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Chrome Beta is released for ICS. I just downloaded from the market. Any pro and cons compared to the default browser?
Pros
Faster than default browser
Nice transitions
Easy tab management
Cons
No Arabic/Hebrew support (awkward)
no flash
Pretty much the same with visual enhancements
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
I find they made the zooming a lot better than the stock browser. It has more of a mobile safari feel to it which I think is a good thing. Also, I love the fact that you can get to the open tabs on your desktop chrome.
There are missing things such as the quick control and the URL bar doesn't go away so you can't have full screen. I think it is also missing the feature to request the desktop version of a page also.
mazenimad said:
Pros
Faster than default browser
Nice transitions
Easy tab management
Cons
No Arabic/Hebrew support (awkward)
no flash
Pretty much the same with visual enhancements
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The no flash is defiantly a deal breaker for me, but hey, remember it is free and still in beta!
Also there is no way to change the UAString which means it will always be stuck in "Mobile" until/if they add the ability to change it (All websites will come up in mobile view).
Great info here. I was not aware of the lack of flash, but everyting else seems ok. Since it is just Beta, I am hoping for some great improvements. Browsing is WAY faster!
Cons:
- no flash... Ever
- pages run as mobile with no option to switch to desktop
- no accessibility options ... Can't run pages with inverted Colours
- runs as a service, eating up precious ram
- no chrome extensions - vs. Firefox mobile with plugins, Chrome is pathetic
I have no idea why anyone would use this as a primary browser, considering the stock browser is superior is almost every way.
It is just a Beta release.....
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Hydera5 said:
The no flash is defiantly a deal breaker for me, but hey, remember it is free and still in beta!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash will not ever be coming. So don't hold out for it.
Herman76 said:
It is just a Beta release.....
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Is that how we justify crappy, unfinished software?
The browser is what it is, featureless.
EP2008 said:
Is that how we justify crappy, unfinished software?
The browser is what it is, featureless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beta means that you can't complain for it missing something.
Google likes to "release early and iterate quickly". Which means a lot of things come out as Beta.
Immediately after getting ICS on my TF101, I installed Chrome Beta, it is nice, but as others have already said:
Pro:
- bookmark sync, i just LIKE IT, works same as desktop chrome: start typing url and it will autocomplete from your bookmarks... missed it on old browser.
Con:
- No arabic support (while default browser does support arabic)
- No flash, which i don't need much, i have it disabled on default Browser.
will it ever support extensions? that will be great
EP2008 said:
Is that how we justify crappy, unfinished software?
The browser is what it is, featureless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you're joking..
Nexcellent said:
I hope you're joking..
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Click to collapse
Which part? The way people use the term beta or the fact that there aren't many features?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
I see people didnt bring up the fact that you cant get rid of (at the very least) the status bar like you can with the Google Labs option in the stock ICS browser. Id use Chrome beta every second I was online with my SGN if I could "maximize" the screen.
EP2008 said:
Which part? The way people use the term beta or the fact that there aren't many features?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not questioning features, i'm questioning your expectations of a BETA product and your understanding of what BETA means. It seems to me that you're expecting this to be some magical browser from day one, which it is certainly not - that's why it's a damn BETA!
You guys are not aware of this pro:
It stops redirecting websites, just like desktop browsers. Opera, Dolphin, Firefox, or stock browser doesn't have this.
For me, this is the biggest plus.
When you email yourself or someone else a page using Chrome on your GN? Does it leave the subject blank? It's driving me nuts!
Does anyone know one that works with Jelly Bean? I cant seem to find one Boat Browser worked with ICS but now on JB it just doesnt work anymore...
And i know opera does this, but i really dislike how opera scrolls through pages and how it sometimes doesnt display stuff correctly. So i'd like to avoid that browser
I have checked any other browser trying to find one that reflow like Opera to no avail.
Opera is the only one with auto reflow when you aply/change zoom and this is the reason why I use it since old good WinMo days...
I can't understand browsing without this feature and realy don't find any problem with last Opera version.
Sorry
well i see i guess i have to make due with chrome (does pretty good text alignment so you dont have to zoom at all) until CM10 gets stable, in vanilla android text reflow works with pretty much with every browser...
I guess samsung is coming out with their own browser
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
I love how opera reflows and scrolls.
"Smartphone is no longer a phone"
Sorry to revive this old thread, but based on the above I've been using Opera just because of the text reflow. I really don't like its method for switching between tabs/windows, though. I much prefer the tabs at the top like most other tabbed browsers. So, I've found I keep trying all the others again. Well, I just tried the updated Boat Browser today and found they have now fixed it to do text reflow in JB. It works great! I really like it MUCH better than Opera now. So, any of the rest of you wanting text reflow, might want to give BB a fresh try.
clouds5 said:
Does anyone know one that works with Jelly Bean? I cant seem to find one Boat Browser worked with ICS but now on JB it just doesnt work anymore...
And i know opera does this, but i really dislike how opera scrolls through pages and how it sometimes doesnt display stuff correctly. So i'd like to avoid that browser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dolphin browser, available on the Play store. Works just fine for me and it supports flash, plus a host of plug-in features. l''m on stock Jellybean rom, upgraded from stock ICS.
cees1969 said:
Dolphin browser, available on the Play store. Works just fine for me and it supports flash, plus a host of plug-in features. l''m on stock Jellybean rom, upgraded from stock ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So when you zoom in on text in Dolphin it is reflowing (wrapping) the enlarged text for you so you dont have to scroll left-right? Just want to ensure you mean the same thing because I'm on stock JB as well and Dolphin Browser sure isn't doing that reflow for me. I like Dolphin otherwise, so if it could do this I'd be happy with it, but unfortunatly it doesn't.
why you don´t use stock browser?
it has an option to do that what you want.
I am currently using boat browser without any issues. Try it, they might have fixed it in latest update.
xerex.exe said:
why you don´t use stock browser?
it has an option to do that what you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How? There is an "autofit" in the stick browser, but that just zooms to the full page. I don't believe it does text reflow.
_ray_ said:
I am currently using boat browser without any issues. Try it, they might have fixed it in latest update.
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Click to collapse
Uh, yes you are correct -as I noted a couple posts back.
JRRinNC said:
So when you zoom in on text in Dolphin it is reflowing (wrapping) the enlarged text for you so you dont have to scroll left-right? Just want to ensure you mean the same thing because I'm on stock JB as well and Dolphin Browser sure isn't doing that reflow for me. I like Dolphin otherwise, so if it could do this I'd be happy with it, but unfortunatly it doesn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, when I zoom in on text, the enlarged text is wrapped and I can read without having to pan left or right. I have Dolphin Browser v9.0.1 (with Jetpack v1.0.1).. The user agent is set to desktop.
cees1969 said:
Yes, when I zoom in on text, the enlarged text is wrapped and I can read without having to pan left or right. I have Dolphin Browser v9.0.1 (with Jetpack v1.0.1).. The user agent is set to desktop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool! I hadn't heard of Dolpin Jetpack before. It does NOT reflow with just Dolphin, but I just installed Jetpack and sure enough that makes it reflow. Thanks for suggesting that!
Hmm, now to decide which is my new favorite - Dolphin or Boat...
cees1969 said:
Yes, when I zoom in on text, the enlarged text is wrapped and I can read without having to pan left or right. I have Dolphin Browser v9.0.1 (with Jetpack v1.0.1).. The user agent is set to desktop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice hint - I can confirm that with the given versions it used to work (even with the user agent set to Android rather than Dolphin), but at least since Dolphin 9.2.0 with Jetpack 2.0 it does not work anymore.
This is the aosp browser with working text reflow
Just remove the stock browser then reboot and install this as a normal app (Not system app)
For the text to reflow zoom and then double tap on the text
latest firefox has text reflow feature
ddvo said:
Nice hint - I can confirm that with the given versions it used to work (even with the user agent set to Android rather than Dolphin), but at least since Dolphin 9.2.0 with Jetpack 2.0 it does not work anymore.
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Click to collapse
True. I foolishly auto updated to the latest version of Dolphin Browser and lost that feature (as well Flash support). Unistalled it thereafter and am now using Boat Browser. No complaints with Boat Browser so far.
Aly2ma said:
This is the aosp browser with working text reflow
Just remove the stock browser then reboot and install this as a normal app (Not system app)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it out, but this browser does not provide text reflow (on my Samsung Galaxy Note2 running Android 4.1.1) either
I did select "Auto-fit pages" in the advanced settings and did try double-tapping as you wrote in your next post, but with no luck.
cees1969 said:
True. I foolishly auto updated to the latest version of Dolphin Browser and lost that feature (as well Flash support). Unistalled it thereafter and am now using Boat Browser. No complaints with Boat Browser so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that text reflow works with Boat Browser (after enabling the "Text wrapping" option in its settings).
In case anyone else also likes to revert Dolphin to version 9.0.3 and Jetpack 1.0.2 (the last versions with which I found reflow to work),
I attach the former as apk file, while attaching the latter apk file did not work for some technical reasons - even after zipping the file
to some 11.4 MB, I always get a strange error: "Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing".
Thus I now offer both for download at http://David.von-Oheimb.de/perlen/Android/Apps.html
I keep switching between chrome, dolphin and the stock from 4.1......is it my imagination or is chrome still 3rd choice? It just seems so unintuitive to use. Are you guys switching to chrome or staying with one of the other browsers?
I think chrome is better than the default browser... but android beam still does not work with this app!
I love some of the Chrome features life the lateral-swipe to switch tabs and the zoom bubble that appears if you click in a small link, but I hate how it handles the bookmarks. We can't have everything, I guess :\
I use Chrome because it syncs with my desktop browser, but the Android browser is a lot smoother. Chrome stutters all the time when I scroll and often ignores input while it stutters, but I have a hard time getting the Android browser to stutter at all.
If you don't need the synchronization with your desktop, Android browser is still the better choice.
is it possible to have ALWAYS desktop version of a site without requesting it every time???
Thanks for the replies.....I keep expecting chrome to be the beez kneez but it always seems lackluster/less friendly than the android version. I dont know why, but after sandy when signals were extremely weak or non existent in my area, dolphin performed the best on a gnex (vzw) 4.1.2 and on an old droid 3
stock 4.2 browser is the best.
qandrav said:
is it possible to have ALWAYS desktop version of a site without requesting it every time???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you can do this in the stock browser under settings->advanced->user agent->desktop. No equivalent option in chrome that I know of.
thegtfusion said:
stock 4.2 browser is the best.
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Click to collapse
glad you like it. the goog powers that be are probably glad too
Ive been trying to use it all day but its not working for me....a shame because i feel like im cheating on google when i use the other browsers haha
I think as long as they dont add the "quick controls" to chrome, the android browser will always have the lead. those controls are incredibly useful for one hand operation, and really anything involving the search bar at the top. no need to move the thumb up there(which is annoying on big screens), just press the side and swype to the url control and bam! and now with "swype" on the keyboard, its actually getting pretty nice having a big screen but only using one hand
thegtfusion said:
stock 4.2 browser is the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think there's a bug when refreshing the page if you are using quick control. there'll be a black block on top.
JoeSyr said:
I believe you can do this in the stock browser under settings->advanced->user agent->desktop. No equivalent option in chrome that I know of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the stock or opera or dolphin it's possible but it's very annoing click on "desktop version" every time....
qandrav said:
On the stock or opera or dolphin it's possible but it's very annoing click on "desktop version" every time....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't seem to find the option (user agent) on stock browser... Do you know where I can find it?
There are 2 things keeping mé away from chrome and that is:
-Quick controls
-full screen mode
Stock browser is also smoother IMO...
Torbennmadsen said:
There are 2 things keeping mé away from chrome and that is:
-Quick controls
-full screen mode
Stock browser is also smoother IMO...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It most definitely IS more smooth...
I use Google Chrome on PC, and it gets synced up very conveniently with Google Chrome on my Gnex, so I tend to stick with Chrome.
gideonMorrison said:
I can't seem to find the option (user agent) on stock browser... Do you know where I can find it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could not find the user agent on stock browser either. Yakju version. Just updated to 4.2.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
i use to like Dolphin browser but Chrome kinda feels solid. I have Dolphin browser with Jetpack on N7 and it indeed loads pages faster then chrome. They've recently added magnifier like in chrome it's still needs a little bit of optimization.
The stock 4.2 browser is faster and more fluid than chrome. Chrome is better in handling all kind of online forms.
I love stock browser but I want to give chrome browser a whirl. However, how do you guys adjust the font for chrome where it is readable? There are some fonts on the page which are perfect for viewing and at the same time , other parts of the page, the fonts are so small. Why can't all the fonts be near or equal on the same page like stock browser.
Looking for a browser that displays "all" web pages properly, plays flash and html5 like it should. A test page in particular: http://realtour.biz/modules/stats/listing/?P=113963
This is a random reality listing that I can't get to display in Boat, Xscope or Chrome on my N7, but looks fine on a PC in any browser.
Once I get home, I'll try out the website in "Dolphin Browser". It normally seems to work great for Flash sites.
If you can't wait til I get home, then just try downloading it and give your feedback.
It's the best browser IMO.
Works & runs fine (with Flash) in Naked Browser . I've never seen a browser work like the stock ICS browser + no UI. It's just fast - plain & simple. No syncing of bookmarks tho so if that's a deal breaker, that one isn't for you. I use it across all my higher end devices & never have an issue. It's stable on my N7 & Galaxy Nexus. It supports flash just fine, too.
I just tried Naked. Looks sweet, but crashes on that page. The page opens with 3 down arrows (for flash), click flash and blank colors show up, then browser crashes. Should get a bunch of stats in the 3 boxes. Got a particular setting that works?
webmastir said:
Works & runs fine (with Flash) in Naked Browser . I've never seen a browser work like the stock ICS browser + no UI. It's just fast - plain & simple. No syncing of bookmarks tho so if that's a deal breaker, that one isn't for you. I use it across all my higher end devices & never have an issue. It's stable on my N7 & Galaxy Nexus. It supports flash just fine, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange. You have the latest flash apk from Adobe's website, right?
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/installers/archive/android/11.1.115.34/install_flash_player_ics.apk
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html
I have Flash Player 11.1.for Android 4.0 (11.1.115.34). It also crashes as soon as I click any flash start arrow. Just tried one on Amazon, and got the "isn't responding do you want to exit" message.
edit: For the heck of it I installed the apk in your 1st link, it is also .34. Naked also crashed, but I tried it in Boat again and it opened fine... but then crashed after a few seconds. The flash on Amazon site (and most other sites) run fine in Boat.
webmastir said:
Strange. You have the latest flash apk from Adobe's website, right?
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/installers/archive/android/11.1.115.34/install_flash_player_ics.apk
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tcat007 said:
I have Flash Player 11.1.for Android 4.0 (11.1.115.34). It also crashes as soon as I click any flash start arrow. Just tried one on Amazon, and got the "isn't responding do you want to exit" message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shi t. Ya you're right. You know what...I stupidly tried it (in Naked Browse) on my Galaxy nexus - not Nexus 7. Doh.
Ya it crashes for me too. However, it does work fine in Firefox Beta for my Nexus 7
I was hoping it didn't work in FF... I was using it, but is slower than Boat (or Naked), and I uninstalled it the other day. I think I'll stick with Boat (although will keep playing with Naked).
Has anyone from the Google Android team ever addressed why Chrome functions so poorly compared to the other Android browsers? You'd think Google could get their own browser in their own OS performing at least on par with other browsers.
I actually think Chrome functions well other than the fact it doesn't support Flash, and tends to "block pixelate" when scrolling sometimes. If it had Flash, it's all I'd have on my N7.
Premium Plus said:
Has anyone from the Google Android team ever addressed why Chrome functions so poorly compared to the other Android browsers? You'd think Google could get their own browser in their own OS performing at least on par with other browsers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tcat007 said:
I actually think Chrome functions well other than the fact it doesn't support Flash, and tends to "block pixelate" when scrolling sometimes. If it had Flash, it's all I'd have on my N7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could do with text-reflow.
Try puffin browser
I got the site open.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
The site doesn't crash my devices. I should have access to a Nexus 7 after Christmas so I'll see if I can fix it in Naked Browser (I wrote that app).
I'm really liking Naked! It's fast. And speaking of browsers, I decided to uninstall Chrome updates and its file size went from 45mb to 3mb! (had no cache or history to start); but even after adding some bookmarks and history to Naked, it's only 750k.
Works like a charm with Aurora (Firefox alpha cycle).
I have zero use for flash so chrome is perfect for me. I'm not sure what the complaints are about. Its fast stable and ...well what else is there?
---------- Post added at 09:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------
Premium Plus said:
Has anyone from the Google Android team ever addressed why Chrome functions so poorly compared to the other Android browsers? You'd think Google could get their own browser in their own OS performing at least on par with other browsers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not on a par with other browsers its considerably better.
With the flash caveat of course but that's not really their fault.
jarayn said:
I have zero use for flash so chrome is perfect for me. I'm not sure what the complaints are about. Its fast stable and ...well what else is there?
---------- Post added at 09:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------
Its not on a par with other browsers its considerably better.
With the flash caveat of course but that's not really their fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could do with text-reflow.
alternative browser
Try Puffin Browser; its fast, plays flash and user friendly
freebsd124 said:
Try Puffin Browser; its fast, plays flash and user friendly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Puffin sends all of your data through their servers and requires the "Phone state & identity" permission so I wouldn't use it.
Is anyone else have problems when scrolling web pages? My phone laggs pretty much in browser. Sometimes less, sometimes more. Problem can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jttoOoC8k_Q#t=00m07s
Loaded page is http://m.monitor.hr, browser is android default browser (but same problem exists in Chrome).
it is probably a lot of advertisment content inside
in my G4 is same as you - laggy
Yeh, I've had lots of problems using chrome on some web pages. Seems to be advertising.
I'm now using Opera, which runs smoother for me.
@johnny8910
if you rooted already you can use adaway app
which is adblock - very pleasant function to me
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95916177934553157
It's totally smooth here using UCBrowser (rooted + adblocked of course) :good:
It's driving me crazy, especially because I'm using desktop browse agent. I desperately need root+adblock, tried the adblock plus without root solution didn't work well.
Tried that page on mine. it's as smooth as silk with no lag at all.
the_scotsman said:
Tried that page on mine. it's as smooth as silk with no lag at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you stock or rooted + adblock ?
nowy57 said:
are you stock or rooted + adblock ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock - I use Nova launcher, but tried stock launcher too, just to be sure. It's all smooth.
nowy57 said:
@johnny8910
if you rooted already you can use adaway app
which is adblock - very pleasant function to me
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95916177934553157
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
I have it installed and updated, but still get some issues.
Thanks for you replies guys.
It is true that page on video is loaded with adds, but by my old Samsung Galaxy S4 scrolls it without problems same as my 7" Alcatel tablet bought for less than 40€.
From your replies it seems that some of us have this issue and some not. I'm considering to ask for a replacement unit because I tried other unit in T-Mobile center and that one didn't have problems with laggy scrolling.
Will try to do a factory reset and test it again (shame because of lost time for settting it up).
Hard reset did not solve the problem I think I will try to get replacement tomorrow.
tomtomhr said:
Hard reset did not solve the problem I think I will try to get replacement tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard some of tmobile users has update (non europen yet)
it improve respons system ui and battery as well
wait for returnI think
nowy57 said:
I heard some of tmobile users has update (non europen yet)
it improve respons system ui and battery as well
wait for returnI think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will wait few days for update. Tried to update it yesterday but already on latest version.
Sorry to necro this thread, but this link might help.
I can't post links, so just Google "10 speed hacks to make chrome faster"
Basically,
You can use chrome flags to give chrome access to more memory and other thing thing that help chrome scroll smoother. Just got the lg g4 and giving chrome 512 memory seemed to help.
Firefox is laggy in scrolling, also when rooted and adaway installed. Opera or Chromium is very smooth on my G4...