Related
Mobile web browsing is always a bit of a struggle. If the browser is too loaded, its too slow. But if the browser is speedy, it normally means it doesn't do enough.
I have 4 browsers on my phone (5 if you count Opera Mini).
Here's how I use each one:
Internet Explorer:
Stock browser, great WAP support. I use PIE (pocket IE) when I need to go to a site I know is designed specifically for mobile phones, or if I need to quickly check something on a website. It's my "Speedy browser" if you will.
I have this set as my default browser for compatibility reasons so that if an application needs to load a page, IE will run and I typically won't have any issues.
Pros: Fast, supported by carrier/manufacturer/microsoft, quality WAP support
Cons: Lack of/poor javascript support, almost purely mobile browser (no desktop-like feel), restricted file-type downloads, weak download support
JB5:
I installed it because everyone says its good, but I never found a real use for it. It's slower than IE, but doesn't do enough in my opinion. Moving on...
Pros/cons left out for lack of testing.
Opera Mobile: (beta verson 8.65 - expiring Oct 1, 2007)
Takes a few extra seconds to load the browser, and browsing the internet is a little slow. However, the sacrificed speed goes to adding a nearly full desktop browser with JavaScript support as well as a download manager (with no file type restriction), multiple window support, and powerful page compression options.
Of all the browsers on my phone, Opera Mobile is definitely my current favorite, but it does have its flaws - speed for one. It's not the slowest (see MiniMo) but its no speedster. It's definitely slower than JB5, and does lock up occasionally (probably simply because its beta). There are bugs, showing that it is still not a finished product, and it does fail at render certain pages on various occasions.
Pros: Rich in feature, Excellent JavaScript support, Download manager without file-type restrictions, pause/resume downloads, nice "desktop-like" browser feel on a mobile browser
Cons: Slow, beta and buggy, expires oct. 1 and is not free, multiple render issues and failure to load images
MiniMo: (Mini Mozilla - version .2)
I was surprised when I installed this one to see that it actually worked on Smartphones. The first time I installed it, I thought the buttons didn't work so I removed it. Then I decided to give it another shot. Now I discovered how it works:
Left softkey - Cycle selection area (Tab-bar, Web Page, Navigation buttons)
-Hold - Main Menu
Right softkey - Cycle click-able objects (page links, individual buttons)
-Hold - Quick menu (Find, FullScreen, Back, Forward, Reload)
Center button - Select highlighted object
Okay, MiniMo is by far the slowest of all the browser at loading. It takes quite a while to load the browser, and the page loads are comparable to Opera Mobile, whereas they are tolerable, but still slow. I believe it does have an easier time accessing the network than Opera Mobile does, but don't have any hard proof of that.
The Navigation of this application is very difficult and take a lot of getting used to, but the browser is definitely the most powerful of all listed here. It can even handle Google Maps.
As for page rendering - it has an option called "SSR", which I assume to be Small-Screen Render", however, it seems that it can't be disabled. The pages still render in full, but do not fit-to-screen and there is no option for such.
Pros: Practically IS a desktop browser, full render-capabilities, nifty font size up and font size down buttons, RSS support (not a feed-reader alternative though)
Cons: Painstakingly slow, beta bugs, no "fit-to-screen" option, difficult menu system and navigation, weak download support (similar to PIE's)
Opera Mini (stable, v3):
The included HTC Midlet Manage is garbage in my opinion. However, it's the best I can get my hands on, so it's what I use. OperaMini is as mobile of a browser as it gets. From what I understand, it used a proxy which compresses the site (including resizes pictures) before transmitting them to your phone. This makes the browser surprisingly fast. It has a nice UI (if only the midlet manager would allow fullscreen) with transitions and runs fairly well. However, it is unable to download files. In the event it is presented with a file to download, it will open the device's default browser (in my IE) and direct it to the file.
Pros: fast, compressed pages, excellent mobile browsing
Cons: Unable to download files, unable to load a selection of sites in decent quality
Opera Mini 4 (beta):
At the time of writing this, the browser crashed and/or freezes far too often to get an idea of how well it works. Does look fairly promising though.
In the end, I'll use IE if I want speed, Opera if I want features or a desktop like feel, and MiniMo if Opera fails to render the page. Opera Mini might come in periodically, maybe if I'm stuck in a GPRS area.
So, what do you guys use and why?
Opera Mobile sometimes crashs and I have to plug out the battery to end this. So i removed it.
By so far, WM isnot support JAVA so perfect(run JAVA in full screen,with network connecting and sound), now i'm using JBlend. It's a changed version,someone change the program so it can show full screen, but it doesn't have network connecting function.
Mozilla is toooooo slow.
So i choice IE and UCWeb(A Chinese program and it's server is also in China,see more at www.ioicn.com.cn).
Hmm, are you talking about Opera Mobile (the actual WM app) or Opera Mini (the java application)?
And thanks for that UCWeb ...I'll take a look at it....
thelostsoul said:
Hmm, are you talking about Opera Mobile (the actual WM app) or Opera Mini (the java application)?
And thanks for that UCWeb ...I'll take a look at it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The WM Opera beta,maybe because it's beta.
dtsme said:
The WM Opera beta,maybe because it's beta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Not the Java one?
I haven't really had that much of a problem with it freezing or crashing on me and use it a lot.
Also see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=323651
Hi!
I'm thinking about switching back from Android to WinMo 6.5 because in my opinion Sense + CHT2 is superior to any other homescreen and I miss it a lot. But I am not sure because there are a lot of things I think I'll miss. First of all the stability of Android. I have never had problems with things crashing or the need to restart the phone. Also I like that everything works good for me out of the box. Well, and here are my questions regarding WinMo:
- Is there a browser which works as good and fast as the stock android browser? For me it is important that I can view all web pages as they would be displayed on my computer (no mobile pages and such crap). Also flash support would be awesome.
- Does syncing gmail via ActiveSync support push mail and multiple gmail accounts?
- Is there a free alternative to the provided rss app?
The most important things for me are:
- stable system
- very good and fast browsing experience (with working flash)
- sync contacts and calendar with gmail (which syncs also with evolution on my pc)
I think I'm going to miss the facebook app from android because the WinMo one is really crap but I can live with that, I'm not a heavy fb user.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Mark Twain said:
Hi!
I'm thinking about switching back from Android to WinMo 6.5 because in my opinion Sense + CHT2 is superior to any other homescreen and I miss it a lot. But I am not sure because there are a lot of things I think I'll miss. First of all the stability of Android. I have never had problems with things crashing or the need to restart the phone. Also I like that everything works good for me out of the box. Well, and here are my questions regarding WinMo:
- Is there a browser which works as good and fast as the stock android browser? For me it is important that I can view all web pages as they would be displayed on my computer (no mobile pages and such crap). Also flash support would be awesome.
- Does syncing gmail via ActiveSync support push mail and multiple gmail accounts?
- Is there a free alternative to the provided rss app?
The most important things for me are:
- stable system
- very good and fast browsing experience (with working flash)
- sync contacts and calendar with gmail (which syncs also with evolution on my pc)
I think I'm going to miss the facebook app from android because the WinMo one is really crap but I can live with that, I'm not a heavy fb user.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive always found Opera 9.7 to be better than any of the android browsers... except maybe Dolphin..
I can give you a cab to get rid of the default user agent and prevent it displaying sites in mobile view if you want. Unfortuneately flash support is not possible, there is a flash compatible browser called Uzard but its pretty buggy. I guess you could install it and just use when you need flash...
Not sure about syncing your contacts and calendar with gmail as I have never bothered but I have seen something around here about it.
CHT2.0 contains an RSS widget which links in with the stock RSS reader, Im not a heavy RSS user so I dont really know how it compares with the android equivalent but its fine for me.
As for a stable system........ cooked ROMS are the way to go.
Energy, Artemis, Duttys and Elegancia are all popular choices...
Ive just switched from Energy to Elegancia and its incredibly smooth and stable.
Remember, you can always keep an android build on your SD card and have the best of both worlds.
Hope that helps in some way.....
conantroutman said:
Ive always found Opera 9.7 to be better than any of the android browsers... except maybe Dolphin..
I can give you a cab to get rid of the default user agent and prevent it displaying sites in mobile view if you want. Unfortuneately flash support is not possible, there is a flash compatible browser called Uzard but its pretty buggy. I guess you could install it and just use when you need flash...
Not sure about syncing your contacts and calendar with gmail as I have never bothered but I have seen something around here about it.
CHT2.0 contains an RSS widget which links in with the stock RSS reader, Im not a heavy RSS user so I dont really know how it compares with the android equivalent but its fine for me.
As for a stable system........ cooked ROMS are the way to go.
Energy, Artemis, Duttys and Elegancia are all popular choices...
Ive just switched from Energy to Elegancia and its incredibly smooth and stable.
Remember, you can always keep an android build on your SD card and have the best of both worlds.
Hope that helps in some way.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Opera 9.7 is a very good browser. Although on some websites it did not display everything correctly.
Well, flash is not a killer criteria but would be nice. You may not need it for months but when you need it one time and you can't...
RSS is important for me as I enjoy reading the news on my phone. I also use twitter a lot for news, so I love the twitter tab in sense
I used energy before switching to android and all at all I was pretty satisfied with it (although the dialer looks awful IMHO ). But sometimes you see WinMo behind the sense-curtain and some things lag or even crash and that is something I do not have with Android. Well, I think I'm gonna give it a try (I have a CWR backup for the worst case) and use parallel some SD builds of android.
Sharing that cab would be awesome! Thanks a lot! I know otherwise you have to do some registry tweaks...
Heres that cab for the user agent.
Also, if your a heavy twitter user you might want to try moTweets. Theres a free ad supported version, contains a few more features than the twitter tab.
Mark Twain said:
Yes, Opera 9.7 is a very good browser. Although on some websites it did not display everything correctly.
Well, flash is not a killer criteria but would be nice. You may not need it for months but when you need it one time and you can't...
RSS is important for me as I enjoy reading the news on my phone. I also use twitter a lot for news, so I love the twitter tab in sense
I used energy before switching to android and all at all I was pretty satisfied with it (although the dialer looks awful IMHO ). But sometimes you see WinMo behind the sense-curtain and some things lag or even crash and that is something I do not have with Android. Well, I think I'm gonna give it a try (I have a CWR backup for the worst case) and use parallel some SD builds of android.
Sharing that cab would be awesome! Thanks a lot! I know otherwise you have to do some registry tweaks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you ever tried Iconsoft Phonex 2.2 dialer? it's worthy, give it a try.
Thanks
Mark Twain said:
Hi!
I'm thinking about switching back from Android to WinMo 6.5 because in my opinion Sense + CHT2 is superior to any other homescreen and I miss it a lot. But I am not sure because there are a lot of things I think I'll miss. First of all the stability of Android. I have never had problems with things crashing or the need to restart the phone. Also I like that everything works good for me out of the box. Well, and here are my questions regarding WinMo:
- Is there a browser which works as good and fast as the stock android browser? For me it is important that I can view all web pages as they would be displayed on my computer (no mobile pages and such crap). Also flash support would be awesome.
- Does syncing gmail via ActiveSync support push mail and multiple gmail accounts?
- Is there a free alternative to the provided rss app?
The most important things for me are:
- stable system
- very good and fast browsing experience (with working flash)
- sync contacts and calendar with gmail (which syncs also with evolution on my pc)
I think I'm going to miss the facebook app from android because the WinMo one is really crap but I can live with that, I'm not a heavy fb user.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the tutorial for google sync, check it, if this is what you are looking for.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=678339
Thanks
Thanks a lot! I already discovered this thread earlier (and I found a discussion somewhere else on the internet). And I think this alternative dialer is worth a try!
EDIT: UPDATED
HERE IS THE LIST OF MY TOP 20 USING THE FEEDBACK... JUST SENT IT TO CNET.
http://callip.wordpress.com/
Android apps are essential to the end-users experience. There are several categories of apps, but I am going to ignore some as they are limited in their scope (ie, apps that are games, or are only focused on those who root their phones).
.
I believe the average smartphone user is going to want to focus on improving the user interface (apps that are better than the stock apps that come on the phone), social apps (ie Twitter, texting, conferencing), and media apps (ie music, photos, news).
.
Below are those categories and the apps that I feel can improve the Android experience.
.
Disclaimer: There are hundreds of thousands of Android apps. This is in no way all inclusive and can change daily.
.
.
BETTER THAN THE STOCK ANDROID APPLICATIONS:
Text Messanging:
1 – Go SMS / Handcent SMS / Chomp SMS / Google Voice.
Okay, so I am starting off with THREE suggestions. Well, they are all better than the stock messenger, in their own regard. The average user can be complacent with the stock messaging app, it does send texts and MMS (ie pictures) just fine after all, but for the user who wants more, these are the apps to try.
To be fair, Google Voice should not be lumped in here as it does so much. This app should be on every Android device, period.
.
Browser:
2 – Dolphin Browser HD / Skyfire / Miren
Wait, three more suggestions? Yeap. Why? Because their all awesome in their own regard. The stock browser I find fantastic, it does what you need and does it well. Again though, Android allows the user to do a lot more.
Dolphin is great because of tabbed browsing, gestures (finger swipes to open bookmarks for example) and multi-touch.
Skyfire emphasizes playing video – even those that are not compatible with Android.
Miren is extremely fast, minimalistic UI, and a lot of neat features (scrolling with the volume button, swipes to go forward/backward, etc).
.
Gallery:
3 – QuickPic
I hate the stock android gallery. It is a CPU hog, slow to load and limited in features. It is frankly my least favorite part of Android. QuickPic by Alensw (there are several apps with that name) is amazing. It is extremely fast to load, you can exclude certain albums from displaying, very high resolution/image quality, and built in editing tools (ie cropping, rotating, etc).
.
The Launcher (your homescreen):
4 – ADW EX / LauncherPro / Go Launcher EX
There I go again, three suggestions. Most of these have similar features, but each have unique features. I prefer ADW EX because it allows me to use swipe gestures to open my notifications or to open a second hidden dock bar (a place to stash commonly opened apps). This allows my homescreen to be less cluttered. You can customize the layout a lot more as well (ie, instead of the standard 4×4 layout, you can make it as much as 10×10), overlap widgets, infinite scrolling, change animations, etc. The list of options go on and on. I strongly suggest trying a new launcher.
.
Camera:
5 – CameraZoom FX / Camera360 / Retro Camera / Little Photo
All of these apps have features above and beyond the stock camera. I prefer Retro Camera because it is free and it also has a very unique UI. I can take some pretty spectacular photos with it, with very little effort. I’m a sucker for black and white photos that have a vintage look though.
A reader also suggested Little Photo – which seems wildly popular but was not known by me – NICE!
.
Music:
6 – PowerAMP / UberMusic / TuneIn Radio / Google Music / Amazon MP3
Again, each have unique qualities. PowerAMP is great in that it plays most anything and has an equalizer. UberMusic is just sexy. TuneIn Radio allows you to stream music from all over the world. Google Music is great for its cloud capabilities – I love having my music sync and not be stored on precious memory space. Amazon MP3 also has cloud capabilities and offers free music.
.
Dialer / Contacts:
7 –Go Contacts EX
Not every Android has a smart dialer (when you start typing a phone number or contact name, it filters out your results). I find that hard to believe. Go Contacts EX not only has a great smart dialer, but the UI is great too. You can swipe left to right to change from the dialer to contacts for instance. The app can also be themed by simply downloading themes from the Market (most of which are also free)
.
Photos:
8 – TouchRetouch / PicSay Pro / Little Photo
We talked about the Camera and the Gallery, but what about editing photos? Ever have something in your shot that you wish wasn’t there. TouchRetouch is essentially a magic eraser for your photos. It’s pretty brilliant for an app on your phone and can easily remove objects.
PicSay Pro is more of an effects tool. It allows a tremendous amount of customization to your photos.
.
Keyboards:
9 – Swype Beta / Swiftkey X
Swype is hands down the most revolutionary keyboard out. I was afraid of moving to a phone with no physical keyboard, till I tried Swype. The beta is open and free, and it’s the best keyboard out, in my opinion. Do yourself a favor and register now. Most know that Swype allows you to move from letter to letter (not peck each letter), but it also has a tremendous amount of features. I’ve got a huge guide on this, please contact me if interested. Swiftkey X is another revolutionary keyboard in a different sense. It actively seeks the NEXT word you would type, and it learns as you type. So, the more you use it, the more accurately it can predict your next word. I’ve written entire sentences by simply selecting the word it thought I would use. These are both amazing and something I am certain an iPhone would love to have (avoiding some of the famous auto-correct iPhone typo blunders).
.
.
SOCIAL APPS:
Disclaimer: I despise FaceBook, but their app seems very feature rich with a decent UI.
.
10 – Plume
I’ve tried every twitter app out there, and none can touch the power of Plume. Feature rich it won’t let you down. Get this if you use Twitter, or start using twitter if you do not already! I’ve found it to be the best way to get brief bits of news information catered to me. So much so that it’s now my favorite feature of a smartphone.
.
11 – GroupMe
A completely free way to keep in contact with a group. Send text messages (with your data plan – not a traditional text message), share photos, conference calling, etc. This is a powerful app that could serve teenagers to the executive on business trips.
.
12 – Google+
Say what it really is, a FaceBook killer. Google hit a homerun with their social network in my opinion, and the app is feature rich. Want to have private conversations, or share with the world? Want to instantly sync photos taken from your phone? Want to use an alternate messenger or video chat with up to 9 people? Get it.
.
.
TRAVEL APPS:
13 – Google Maps
The features of Maps is pretty robust, but it is the Navigation that is its strong point in my opinion. I had two Garmin GPS units that became junk when I got my first Android phone. Not only did the Navigation work better (accuracy of turn by turn directions) from my phone, but the GPS signal was more accurate. You can also use Places to find and rate places and Lattitude to locate friends near you.
.
14 – Worldmate
Short and sweet, a must if you travel a lot. Forward your confirmation emails and it groups all of your itinerary into an incredibly simple package. Organize your plans, change your itinerary, share your itinerary with people, get flight alerts or check on a flight, get reminders, it locates hotels near you and even brings in the weather. Seriously, if you travel, try this!
.
.
MISCELLANEOUS APPS:
15 – Beautiful Widgets / Fancy Widgets
Another benefit of Android is the widgets – an easy to find and attractive thing to have on your homescreen with relevant information. I enjoy knowing the time and weather near me, and these apps give it accurately and in an attractive way that can be easily themed to my liking.
.
16 – Alarm Clock Plus
If you use your smartphone as your alarm, for lunch or sleep – this is the one to try. Feature rich and known as one of the best. This will be better than the stock Alarm on the phone and incorporates weather.
.
17 – Amazon’s Appstore
There are many nice features about Amazon’s Appstore, including their review process (added security perhaps over the Android Market), but lets be honest… its best feature is that they offer a paid app for free every day. Sometimes these apps are pretty amazing too. On more than one occasion I have went and bought the app in the official Android Market when I wanted to show my support to a developer.
.
18 – Chrome to Phone
If you use Android, there is a strong chance Chrome is your browser on your PC. This dandy of an app allows you to press the button on your PC’s browser (using the Chrome to Phone extension), and instantly that page/document/download link will show on your phone. Amazingly simply and powerful.
.
19 – Wheres My Droid
Are you one that easily misplaces their phone? Once installed, this app lets you send a text to your phone if it’s misplaced to help locate it. What if you left your phone on silent… what if you are not near it? Well, not only does it turn the volume to max (just in case), but it also lets you get the GPS coordinates if you REALLY misplaced it. A must have on any Android in my opinion.
.
20 – Astro File Manager
With Android you have the ability to view and move files around. This is the best way to manage your files, make backups of important files, open zip/tar files, allow downloads from the browser, etc. Frankly, every Android phone should come with a file manager, but they do not. Even if your phone did come with a file manager, there is a strong chance that it is not as good as Astro File Manager.
.
.
This list is no way inclusive. There are MANY apps that I use daily that did not get a mention. Perhaps I will make an extended list with more categories next time. I would appreciate your feedback. If you know someone new to Android, shoot them a link to this… I’d love to hear what someone new to Android thought of this list.
CNet just tweeted their top 20, and I called them out for being terrible. I'd like to send them a link to this thread - where they can offer GOOD suggestions.
NO GAMES
NO TASK KILLERS
What apps do you consider essential to Android?
Suggestions:
Google Voice
Go Contacts EX
ADW EX
Plume/Tweetdeck
Google+
Google Maps
Root Explorer
Buzzfeed
Twicca
Mybacup pro
I use religously
Screebl
Timerrific
Rootexplorer
Go ex launcher
Do it tomorrow
Pulse
miren browser
Player pro
I use them every day
Didn't expect to learn of new apps.
Guess I should avoid ROOT APPS too, for the masses.
These are my main apps I use, and on a daily basis.
Dolphin Browser HD
Go Launcher EX
Quickpic
Root Explorer sorry didn't see your previous post about no root apps.
Engadget
Cnet News
FMyLife
OverDrive (this may only be for people whos schools allow ebook downloads like mine)
Uber Music
File expert (w/root)
QQ launcher
Chainfire 3D
Dropbox
Go SMS pro
Swiftkey X ( the best keyboard!)
Twicca
Handcent SMS
Google+
XDA Premium
Pandora Radio
SwiftKey X (main keyboard)
TouchPal Keyboard v3.8 (for swipe)
Root Explorer (they do have a non-root version)
Those are my daily apps among a few others. If i realize a few more ill add them. But enjoy
Sent from my Shifty Speedy using the XDA Premium App
ADW EX
AK Notepad
Alarm Clock Plus
AutoStarts
Beautiful Widgets
Camera 360
Dolphin HD
Gas Buddy
Handcent SMS
Netflix
Quickpic
StayAwake
Tapatalk
Titanium Backup Pro
Root Explorer (yes I did read above but its a priceless app so I can't leave it out)
Widget Locker
These are my apps that I use on a more current basis that the others, besides the stock apps.
TuneIn Radio
Gizmodo
CNET News
Voodoo Control
Xfinity (Comcast Customers)
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
CNET would certainly appreciate their app being suggested
Sent using the XDA app.
For me:
*UberSocial (formerly Twidroyd) MY choice third-party twitter client.
*PowerAMP (Handles my audio needs. Love the equalizer options.)
*Voodoo Control (+ PowerAMP = Audio Bliss.)
*Twicca
*FX File Explorer
*Miren Browser
*Boat Browser
*Boat Browser Mini
*GPS Restore
*Tapatalk (Replying in forums is easier than fumbling in a mobile browser.)
*Yahoo Mail
*IMO Beta
*DroidSound (For my SNES/Genesis/etc. music)
*Deadbeef (Like DroidSound for the retro music, but supports a widget.)
*Call Blocker
*Note Me
*Status Notes
*Ringo Pro
*SwiftKey X
*Zeam Launcher
Essentials
-LauncherPro Plus ( with custom icon pack )
-Dolphin Browser HD
-Zxing Barcode Scanner
-Foursquare
-Mobile Banking
-Note Everything
-Shazam
-Tunein Radio ( we don't have a build in radio )
-XDA app
-AVG Antivirus (keeping viruses away form my Vibrant , i think)
Thank you guys... these are some great suggestions. I love that I am hearing apps I was not aware of too.
I'll try and get a top 20 in the OP later today... waiting for more suggestions/feedback.
Chomp SMS (Have been using this app for over 2 years)
Astro File Manager (Have been using this app for over 2 years)
GroupMe
Chase
Paypal
Facebook
Barcode Scanner (Have been using this app for over 2 years)
Camera 360
Catch (Notes) syncs with google
Swype (can't use any other keyboard)
Google Voice
sportstap (a must)
quickpic
xda premium
root explorer
dropbox
mixzing (very cool music app)
and all my yahoo fantasy league apps!!!
Below is the start to my article for CNET:
Top 20 Android Apps
Android apps are essential to the end-users experience. There are several categories of apps, but I am going to ignore some as they are limited in their scope (ie, apps that are games, or are only focused on those who root their phones).
I believe the average smartphone user is going to want to focus on improving the user interface (apps that are better than the stock apps that come on the phone), social apps (ie Twitter, texting, conferencing), and media apps (ie music, photos, news).
Below are those categories and the apps that I feel can improve the Android experience.
Disclaimer: There are hundreds of thousands of Android apps. This is in no way all inclusive and can change daily.
BETTER THAN THE STOCK ANDROID APPLICATIONS:
Text Messanging:
1 – Handcent SMS / Chomp SMS / Google Voice.
Okay, so I am starting off with THREE suggestions. Well, they are all better than the stock messenger, in their own regard. The average user can be complacent with the stock messaging app, it does send texts and MMS (ie pictures) just fine after all, but for the user who wants more, these are the apps to try.
Browser:
2 – Dolphin Browser HD / Skyfire / Miren
Wait, three more suggestions? Yeap. Why? Because their all awesome in their own regard. The stock browser I find fantastic, it does what you need and does it well. Again though, Android allows the user to do a lot more.
Dolphin is great because of tabbed browsing, gestures (finger swipes to open bookmarks for example) and multi-touch.
Skyfire emphasizes playing video – even those that are not compatible with Android.
Miren is extremely fast, minimalistic UI, and a lot of neat features (scrolling with the volume button, swipes to go forward/backward, etc).
Gallery:
3 – QuickPic
I hate the stock android gallery. It is a CPU hog, slow to load and limited in features. It is frankly my least favorite part of Android. QuickPic by Alensw (there are several apps with that name) is amazing. It is extremely fast to load, you can exclude certain albums from displaying, very high resolution/image quality, and built in editing tools (ie cropping, rotating, etc).
The Launcher (your home screen / desktop):
4 – ADW EX / LauncherPro / Go Launcher EX
There I go again, three suggestions. Most of these have similar features, but each have unique features. I prefer ADW EX because it allows me to use swipe gestures to open my notifications or to open a second hidden dock bar (a place to stash commonly opened apps). This allows my homescreen/desktop to be less cluttered. You can customize the layout a lot more as well (ie, instead of the standard 4x4 layout, you can make it as much as 10x10), overlap widgets, infinite scrolling, change animations, etc. The list of options go on and on. I strongly suggest trying a new launcher.
Camera:
5 – CameraZoom FX / Camera360 / Retro Camera
All of these apps have features above and beyond the stock camera. I prefer Retro Camera because it is free and it also has a very unique UI. I can take some pretty spectacular photos with it, with very little effort. I’m a sucker for black and white photos that have a vintage look though.
Music:
6 – PowerAMP / UberMusic / TuneIn Radio / Google Music
Again, each have unique qualities. PowerAMP is great in that it plays most anything and has an equalizer. UberMusic is just sexy. TuneIn Radio allows you to stream music from all over the world. Google Music is great for its cloud capabilities – I love having my music sync and not be stored on precious memory space.
I'd say Go SMS is the best (real) sms app out there right now, however I am planning to try the whole wifi texting thing soon.
Widgets in general. Colorize Widget and Android Pro Widgets (?) make great alternatives to LP+ widgets, I personally can't do without some form of calendar widget.
Pageonce. Great way to keep track of bills and multiple bank accounts. I have a personal account, a school account and a savings account and it's great to be able to see them broken down or just all the money summed up (and all my bills to keep track of).
Soundhound (or Shazam). I prefer the first, I don't use it much, but when I do I'm glad to have it
Business Calendar is great if you need a feature rich calendar. It has a really nifty preview on the month view of any give day's events, among many other improvements.
Evernote. I love that one for grocery lists and general reminders.
Goggles for QR codes.
Convertr and Andy 86 for the students and math geeks out there, they save time like crazy.
For college students: Search your school in the market. One guy from my school made an app that logs us into school wifi automatically and provides shortcut links to commonly used school sites.
A flashlight app. For obvious reasons.
---
Most people who read this will have no need for root things like Root Explorer and Titanium or Voodoo control. I say leave them out.
Wow I have most of those apps plus about 100 more. I'm a crazy teen that likes to play games
Sent from my T959 using XDA Premium App
I use most of these apps, but I just came across a good one. Gemini App Manager, it's similar to Titanium Backup but free. Every rooted user should check this one out.
Hey folks,
I have a chromebook flip c100 and I like to use the chrome web browser on it because chrome has a vertical scrollbar I can use with the mouse and also, when chrome is fullscreen, the url/bookmarks/tabs bar appears when my mouse goes to the top of the screen.
I like the the z4 tablet because its light weight would make it a better pdf reader than my flip ... and it's also waterproof ... but I am wondering :
which web browser do you use on the Z4 tablet ? how would you compare it to chrome on a touch chromebook like the flip c100 ?
Thanks for feedback !
Pierre
One option is to use a remote desktop application (chrome remote desktop, windows remote desktop, ...) to use a PC web browser on a remote PC from the z4 ...
(but this probably implies loosing touch features like pinch to zoom, etc ...)
in my case it looks like I'd better wait for a detachable chromebook (there are at least 2 coming : https://chromeunboxed.com/another-detachable-chromebook-soraka-begins-development/ )
I ve been trying a lot of android browsers on my flip c100 in the last day and so far the one that seems to use the screen estate the most efficiently in my use cases is Opera in phone layout mode.
Opera in phone layout mode is able to display the 25 conversations in my google inbox like the chromeos chrome web browser does (so I don t have to scroll to view all of them)
I ve just received my z4 with its bkb50 keyboard but I didn't find a nice way to get opera in fullscreen mode, so I have asked another question here : https://forum.xda-developers.com/z4-tablet/help/apps-fullscreen-immersive-mode-t3660546
I found that "Free adblock browser" is also good in my use cases on the z4. It seems to be based on chrome/chromium 54 (not new) but this doesn t seem to impact my browsing. It can force user agent to desktop (which you can't do with chrome/chromium except with some hacks : https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1811101&page=14 ) and the adblocker seems to work better than the one in opera ...
I tried XBrowser, it's fullscreen immersive experience is perfect on our z4 with keyboard and touchpad in desktop mode BUT it doesn't display enough content (for example it displays only 19 conversations in desktop gmail, whereas apps like chrome can display the 25 conversations I have in a desktop gmail page), that's a real pity and I am contacting the developer ...
as said on https://forum.xda-developers.com/z4-tablet/help/apps-fullscreen-immersive-mode-t3660546 the "Custom Navigation Bar" app https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-custom-navigation-bar-customize-t3590967 works good in immersive mode
also I found out that Opera has improved his adblocker which now seems to be on par with "Free adblock browser" (and Opera has advantages over "Free adblock browser" like data compression, bookmark sync, offline pages, etc ...)
I found out that Opera has improved his adblocker which now seems to be on par with "Free adblock browser" (and Opera has advantages over "Free adblock browser" like data compression, bookmark sync, offline pages, etc ...)
I am trying the kiwi browser now https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-kiwi-browser-chromium-adblock-caf-t3797252
quite a new project but the developper seems to be experienced and the browser seems to be fast (maybe because it has a good adblocker ?)
free adblock browser has been updated to chromium 64 and is better (there was an annoying refresh when you have chosen "desktop mode" : pages were first displayed in mobile mode then in desktop mode .... this "defect" has been fixed)
it also has a fb support community : https://www.facebook.com/groups/186002138519895/
(I like the fact that you can listen to youtube videos in the background with the kiwi browser)
On my Z4 tablet, I typically use the default web browser Google Chrome.
KIWI Browser 77.0.3865.92 ( 18.08.20)
I posted this on the Kiwi Browser thread more in mourning at the lack of support and updates Kiwi has received in the last year or so.
So I stumbled on Soul Browser and it's been excellent so far. Extremely fast and lite. Unfortunately it doesn't have extensions but it's got virtually every function and customization you can think of. Digging into it's background it seems to be from a developer out of the UK so should be safe. It's on the Play Store but not open source unfortunately.
Everything is good and all but i couldn't find the toggle to turn video overlays on fullscreen. i watch something on youtube in portrait mode, when i make it fullscreen, video pauses, sometimes starts from the beginning and i don't like that overlay with full of buttons. How do i turn that of and have smooth transition?
Twotems said:
I posted this on the Kiwi Browser thread more in mourning at the lack of support and updates Kiwi has received in the last year or so.
So I stumbled on Soul Browser and it's been excellent so far. Extremely fast and lite. Unfortunately it doesn't have extensions but it's got virtually every function and customization you can think of. Digging into it's background it seems to be from a developer out of the UK so should be safe. It's on the Play Store but not open source unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mycompany.app.soulbrowser ? I don't see any info about it at all, no blog, no homepage, no xda, nothing. Do you know any more about it? I love kiwi, and would stick if it wasn't Chrome 77, but for SB I cannot find anything about it and the dev replies on Play Store don't seem native english (which is fine, but I don't want yet another app later shown to be harvesting data)
hus.ter said:
Everything is good and all but i couldn't find the toggle to turn video overlays on fullscreen. i watch something on youtube in portrait mode, when i make it fullscreen, video pauses, sometimes starts from the beginning and i don't like that overlay with full of buttons. How do i turn that of and have smooth transition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea. Comment on the Playstore and the developer usually responds quite quickly. There's so much customization I haven't even touched yet.
Bingley said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mycompany.app.soulbrowser ? I don't see any info about it at all, no blog, no homepage, no xda, nothing. Do you know any more about it? I love kiwi, and would stick if it wasn't Chrome 77, but for SB I cannot find anything about it and the dev replies on Play Store don't seem native english (which is fine, but I don't want yet another app later shown to be harvesting data)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the last 5 or so pages of the Kiwi thread on here and most of your concerns are answered. I, and several others, had the same worries but it seems Adguard DNS takes care of most issues. Trackers etc are all Google stuff anyway according to ClassyShark.
Twotems said:
I have no idea. Comment on the Playstore and the developer usually responds quite quickly. There's so much customization I haven't even touched yet.
Read the last 5 or so pages of the Kiwi thread on here and most of your concerns are answered. I, and several others, had the same worries but it seems Adguard DNS takes care of most issues. Trackers etc are all Google stuff anyway according to ClassyShark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, yes I've just come from there! I use nextdns so nothing gets through to Google any way. It looks more a Samsung Internet base than Kiwi/plain Chrome. I just wish there was more info. And I'm so tired of being unable to migrate bookmarks, logins, cookies, etc between browsers!
Bingley said:
Thanks, yes I've just come from there! I use nextdns so nothing gets through to Google any way. It looks more a Samsung Internet base than Kiwi/plain Chrome. I just wish there was more info. And I'm so tired of being unable to migrate bookmarks, logins, cookies, etc between browsers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand it's Chromium based but so is Samsung so all the same.
I'm having issues using it with NextDNS. It works but I get constant SSL errors on Soul which I don't get on Samsung or Kiwi, so there's something NextDNS doesn't like in there but I can't find it in the NextDNS logs. However it works fine with Adguard DNS and all trackers etc are blocked. I added Energized Ultimate to the adblock host list in Soul as an extra measure.
I imported my chrome bookmarks with ease using the html file. So no issues there.
A very good browser and can be greatly configured
(bars on top or bottom in custom size, long press settings, swipe settings, back/forward gestures, double finger gestures, no reload when back/forth, skip to page beginning, floating scrollbar, own blocklists, full auto dark mode, video downloader and much much more). I've never seen a better mobile browser, it's crazy.
But my problem with it is that it doesn't launch native apps from links:
Youtube is launched only if you google for youtube, but not from embedded videos; reddit is launched only if you use native reddit app and not third party one; ebay app doesn't launch and so on. Dealbreaker for me - I feel like on iOS.
Another thing is adblocker isn't consistent. If you jump through tabs and apps and then go back to prev opened website, sometimes there is suddenly an ad running, which was blocked before.
So overall it feels kinda buggy and you can say it's made by one person and on top of that - by a completly unknown entity (no mail, website) originate in Asia.
So I'm back on Samsung Browser beta which is still missing few nice to have things, but is fully baked.
Dexter666 said:
A very good browser and can be greatly configured
(bars on top or bottom in custom size, long press settings, swipe settings, back/forward gestures, double finger gestures, no reload when back/forth, skip to page beginning, floating scrollbar, own blocklists, full auto dark mode, video downloader and much much more). I've never seen a better mobile browser, it's crazy.
But my problem with it is that it doesn't launch native apps from links:
Youtube is launched only if you google for youtube, but not from embedded videos; reddit is launched only if you use native reddit app and not third party one; ebay app doesn't launch and so on. Dealbreaker for me - I feel like on iOS.
Another thing is adblocker isn't consistent. If you jump through tabs and apps and then go back to prev opened website, sometimes there is suddenly an ad running, which was blocked before.
So overall it feels kinda buggy and you can say it's made by one person and on top of that - by a completly unknown entity (no mail, website) originate in Asia.
So I'm back on Samsung Browser beta which is still missing few nice to have things, but is fully baked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Vanced and it launches directly. Check settings and enable the toggle to allow YouTube launch. I don't know about the ebay app but complaining about a 3rd party reddit app isn't the browsers fault.
I've switched off the built-in adblocker and use 1Hosts Pro and Energized Ultimate in the user field and never had that problem even with the built-in one active. Maybe because I also use a private dns adblocker on my devices.
I think the developer is from Korea as there are references to Korean legalities if you dig a little. I use this browser for daily casual surfing and it's fantastic but my main browser is also Samsung for secure and private stuff. Best of both worlds.
Well I use YouTube app and not vanced and it's not working. Toggle is set correctly and as I said some apps are starting, example "eBay Kleinanzeigen".
Ofcourse it's browsers fault if 3rd party reddit client is not starting IF it's registered in system as default reddit client.
Well written browsers always open apps properly: Samsung Browser, Firefox, Yandex and so on, because they respect those flags.
I don't want to need use vpn for adblocking.
Twotems said:
I use Vanced and it launches directly. Check settings and enable the toggle to allow YouTube launch. I don't know about the ebay app but complaining about a 3rd party reddit app isn't the browsers fault.
I've switched off the built-in adblocker and use 1Hosts Pro and Energized Ultimate in the user field and never had that problem even with the built-in one active. Maybe because I also use a private dns adblocker on my devices.
I think the developer is from Korea as there are references to Korean legalities if you dig a little. I use this browser for daily casual surfing and it's fantastic but my main browser is also Samsung for secure and private stuff. Best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi there, how your experience using energized Ultimate jost adblocker, when I use Ultimate packs I experienced apps keep restarting even when keeping them on my recent apps and also it seems like it keep hogging free ram resource from 8gb mi note 10 lite
Question: what does the Cup of Coffee stands for in the overflow menu?
Azka05 said:
hi there, how your experience using energized Ultimate jost adblocker, when I use Ultimate packs I experienced apps keep restarting even when keeping them on my recent apps and also it seems like it keep hogging free ram resource from 8gb mi note 10 lite
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stopped using Energized Ultimate as it was overkill and heavy. I'm using 1Hosts Pro, OISD and Easylist now.
brianmolko1981 said:
Question: what does the Cup of Coffee stands for in the overflow menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it was for donations but doesn't seem to work anyway.
Thanks for letting other people know about this browser.
I am not a advanced user. I only want a browser with adblocker and simple interface. I don't know about hosts, dns, etc.,
I have used Via, OH, Berry, Fulguris, Stargon, Onbibi browsers. Soul mixes all these into one.
Thanks
One thing missing is reader mode. Some old websites won't "work" mobile without it, example:
Infinite-baffle
Honestly! I'm just loving it! Perfect title and Perfect Browser name! Soul Browser
Bingley said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mycompany.app.soulbrowser ? I don't see any info about it at all, no blog, no homepage, no xda, nothing. Do you know any more about it? I love kiwi, and would stick if it wasn't Chrome 77, but for SB I cannot find anything about it and the dev replies on Play Store don't seem native english (which is fine, but I don't want yet another app later shown to be harvesting data)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree about how nice this browser is but I'm also VERY MUCH concerned about the risk of privacy violation. Anyone has additional info about this ?
To the author if he's reading us: why don't you show up and talk about this important aspect of your (fantastic) app ?
Cool browser. But there's no option to import passwords
This was my daily browser for a while but now things are getting out of control. So much customisations as I like but not working flawlessly. Sad that no developer communication exist and bugs are not getting fixed.
Really like this browser but I have one really annoying issue : when watching a video in full screen landscape mode and would like to adjust something and tap the screen, the navigation bar do not disappear automatically...
Anybody faced this issue?