7 Browsers That Are Better Than The Native Android Browser

The very first application I used when I first received my Asus Prime tablet running Android ICS was the native browser. I wanted to see what sort of features the latest native browser had these days.
While I wasn’t horribly disappointed with the browser, I wasn’t terribly excited about it either. I mean, it had all of the basic features you expect from a decent browser these days – tabbed  browsing, bookmarking and favorites, and easy navigation.  Unfortunately it lacked anything particularly notable – and these days, when I browse I really like to have access to some of the latest available features like voice search, gestures, and a very fast browsing experience.
So I set out to get a handle on the latest available Android web browsers out there that are better than the native ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) Android browser. Some of the apps that made it to the top of this list have been covered here at MUO, and for very good reason. Over time, they’ve clearly become the leaders of the pack – the best of the best when it comes to a fully-functional mobile browser.
I am pleased to announce the 7 best Android web browsers to make your mobile browsing experience as awesome as possible, especially if you are browsing with a full-screen Android tablet.

The 7 Best Android Browsers

The native ICS browser is very straightforward. When you launch it, you’ll see the multiple tabs, bookmark, search and favorites icons easily accessible, and the settings menu up in the right side of the browser, where you can quickly enable or disable desktop or mobile browsing. When I’m on my tablet, while I used the native browser, I always just kept desktop browsing turned on.

Since I usually did my browsing on a Wi-Fi network, data transfer volume wasn’t an issue, and neither was network bandwidth.

The bookmarks page on the ICS native browser is alright – a full page of icons featuring all of your saved bookmarks. You’ll see a similar page for your browsing history and any “saved pages” for offline reading.

Those are good features and it’s really a decent browser for anyone that just wants a standard browser, but if you’re looking for a bit of an increase in performance and some cool features that you’re used to with the usual desktop browsers enjoy – like Chrome or Firefox – then you’ll want to install a new browser.

Chrome

If you’re a regular user of Chrome on your desktop or laptop, you’ll be glad to know that Chrome is now available for Android devices. When I first tried it on the Prime tablet, it was listed as Chrome beta, but now it’s a full, active version of Chrome.
It has the look and feel that you’ve come to expect from one of the greatest browsers on Earth – easy tabbed browsing, voice search with a tab in the URL bar on the mic icon, and quick access to settings, incognito (private) browsing and more from the dropdown menu on the right.

From my very basic and brief tests, which involved loading large sites like CNN and other news sites with the browser, I noticed that this mobile version of Chrome is very fast – it definitely outperforms the native browser by far.

Firefox

As of the time of this writing, you can get Firefox in the Play Store, but there is also a Firefox Beta available. That’s the one I tested out, and I have to say I really liked it a lot. I am now torn between using mobile Chrome or mobile Firefox on my Android tablet on a regular basis. I don’t quite like the odd way that Firefox handles the tabbed browsing, but I do like performance and how Firefox has migrated to the same basic setup as Chrome, with quick menu access off on the right.

Built-in “Save as PDF” is kind of slick, and the ability to quickly “Request Desktop Site” is nice too, especially with a tablet. Like I mentioned above, tabbed browsing is a little odd, with tabs listed off to a pane on the left which you can quickly open and close.

I think the developers tried this as a way to conserve vertical real estate on the screen, but I kind of prefer tabs at the top and really don’t think they take up enough space to warrant this left approach. On the flip side, a nice thing about the left pane is that you can see a preview icon of all open tabs.

Maxthon

A surprising leader on this list is the Maxthon browser. Jessica recently reviewed this great browser and gave it high marks.  You can download either the standard Maxthon browser or the tablet version. I definitely wanted to see what the tablet version had to offer, and I was really surprised. I love the clean design, with quick tabs at the top, and a clean design that easily rivals Chrome.

A few unique features that Maxthon offers above the other browsers includes a “night-reading” mode that you can enable from the right drop-down menu. You can adjust the brightness of the screen so that the screen is very easy to read in a dark room, without burning the hell out of your eyes in the process. I absolutely love this feature, especially for reading in bed without disturbing anyone else in the room.

Much like Chrome and Firefox, you get a nice “new-tab” page which is customizable with the links that you want to add for quick access to your favorite pages.

So, after trying Maxthon – which also had great performance as far as speed goes – I was torn between the three browsers, Firefox, Chrome and Maxthon. The ability to do custom gestures is wicked cool, and has me leaning more toward Maxthon each time I use it.

Skyfire

Skyfire is a little bit unique, with a slightly different style than most browsers. The URL bar is right at the very top of the page and the way it behaves takes a little bit of getting used to, because the way tabs and navigation is, it is just a little different than standard browsers
Of course, having a tablet where I’m not always on a Wi-Fi network and sometimes do want to use only the mobile version of pages, I love the ability to tap the Android/Desktop icon and switch that setting instantly with a tap of the finger.

As I mentioned, the way the browser handles tabs is a little weird – with the number of tabs displayed inside the tabs icon. When you tap the tabs icon with your finger, it opens up a ribbon that displays all of your currently open tabs, or you can open a new tab by tapping the “+” sign.

Page load speed is very fast, so this browser gets really high ranks for speed, but I would only recommend it to people that are looking for some kind of change from the look and feel of typical browsers like Chrome and Firefox. It definitely outperforms the native Android browser.

Dolphin

Another browser that I tested because I’d heard great things about it from Bakari was the Dolphin browser. Dolphin is another browser with a simple, easy to use interface but it also offers plenty of features to get it on this list.

Aside from your usual browser features, you can quickly tap the little dolphin icon in the lower left corner to get instant access to the “Sonar” or gesture features. Gesture settings let you define URLs directly to custom gestures that you create.

Sonar has a voice search feature where you can just say a word or website and the browser will take you there. This is of course very similar to the Chrome browser, except I like the fact that you can access both features quickly from the same page.

The only drawbacks I could find about Dolphin was that it seemed to load pages more slowly, and I couldn’t find anywhere to switch my page view from mobile to desktop – a feature that is a must-have for me. However, for anyone looking for a good browser for an Android smartphone, this is a viable option over the native browser.

Puffin Free

I never thought I’d be recommending a browser called “puffin”, but I have to say, don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t just some cheap, cutsie web browser. It is a mobile browser that easily gives big players like Chrome and Maxthon a run for their money.
Just take a look at the quick keyboard and mouse apps at each corner of the display that give you the ability to use the sort of mouse features and keyboard functions you need to have on some websites, that can be kind of difficult to manage from other browsers.

Need to click on a field that your touchscreen won’t let you select? Enable the mouse and click away. Can’t manage to highlight and copy text on the page with your other browsers? Not to worry, Puffing gives you the ability to copy and paste text with the keyboard function. Very nice.
There is also a form of gestures for some features in Puffin. For example, dragging three fingers up or down will drag the page. Squeezing three fingers together or apart will zoom in or zoom out. And the coolest feature of all is when you long-press two fingers on the screen.
This enables the “screenshot” mode, where you can crop a section of the browser display, and then save the image to your device, or share it with friends on your favorite social networks.

That is a really cool feature, and provides big bonus points to the Puffin browser in this list of native browser alternatives.

Opera Mobile

Of course, no list of the top mobile browsers would be complete without a mention of the Opera browser. I’ve never been much of an Opera fan for the desktop, but a quick run with the Opera browser on the tablet makes it clear that the mobile browser stands head and shoulders above most others.
It also has a clean interface that is a bit unique from Chrome or Firefox, and the tabbed button shows you thumbnail previews of those tabs that are bigger than other browsers out there.

The new-tab page offers big, clear thumbnails of your customized page links.

And my favorite feature is the fact that the menu of settings and features is on the upper left rather than way off to the right side, as it is in most other mobile browsers. Additionally, the menu is organized with graphical buttons rather than just a dry text list. As you can see you get quick access to bookmarks, history, saved pages, recent downloads and even a “find in page” search feature not all mobile browsers offer.

Hopefully, this is a comprehensive enough list. I think it’s clear that most of the usually top-hitters still make the list, but there are clearly a few other not-so-well-known Android web browsers out there that are putting in a great effort. I am seriously considering Maxthon my mobile browser of choice, so long as it can easily load all of my favorite web pages – not the least of which is MakeUseOf.
So, are any of these mobile browsers your favorite replacements for the native Android browser? Do you have any others that are at the top of your list? Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below!
Image Credit: hand pressing mobile via Shutterstock

Create Quick Beautiful Multi-Page Apps With Yapp

If you agree that Apple and Android mobile devices are aesthetically stylish and appealing, you will probably want to develop your own attractive mobile app without having to learn complicated coding and graphic design.
If you would like to send stylish invitations for say a wedding, birthday party, book club meeting, fundraiser, etc, a new online and mobile (Apple and Android) application and service called Yapp may be of interest to you. Yapp allows you to create stylish and flexible multipage micro-websites, or apps, in the form of invitations, announcements, and similar content.

How It Works

In order to get started with Yapp, you need to register with a Facebook account (at this point the site doesn’t seem to offer alternative ways to register).

To create a Yapp mobile app, you select from one of over 20 beautifully designed themes — including the Fall artistic Maple, Halloween Moon, Postmarked, and Cosmopolitan Lights. Each theme addresses a different occasion for say weddings, conferences, sports teams, college events, retreats, art openings, etc.

Each theme allows you to include your own custom photo or logo, as well as content information. Next, you develop your app in the Yapp editor, which allows you to create an invitation and schedule page for your event, a newsfeed link back to your website for event updates, and a gallery of photos.


You can add as many additional pages as you like, including People and simple text pages. People pages consists of individual contact information that can include a profile photo.

At any point in the process, you can quickly change to a different theme, and when you’re ready, simply click the Publish button, and Yapp will create your app and assign it a unique ID for sharing.

Viewing Yapp Apps

Yapp apps are essentially mobile website pages that are to be viewed of course in mobile devices. So each app is assigned a unique ID, and when recipients tap on the URL they are directed to download the respective iPhone or Android Yapp app to view received invitations. Each Yapp can be shared publicly as a tweet or Facebook post, or privately to a small group.
Additionally, each invitation is an assigned a QR code which can be posted on a website, paper literature, a poster, etc.

You can send multiple Yapp invitations via email or text message, from either your online or mobile Yapp account. Fortunately, all Yapp invitations are kept within the Yapp app where users can view a schedule of events, view photos, as well as access other information. Unlike websites, Yapp invitations can be viewed offline, as well as send push alerts on mobile devices.

For $5 per app, you can customize the app ID and URL to fit your own website or the name of the event.

The Yapp mobile apps allow users to also create invitations from within the mobile version itself, using the same process as in the online editor.
What’s cool about Yapp is that it requires no prior skills, except the ability to type and add a photo. Yapp apps are similar to the easy-to-use Stationery themes for Apple’s default Mail program.
Let us know what you think about Yapp and how you plan to use it. Also, are there features you would like to see added?

Samsung PC Studio 7.2.24.9

54.3 MB / Windows 2K / XP / 2003 / Vista / 7 / 7 x64

click here to download

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Allows you to manage your Samsung mobile phone data. Written by Bogdan Popa on January 31st, 2012 Samsung is one of the top 5 mobile phone manufactures in the world. It sold 235 million handsets in 2009 and 280 million in 2010. Rest assured that not all of these mobile phones are smartphones and, as any respectable manufacturer, Samsung has developed management applications for users owning GSM mobile phones. No matter if you want to synchronize contacts, calendar items or emails, transfer files or back up your data and even create and send text messages, Samsung PC Studio is the official program to use. It supports synchronization with most email clients out there, including Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes and Lotus Organizer, so it allows you to easily transfer your contacts between mobile phone and computer. Samsung PC Studio is also a great and handy tool if you intend to install Java or Symbian apps on your phone. Just drag and drop the file you wish to copy on your handset and you’re ready to go. You can also rip audio CDs, create music files and copy music files directly on your mobile phone within a few clicks. Unfortunately, the interface lacks the ease-of-use by laying icons in front of your eyes with no descriptive text. That expands the time span needed to get familiar with the application and this brings nothing but frustration from the user's point of view. All functions are also listed under the “File” menu, but still, this isn’t the best interface a phone manager could receive. Just like many other mobile phone suites out there, Samsung’s lets you connect the device to your PC using an USB cable, an infrared port, Bluetooth or a serial cable. You can easily create backups of your phone's data for safe keeping or to transfer it to another phone, connect your PC to the Internet using your handset, play and convert multimedia files and also create wallpapers for your Samsung phone. Samsung PC Studio's Settings window refer to `Automatic conversion options` and Audio / Video conversion formats. You can choose from AAC and M4A as the default audio format and High / Medium or Low quality MP4 container files for the video side. While not being the perfect app overall, Samsung PC Studio takes the edge off its competitors by providing the complete set of tools needed for the job. Nonetheless, if you are the owner of a Samsung GSM mobile phone, then this is a must-have.

Samsung PC Studio description

Here are some key features of "Samsung PC Studio": Connection manager: · Allows you to select the connection type for PC to Phone connection. · The connection types: USB, Bluetooth, Infrared or Serial. Manage messages: · Manage short messages and multimedia messages. Manage contacts and more: · Allows you to retrieve personal information saved in the Phone, such as phonebook and organizer and to add new data or delete and edit the saved data. Synchronize: · Allows you to synchronize personal information data saved in the Phone and the data saved in the PC's personal information management program. Transfer files: · Allows you to browse multimedia files saved in the Phone in the windows browser and to download files or to upload PC files to the Phone. Manage internet connections: · Allows you to access the Internet using the connected Phone as a modem device. Compose multimedia messages: · Compose your own multimedia message and send through your phone. Drag & Drop: · All the selected contents can be easily transferred among widgets and icons on the screen by Drag & Drop Easy Start: · Easy Start runs automatically when a mobile phone is connected to New PC Studio. · It helps you step-by-step transfer or synchronize content among PC and mobile phone. Update music information: · Update various music information like artist, genre, Review and etc. on Media Manager widget. Share content on the web site (To Web): · Post content of photos and videos to the web sites such as Flickr and YouTube by Drag&Drop. Requirements: · CPU : Pentium 600 MHz processor or higher (recommended) · Minimum memory(RAM)size : 512MB · Free hard drive space : 200MB · Connection methods : USB cable or Bluetooth

 

Nokia PC Suite 7.1.180.94

38.7 MB / Windows 2K / XP / 2003 / Vista / XP X64 / Vista64 / 7 / 7 x64

 click here to Download

Free application for Nokia phones that lets you edit, synchronize and back up many of your phone's files Written by Bogdan Popa on January 16th, 2012 Nokia PC Suite is an application designed to enable Nokia phone owners to transfer important files from the mobile phone to the computer and vice versa, but also to control some of the handheld's features straight from the desktop. The tool is supposed to provide some new functions to those who purchased a Nokia phone, including editing, backing up and synchronizing the files. Nokia PC Suite pretty much does that, as it is an easy to use application with a very pleasant and intuitive interface you should become accustomed with in a matter of minutes. All functions can be accessed from the main interface, as soon as the phone is successfully connected to the computer. There are four connectivity options available: Bluetooth, infrared, serial cable (CA-42) and USB cable, with the last one being the fastest. At times, some connection problems may occur while trying to pair the mobile phone and the computer. Also file transfer or other functions of the application could become unavailable. If this occurs, your should disconnect the devices and try to establish a new connection. The messaging function of Nokia PC Suite comes in quite handy since it allows you to write an SMS message on you computer and send it to someone in the address book. However, note that the message is not automatically transferred to the phone's “Sent” menu. The synchronization and backup features enable you to keep the important content stored on your Nokia phone safe and ready for a quick restore. You can sync notes, contacts and calendar and thus keep them up to date on both computer and mobile device. Another very useful function you will find in Nokia PC Suite is the video viewing and conversion. You can use it to turn any movie into the video format supported by your Nokia phone. Bundling a lot of powerful functions that allow you to effortlessly control and manage the content on your mobile phone, Nokia PC Suite offers a pleasant experience overall.

Nokia PC Suite description

Here are some key features of "Nokia PC Suite": · Back up and restore phone files · Transfer information, pictures, and music from phone to phone or phone to PC · Synchronize your phone and PC calendars · Edit contacts, pictures, and phone file names · Install Java-based applications in your phone · Convert ringing tone formats · Play multimedia messages and videos · Send text messages from the PC · Connect by using your phone as a modem Requirements: · Nokia Mobile Phone connected to your PC · Available hard disk space: At least 300 MB of free disk space · Connection methods: USB cable, infrared (IrDA), or Bluetooth What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ] · Windows 7 support · Stability fixes

Nokia PC Suite 7.1.180.94

Free application for Nokia phones that lets you edit, synchronize and back up many of your phone's files Click here to Download Written by Bogdan Popa on January 16th, 2012 Nokia PC Suite is an application designed to enable Nokia phone owners to transfer important files from the mobile phone to the computer and vice versa, but also to control some of the handheld's features straight from the desktop. The tool is supposed to provide some new functions to those who purchased a Nokia phone, including editing, backing up and synchronizing the files. Nokia PC Suite pretty much does that, as it is an easy to use application with a very pleasant and intuitive interface you should become accustomed with in a matter of minutes. All functions can be accessed from the main interface, as soon as the phone is successfully connected to the computer. There are four connectivity options available: Bluetooth, infrared, serial cable (CA-42) and USB cable, with the last one being the fastest. At times, some connection problems may occur while trying to pair the mobile phone and the computer. Also file transfer or other functions of the application could become unavailable. If this occurs, your should disconnect the devices and try to establish a new connection. The messaging function of Nokia PC Suite comes in quite handy since it allows you to write an SMS message on you computer and send it to someone in the address book. However, note that the message is not automatically transferred to the phone's “Sent” menu. The synchronization and backup features enable you to keep the important content stored on your Nokia phone safe and ready for a quick restore. You can sync notes, contacts and calendar and thus keep them up to date on both computer and mobile device. Another very useful function you will find in Nokia PC Suite is the video viewing and conversion. You can use it to turn any movie into the video format supported by your Nokia phone. Bundling a lot of powerful functions that allow you to effortlessly control and manage the content on your mobile phone, Nokia PC Suite offers a pleasant experience overall.

Nokia PC Suite description

Here are some key features of "Nokia PC Suite": · Back up and restore phone files · Transfer information, pictures, and music from phone to phone or phone to PC · Synchronize your phone and PC calendars · Edit contacts, pictures, and phone file names · Install Java-based applications in your phone · Convert ringing tone formats · Play multimedia messages and videos · Send text messages from the PC · Connect by using your phone as a modem Requirements: · Nokia Mobile Phone connected to your PC · Available hard disk space: At least 300 MB of free disk space · Connection methods: USB cable, infrared (IrDA), or Bluetooth What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ] · Windows 7 support · Stability fixes