Today, iOS is the most preferred mobile platform for surfing the Internet. This Techspirited article lists some of the best mobile browsers available on the platform, which further add to its dominance.
‘i’ Surf a Lot!
According to popular web analytics firm, Net Applications, as of December 2013, iOS accounts for 54.27% of mobile web usage.
The rise of the on-the-go generation has seen more and more people take to smartphones to carry out their daily tasks. These range from setting an alarm to keeping a track of your health using fitness apps on your phone. One such scenario that has seen a radical change is web browsing. The smartphone has virtually replaced the PC when it comes to surfing the Internet, at least when it comes to basic surfing. iPhones are amongst the most popular phones out there which offer a fantastic web browsing experience, thanks to some great hardware supported by some nifty software tweaks. App developers too have realized the potential of this platform, and released browsers with some real amazing features. Here’s our pick of the top mobile browsers for iOS.
The stock web browser for iOS, Safari, is arguably one of the best browsers available on any mobile platform. Besides, it is also the default browser for the phone, and is deeply integrated with most other apps on board. The latest version of the browser brings in a new rolodex-styled tab interface with some real nice features like easy access to private browsing, improved version of Reading List, better iCloud Keychain integration to easily save all your credentials and passwords to sites, better parental control options, and enhanced privacy features.
Homepage: www.apple.com/safari/
Chrome is probably the closest rival of Apple’s stock web browser. Chrome’s greatest USP is its sign-in option, which saves the history and passwords of the user (if he chooses to do so), and the same can be retrieved the next time he/she logs in. What makes this feature even better is the fact that you can even transfer and sync webpages, bookmarks, and other files from Chrome on your PC to your mobile. It also enables you to open unlimited number of tabs simultaneously, which can be navigated through rather effortlessly. The browser also allows you to easily switch from the normal mode to the incognito mode where your history and other details do not get saved.
Homepage: www.google.com
Opera Mini is one of the fastest browsers available on the platform. The browser preloads the web pages on its servers, compresses it, and sends it to your iPhone where they open with lightning speed. The Speed Dial feature lets you pin your favorite web pages on to the home screen of the browser for easy access. Your Speed Dial and other settings can also be synchronized between your phone and other devices. Other useful features like Share everywhere (lets you easily share data with your friends as you surf the Internet) and Read offline (lets you save pages offline to be read later) also add to the overall appeal of this very capable browser.
Homepage: www.opera.com
This is probably the most feature-rich web browser available in the market today. Dolphin features a very clean and minimalistic UI and is very lite as well. It has quite a few neat tricks up its sleeve, the most impressive being the support for gestures. Drawing gestures on the home page of the browser triggers some preset actions within the app. Dolphin also integrates with note-taking apps like Evernote and Box, and lets you save webpages on to them. There’s also the option to sync all your data from the browser across other devices.
Homepage: www.dolphin.com
Atomic Browser is lite and easy to use and chooses speed over eye candy. The browser has scores of customization options and support for loads of themes, which can actually get a little overwhelming for most users. Nonetheless, the simple gesture support option for navigating through pages, to import bookmarks from Safari, and a good download manager make it a very good choice as a web browser. Although Atomic browser may not be as fast as its competitors, it more than covers up for it with frequent updates and a good developer base.
Homepage: www.atomicwebbrowser.com
Apart from these, other browsers worth mentioning are Mercury, Switch, Photon, and WebOut. These too offer some real nice features and give you plenty of bang for the buck. Armed with the right ‘i’ browser, you would be riding the Internet surf for hours on end just like a pro. Cheers.
