Your Desktop Browser, Now on Your Android Phone!
For those looking to further enhance their web browsing experience on an Android device and more importantly how they view the web from that device, may find the list of options to be a bit overwhelming if not frustrating all together. Most if not all consumers have spent the better part of their lives browsing web pages on a home computer and as of late have come to enjoy tabbed browsing as well. As most smart phone consumers (myself included) have found, the seamless experience had on a home computer was all but lost to smart phone users, that is till now.
Available for Android 2.0 and above, Dolphin HD offered in both free and paid versions, is the first browser to bring tabbed browsing to the Android OS. Once installed, the first thing you?ll notice is how clean the user interface looks. You?re almost immediately drawn in, everything from the address bar to the favorites button is displayed exactly where you would imagine they would be. For those familiar with tabbed browsing at home know it has allowed for less clutter and n overall seamless experience on your typical desktop computer and Dolphin HD aims to do the same. In addition to the tabs, located above the address bar, a welcomed addition to navigating your opened pages come in two additional flavors. You may swipe the opened tabs from left to right and pick which window you?d like open or for a faster approach simply swipe your finger from left to right across the page to open a thumbnail view of your open tabs. Included with the thumbnail / flick viewer comes the ability to add a new page / tab, close all tabs, install an add-on (for example install a theme or service by Google) or cancel. Dolphin HD has incorporated multi-touch and our beloved pinch to zoom as well as another niche feature; "draw to go." With draw to go, you simply touch the given gesture area (represented by pointing finger) and with your own finger, draw the command rather than typing it. For instance, touching the draw to go area and then drawing the letter ?G? takes you directly to Google without the hassle of typing the entire address in the address bar. Dolphin HD has also incorporated an auto-detect RSS source finder, furthering your experience by allowing you to add a subscription to Google reader. Performing an acid test (acid3.com) yield's a healthy 93 / 100 for Dolphin HD and last but definitely not least, exiting Dolphin HD?s browser gives you the ability to clear you cache and or to clear your history. As a former HTC Hero user, I know far too well the need to clear the cache for any app and having this feature just adds to the list of pro?s Dolphin HD brings to the table.
I will say that Dolphin HD does come with a few draw backs, even if there not deal breakers for some it may just be the case for a few. For starters if you aren't at least rock'n Android 2.0 this it?s the browser (just the original dolphin for me please) for you. Unlike the Skyfire browser, you won't have access to flash-ish content so readily. Dolphin HD's (from my experiences) address bar seems to hang a bit while loading pages and could get in the way for those of us that are just a bit impatient and want the page loaded yesterday. The free version is ad supported; however this is easily remedied by simply supporting your developers! Finally, per Google?s request, Dolphin HD has had to remove the YouTube download function we?ve all come to love.
Let?s break it down:
Pros:
Tabbed browsing - Allows for a quick and seamless browsing experience
>Thumbnail / flick menu allows for a visual representation of your open tabs
>Multi-touch / Pinch-to-zoom functionality with double tap zoom allows you to experience pages on any size screen with ease
>Add-ons / browser extensions to further customize how your surf
Your bookmarks and history are easily accessed via menu button or by creating a new tab
>Share your pages across multiple options with ease
>RSS auto-detection, allows Dolphin HD to find RSS sources and subscription for Google Reader
>On close, you have the option to delete your cache and or your history keeping you Android device clean and private.
Cons:
>Per Google, the YouTube down-loader function has been removed.
>Only for Android Phones 2.0 and up, not much else to say but a tragic reality when dealing with Android devices and fragmentation.
>Not as flash friendly as other browsers
>Address bar seems to stick most often than not while pages load and can cause a bit of a hang when trying to surf
>Ad-support is back as with all free apps?.. want to shorten your con?s list? head over to your friendly Android App store and purchase the Dolphin HD license for $4.99 and support your developers!
All in all, when comparing the pro's and con's, you ultimately find Dolphin HD's experience boils down to your own experience, for me Dolphin HD has replaced my stock browser, give it a try and make up your own mind. Nothing has completely nailed it when it comes to browsing on my Android phone, but if you?re looking for the best browsing solution thus far, Dolphin HD has no close 2nd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T9q87dc0xk
For those looking to further enhance their web browsing experience on an Android device and more importantly how they view the web from that device, may find the list of options to be a bit overwhelming if not frustrating all together. Most if not all consumers have spent the better part of their lives browsing web pages on a home computer and as of late have come to enjoy tabbed browsing as well. As most smart phone consumers (myself included) have found, the seamless experience had on a home computer was all but lost to smart phone users, that is till now.
Available for Android 2.0 and above, Dolphin HD offered in both free and paid versions, is the first browser to bring tabbed browsing to the Android OS. Once installed, the first thing you?ll notice is how clean the user interface looks. You?re almost immediately drawn in, everything from the address bar to the favorites button is displayed exactly where you would imagine they would be. For those familiar with tabbed browsing at home know it has allowed for less clutter and n overall seamless experience on your typical desktop computer and Dolphin HD aims to do the same. In addition to the tabs, located above the address bar, a welcomed addition to navigating your opened pages come in two additional flavors. You may swipe the opened tabs from left to right and pick which window you?d like open or for a faster approach simply swipe your finger from left to right across the page to open a thumbnail view of your open tabs. Included with the thumbnail / flick viewer comes the ability to add a new page / tab, close all tabs, install an add-on (for example install a theme or service by Google) or cancel. Dolphin HD has incorporated multi-touch and our beloved pinch to zoom as well as another niche feature; "draw to go." With draw to go, you simply touch the given gesture area (represented by pointing finger) and with your own finger, draw the command rather than typing it. For instance, touching the draw to go area and then drawing the letter ?G? takes you directly to Google without the hassle of typing the entire address in the address bar. Dolphin HD has also incorporated an auto-detect RSS source finder, furthering your experience by allowing you to add a subscription to Google reader. Performing an acid test (acid3.com) yield's a healthy 93 / 100 for Dolphin HD and last but definitely not least, exiting Dolphin HD?s browser gives you the ability to clear you cache and or to clear your history. As a former HTC Hero user, I know far too well the need to clear the cache for any app and having this feature just adds to the list of pro?s Dolphin HD brings to the table.
I will say that Dolphin HD does come with a few draw backs, even if there not deal breakers for some it may just be the case for a few. For starters if you aren't at least rock'n Android 2.0 this it?s the browser (just the original dolphin for me please) for you. Unlike the Skyfire browser, you won't have access to flash-ish content so readily. Dolphin HD's (from my experiences) address bar seems to hang a bit while loading pages and could get in the way for those of us that are just a bit impatient and want the page loaded yesterday. The free version is ad supported; however this is easily remedied by simply supporting your developers! Finally, per Google?s request, Dolphin HD has had to remove the YouTube download function we?ve all come to love.
Let?s break it down:
Pros:
Tabbed browsing - Allows for a quick and seamless browsing experience
>Thumbnail / flick menu allows for a visual representation of your open tabs
>Multi-touch / Pinch-to-zoom functionality with double tap zoom allows you to experience pages on any size screen with ease
>Add-ons / browser extensions to further customize how your surf
Your bookmarks and history are easily accessed via menu button or by creating a new tab
>Share your pages across multiple options with ease
>RSS auto-detection, allows Dolphin HD to find RSS sources and subscription for Google Reader
>On close, you have the option to delete your cache and or your history keeping you Android device clean and private.
Cons:
>Per Google, the YouTube down-loader function has been removed.
>Only for Android Phones 2.0 and up, not much else to say but a tragic reality when dealing with Android devices and fragmentation.
>Not as flash friendly as other browsers
>Address bar seems to stick most often than not while pages load and can cause a bit of a hang when trying to surf
>Ad-support is back as with all free apps?.. want to shorten your con?s list? head over to your friendly Android App store and purchase the Dolphin HD license for $4.99 and support your developers!
All in all, when comparing the pro's and con's, you ultimately find Dolphin HD's experience boils down to your own experience, for me Dolphin HD has replaced my stock browser, give it a try and make up your own mind. Nothing has completely nailed it when it comes to browsing on my Android phone, but if you?re looking for the best browsing solution thus far, Dolphin HD has no close 2nd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T9q87dc0xk
