbox’ support which will help to download images, files, WebPages and got cloud storage systems.

è    It has recently added a new feature of cloud computing support.

Cost: $1.99

MERCURY WEB BROWSER

   Features:

è    Similar to Desktop Version of Safari

è    Full Screen feature is available and multiple tab loads very quickly.

è    Three options are there for startup-bookmarked, saved tabs and top sites

è    A download manager is also there through which we can download anything from the web.We even save the webpages and images from the webpages.

è    File Sharing, Private Browsing, Passcode Lock, Facebook/Twitter Integration.

è    Adblocks

è    It has scrollbars

è    It crashes frequently

è    Slow on Startup

è    MULTI TOUCH GESTURE SUPPORT
9 gestures are supported.
Default Settings:
-2 finger swipe left: Switch to Previous Tab
-2 finger swipe right: Switch to Next Tab
-2 finger swipe up: Prevous Page
-2 finger swipe down: No Action
-2 finger tap on top: Go to top
-2 finger tap on middle: Control Panel
-2 finger tap on bottom: Go to bottom
-3 finger tap: Close tab

The Mercury Web Browser is the powerful web browser among all. Click For more information on Mercury Web Browser

Other Web Browsers are:

Perfect Browser for iPad 

Life Browser for iPad

LastPass Browser

Frustrations on iPad:

You can’t set any other browsers as the default browser for iPad. As safari is inbuilt in the OS hence it is the default browser for iPad. So when you click on Web Apps in iPad and other apps such as Tweet Desk it will launch in Safari by default.

Solution: Install a bookmarklet in Safari that navigate to AW with your current webpage.

Browser Feature Comparison:

  

	Atomic Browser	iCabMobbile	Browser Duo	SkyFire
Full Screen Mode	Yes	Yes	Yes, but not too well	Yes, but not too well
Single Touch Tabs	Yes	Yes	No	No
Open Tabs in Background	Yes, but needs to hold link and wait for selection.	Yes	No	No
Private Surfing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ad Blocking	Yes	Yes	No	No
Duo Page Browsing	No	No	Yes	No
MultiTouch Gestures	Yes	Not really	No	No
In Page Search	Yes	Yes	No	No
View Source Code	Yes	No	No	No
Download Files	No	Yes	No	No
Easy Translation	No	Yes	No	No
Flash Player	No	No	No	Yes
Facebook direct tap	No	No	No	Yes

   

I will prefer Atomic Web (AW) over all the browsers because of its more powerful features than any other app browsers.Opera Mini is still in picture for iPad. I will give you the review soon as it enters the App Store.

Hope you gained a good browser review on iPad.Waiting for your Comments.

Cheers!!!

Ethan