View Full Version : What is your main mobile browser?
silvermountain
2010-05-14, 16:47
With so many browser options now for both legacy devices and the shiny N900 I'm curious as to what browser is the most popular.
So, even though you may well use a number of browsers - which one is your main/go-to browser at this time?
qwerty12
2010-05-14, 16:48
Tear. It's unstable as ****, but I love its speed so much, I have no problems with doing a "rm -rf ~/.tear"
Tear.
May be Opera in the future, but now it is Tear.
Firefox or MicroB are my most used browsers. Sometimes Chrome as it is the best one at playing my favorite game visual-utopia. Tried both Tear and Midori but both don't even come close to my needs.
I want to like Firefox on the N810 so badly, but it seems unusably slow. I assume it's fine on the N900 with the faster processor. I like Tear b/c it's fast & straightforward & I've learned to work around its nastiest bugs (Diablo):
Don't hit DPad left in an edit box
Don't go to a page with a lot of Flash
Close it down & re-open it every so often (does it have memory leaks?)
After hold-tapping to open a link in another window, tap in a neutral area to allow it to jerk before doing anything else
That's all I can think of. I'm trying out Opera Mobile, though.
Tear. It's unstable as ****, but I love its speed so much, I have no problems with doing a "rm -rf ~/.tear"
Qwerty, what's the purpose of this command?
mathiasp
2010-05-14, 17:37
MicroB/ N900.
Supports my browsing style of opening many pages from one (search, index) site best.
I love the overview the taskmanager and MicroB give for 12-16 pages. Much better than the tab solutions on this tiny screen, for me.
GameboyRMH
2010-05-14, 17:44
MicroB on the N900, w/ Flashblock of course :cool:
On all my PCs it's Firefox 3.6.
Currently MicroB does everything I need and does it well. I did not like Firefox which surprised me because I love it for the desktop.
On my last phone I used Opera mobile exclusively and think I am going to try it for N900.
MicroB on the N900, w/ Flashblock of course :cool:
On all my PCs it's Firefox 3.6.
What does Flashblock do?
GameboyRMH
2010-05-14, 17:47
What does Flashblock do?
Same thing as the desktop Firefox plugin - keeps Flash objects from loading until you click on them. It really speeds things up and it's good for security as well.
Here's a link:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=625937&postcount=3
silvermountain
2010-05-14, 17:53
Same thing as the desktop Firefox plugin - keeps Flash objects from loading until you click on them. It really speeds things up and it's good for security as well.
Here's a link:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=625937&postcount=3
You also have the install file for flashblocker here: http://browser-extras.garage.maemo.org/downloads_os2008.html and yes, it's a good addon for me as well.
One of the things I like least about MicroB (Diablo at least) is that hitting the DPad jumps to the next field in a form & you have to hold the DPad to scroll. I strongly dislike this b/c filling out forms is rare but scrolling is very common. If I accidentally hit the DPad when I meant to scroll, the web page will frequently jerk. With Tear, scrolling is simple.
Midori works with flash very well and the best to compare to any other. But itself is not stable at all. So I couldn't call it main. But has potential.
I'm a bit torn here - I tend to switch between firefox and microb a fair bit - depending on what I'm doing... Microb is noticably faster and lower memory --- but I like the fact in firefox that I can open a new page without immediately switching to it, by holding down ctrl. I haven't figured out how to do the same in microb, and that's a killer feature for me when scanning news pages or blogs...
My normal approach on my desktop is to read a page, and open new tabs for any links that seem interesting, and then go through them one by one --- that's easy in firefox, but hard in microb.
If firefox didn't slow my n900 down so much by sucking up all the memory, I'd probably stop using microb at all.
Microb on the N900, altho i do use opera also, opera is my fav browser and use it on my laptop too.
pantera1989
2010-05-14, 22:48
microb without a doubt. It is very powerful, loads content perfectly, configurable, stable and fast.
Just to clarify: It may not be the most stable, fastest, configurable etc..but it is the best overall. For example fennec is more configurable, and tear is more fast..but microb performs better in other factors making it best overall.
microb without a doubt. It is very powerful, loads content perfectly, configurable, stable and fast.
Just to clarify: It may not be the most stable, fastest, configurable etc..but it is the best overall. For example fennec is more configurable, and tear is more fast..but microb performs better in other factors making it best overall.
microb. if the website does not work, then i will try with fennec, then chrome finally.
zombiegavins
2010-05-14, 23:11
on my desktop its firefox.
previous symbian devices it was opera mini.
now with my n900 its opera mobile as it seems to use a lot less data than the other browsers
MicroB on mine... excellent browser with phone OC'd.. it does everything i need on a browser...
Arora web browser (http://translate.google.ru/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=ru&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fn8xx.com%2Ftopic2685-arora-krossplatformennyi-vebbrouzer-na-qt.html&sl=ru&tl=en)
.deb http://old.n8xx.com/uploads.php?file=arora_0.10.0_armel.deb
giladmttw
2010-05-15, 12:43
I use arora whenever I vnc into the N800. Gives you a 'real' browser, with regular tabs, bookmarks, download manager.
get it here, it's the only stable version:
http://forums.internettablettalk.com/showthread.php?p=268911
it's the only stable version:O RLY?
I gave a link to last version of arora available for Diablo.
Anyway, arora is terribly slow...
giladmttw
2010-05-15, 13:10
I installed your version but couldn't get a gui.
arora isn't slow, webkit=fast, but it is not adapted to the tablet, zoom increments in 10% etc.
For vnc it's the best because all the shortcut keys work, you don't need zoom, you don't need finger sized tabs etc.
There are a few bugs but it is not being maintained afaik.
I installed your version but couldn't get a gui.I installed it a few minutes ago. Works nice. But gui (Qt!) is very slow (html5 videos works fine). Checked it and removed it.
PipoXtreme
2010-05-15, 13:28
Microb on my N900. (Firefox to slowly Opera will be better)
Best Feature of microb is the favorite-sites link to the desktop of N900.
On my Desktop PC and my Notebook I use Firefox !
silvermountain
2010-05-15, 17:42
I'm a bit surprised at the poll results so far.
I understand that a lot of people go between two browsers and that sometimes it's hard to say which one i 'the main one'.
Tear
But that <7% of people have Tear as their main browser is rather surprising to me considering how often it is mentioned (maybe with the possibility of the 'Tear Improvements' rolling into the official release things might change - and with an updated 'less blue' speed dial screen :) ). I mean, even FF Fennec beat it...and really? Fennec? :)
microB
Wasn't surprising that this browser would 'win' as it's the one people gets exposed to first, changing can be seen as too cumbersome, etc - and it really is a good, fast browser (hey, it's MY main browser) - but that 69% of people would have it as their main was maybe higher than I expected to see.
Opera
16% of people 'already' using Opera as their main browser. Wow, that's about the the amount of Tear users. I will assume that at least a part of that is due to the new shininess of it and that some people may go back to their old standby ones the novelty has worn off. But then again, it's a very slick looking browser so who knows - maybe it will instead continue to grow in popularity.
Apart from that it was surprising to see that there wasn't more diversity in what main browsers people are using.
Thanks for taking the poll!
Well, Tear on N900 is not a pretty sight :)
One of the things I like least about MicroB (Diablo at least) is that hitting the DPad jumps to the next field in a form & you have to hold the DPad to scroll. I strongly dislike this b/c filling out forms is rare but scrolling is very common. If I accidentally hit the DPad when I meant to scroll, the web page will frequently jerk. With Tear, scrolling is simple.
Try the space bar in microb it is the equivalent of page down. BTW I use tear (N810 user) for everything except flash intensive sites. Haven't tried opera yet. I'm a big fan of keyboard shortcuts in my webbrowser, but it takes for ever to figur out what they are.
I'm running Firefox Fennec, I also tried out Opera and Chrome but since it doesn't sync with my desktop computer + laptop it's pretty useless(plus it doesn't support add-ons). BTW, Minefield is only for desktop computers, right?
I'am currently using Opera as my main browser, despite some bugs as with the incorrect mapping of the "^" character on the french keyboard, and some random stability issues.
It's fast enough at start-up, the UI is super smooth and responsive, and last but not least the pages rendering is according to me faster than with MicroB (on the N900).
silvermountain
2010-05-16, 18:20
I'm running Firefox Fennec, I also tried out Opera and Chrome but since it doesn't sync with my desktop computer + laptop it's pretty useless(plus it doesn't support add-ons). BTW, Minefield is only for desktop computers, right?
No there's a 1.5 meg .deb file for Minefield you can run on OS2008.
Plus a little bigger xulrunner ;)
wheatbisc
2010-05-16, 18:43
MicroB, cause it can handle flash quite well and it got Cursor mode. I am not sure how many of the other browsers have flash enabled and got cursor mode?
wheatbisc, u can turn on the cursor in whole system. Tear supports flash-videos much better then MicroB (html5 in Tear - WIN). Midori, Firefox, Arora, Agida@Web and others has flash...
Prospector
2010-05-16, 18:51
I tend to use MicroB/Opera in the ratio of 75 to 25. Opera wins on slower connections and browsing large pages due to "turbo" and "one click zoom" *respectively* - both bits of functionality I grew very comfortable while overseas as for several years the only mobile data was gprs so the only realistic way of browsing on my phone was opera mini
At the moment using Microb, but Opera Mobile is feeling pretty good... May change when if and when they got Flash support to it
wheatbisc
2010-05-16, 19:26
wheatbisc, u can turn on the cursor in whole system. Tear supports flash-videos much better then MicroB (html5 in Tear - WIN). Midori, Firefox, Arora, Agida@Web and others has flash...
Well then I might have to change browser :P
What do you mean by "turn on the cursor in the whole system"? Enable cursor mode for all browsers?
And Tear supports only flash vids or full flash?
Enable cursor mode for all browsers?No. Completely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HwUqABS8WA
And Tear supports only flash vids or full flash?Full flash. Sometimes Tear doesn't want to load flash and I need to use MicroB... But Tear is my favorite browser on Diablo.
wheatbisc
2010-05-21, 13:08
No. Completely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HwUqABS8WA
Full flash. Sometimes Tear doesn't want to load flash and I need to use MicroB... But Tear is my favorite browser on Diablo.
Forgot to check this thread :P But Isn't this a poll for the browsers on the N900?
Thanks for the vid, but it's cursor mode for N810!
Is it possible to enable cursor mode on Opera on Maemo5/N900? Or on any other browser with full flash enabled?
Thanks in advance :)
optimistprime
2010-05-21, 13:28
Opera by far....
koivjann
2010-05-21, 13:47
Opera is great. Microb is the most stable and usuable for all pages.
Opera is working in portrait as Microb should also.
Today I'm using more Opera
But Isn't this a poll for the browsers on the N900?No. This poll is not in N900 section, so it is about 770, n800, n810 and n900.
Thanks for the vid, but it's cursor mode for N810!Actually n900 is not so internet tablet then n8x0 and 770 so I don't think Nokia made a simple way to enable it...
ZShakespeare
2010-05-21, 14:25
Opera until I need flash. This doesn't happen often. It's faster than microb or firefox, and the portrait mode support is great.
hordeman
2010-05-22, 07:37
Hands down, it's all about Firefox. Compatibility is very good, and the later builds are fairly quick. Along with print to PDF option for any page, there is just no comparison. (Talking about n810 here.) I just wish it had a stable Flash install.
Tear is a fast, but I can't trust it. Too unstable for purchases.
MicroB is too old for me, but will use when Flash is absolutely necessary.
Will give Opera a try.
Tear has a new developer. And now it gonna be more stable in the next releases.
hordeman
2010-05-25, 11:34
@Kroll, interesting. I will have to keep my eye on that.
I've been trying Opera, and it's been blazing fast. I am giving it a test run right now, and so far so good.
Bondage Monkey
2010-08-10, 19:58
So which one in your opinion is the best? I think MicroB is really good, but I'm up for trying something new. I know FF and Opera does not support flash, but doesn't mean they cannot be great browsers. I wanna try one or the other, but I don't wanna install everything and get confused and what not. So in your opinion, what is the best?
aligatro
2010-08-10, 19:58
Lynx xD joking it's microB. it just works and thats all I need.
I'm using a combo of MicroB and the Fennec 2.0 QT devel build(which basically crashes once you load a web page right now).
tswindell
2010-08-10, 20:04
microb all the way, I like the double tap zoom to block feature. If Opera had that I'd probably use Opera though. And if Fennec matured a bit more and didn't seem so sluggish I might consider that too.
kossibeibe
2010-08-10, 20:07
Opera all the way. So much better than default browser, took awhile to get used but gotta love it now
sjgadsby
2010-08-10, 20:11
The thread "MicroB v.s. Firefox v.s. Opera. Which one in your opinion is the best?" (5 posts) has been merged into this thread.
Patroclo
2010-08-10, 20:16
My opinions about firefox are terrible because is almost impossible to use virtual keyboard.
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=59474
On my N900 I usually use MicroB and use Fennec as an alternative sometimes. If a site won't work in those for some reason, I'll try Opera and Chrome. I tried Tear once but all it did was crash hildon-desktop every time. So I uninstalled it.
I like the speed of MicroB, the panning and swirl zoom is great. Hover mode, Flash support are also good features. Keyboard scrolling is broken since PR1.2 and double-tap zooming is often unpredictable.
I really like the tabbed UI of Fennec and the add-on support. It's slower than MicroB and Flash is really slow. It can handle some sites better than MicroB (maybe it's using a newer rendering engine). It seems to be more "desktop-compatible".
frostbyte
2010-08-10, 21:11
if i'm messing with the terminal at the same time, microb, but just for the casual browsing i have to say opera. not as fluid as i'd like as it seems to hang often with page load, but generally speaking it is fast. iceweasel for the access to company schedule; thank you qole for easy debian and java!
scottuss
2010-08-10, 21:16
microb seems to be the best for me so far, Firefox is OK but with only a couple of plug-ins it gets pretty sluggish. microb loads quickly and pages render speedily and accurately
I wanted to like something else more, but I just keep coming back to microb. It may not be the latest, greatest, whiz-bangiest, but it (usually) just works. I have tried Opera and Tear, and found neither overwhelmingly better. I do like firefox/fennec, but my poor N810 wheezes under the strain of running it.
microb for me the others dont come anywhere near.
Microb.
Opera is ultrafast but I find microb more intuitive, love those gestures (even the awkward zoom - its funny but you can zoom one handed which requires some finger gymnastics to do with multitouch) and the integration with the task manager. However I hate the long click, i can never get it to work without the stylus.
It's a shame firefox sync and gears dont work on it and that probably the engine wont get updated. Even 1.9.2 has some cool new features.
________
WEB SHOWS (http://livesexwebshows.com/)
the one that comes with the os
my favourites are microB and opera but they both have problems so i switch between them opera isnt very stable as it keeps crashing on me closes down so have to restart opera again n again no flash thats not gud but i like it for speed n how the text fits the screen not jus in landscape but even in portrait makes reading easier n comfortable microB is good tho hate it that it doesnt fit the text to screen wen u zoom in to read something really annoying wen using portrait mode if only it had auto adjust on text so it fits the sreen no matter how much zoom levels wud make reading much easier love the fact it supports flash n its pretty stable hate the fact have to close the bookmark window each time i go to web tho y cant it not close by it self or y does he have to open a new window y cant it not open using the same window as most of the time i forget its still open n it eats alot of battery! my personal opinion!
Opera for reading. Microb for websites that have flash or are more interactive.
question: is there any way to go the history in microb without opening an arbitrary website first, then doing the right to left gesture, then tapping view complete browsing history?
________
Teen Cam (http://www.girlcamfriend.com/webcam/teen-girls/)
...
It's a shame firefox sync and gears dont work on it and that probably the engine wont get updated. Even 1.9.2 has some cool new features.
Any links to facts or references that are trustworthy?
btw.
http://limpet.net/mbrubeck/2010/08/12/fennec-2-alpha-status.html
Not really, but check the microb site, it sure looks abandoned...
Also Meego has already moved to fennec.
http://browser.garage.maemo.org/news/
________
Wellbutrin withdraw (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/wellbutrin/)
vBulletin® v3.8.8, Copyright ©2000-2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.