iOS default browser

[Munky]

ipad has it on ios 5. screen is too small on iphone. what's so hard about pushing that button in the lower right to switch tabs/windows?

Every other phone browser worth mentioning has tabbed browsing. This is nothing more than an example of Apple stupidity.

 

[Oyeve]

Well, it is a tiny screen. Maybe if apple got its thumb out its ass they would give users some options. But they don't work like that. They assume that as long as you can get to a web page you will be happy.

 

[Kev]

oh no, i'm going to go blind by looking at ads

i personally rarely notice them even on a laptop unless it's something i'm interested in

private browsing is available via free apps that ride on safari
drop box i don't care about

Actually disabling ads can help speed up page loads when browsing over 3g.

 

[Kev]

i don't care what the metal content of my screwdriver is, why would i care about a browser. it opens web pages OK, good enough for me. i've used IE since version 3 or so along with netscape navigator. browsers are commodities now. 99% of people don't care as long as it does basic tasks.

apple is catering to the 99% and allowing apps for the other 1% of niche users

omg, you just lost any credibility you may have once had.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

As much as I hate the fact that Apple doesn't let you do certain things, the stock browser completely steamrolls Android. So while on Android I feel like I *need* Opera mobile at times, or Dolphin HD, I don't mind using Safari.

omg, you just lost any credibility you may have once had.

Come on, IE was the browser of choice before Firefox started gaining traction amongst enthusiasts in 2004.

 

[Kev]

As much as I hate the fact that Apple doesn't let you do certain things, the stock browser completely steamrolls Android. So while on Android I feel like I *need* Opera mobile at times, or Dolphin HD, I don't mind using Safari.



Come on, IE was the browser of choice before Firefox started gaining traction amongst enthusiasts in 2004.

Yes but admitting the fact that you used IE since v3 (when v4, 5 and 6 were absolute abominations) precludes you from having a valid opinion on web browser choice.

 

[manly]

Why has apple not yet made it possible to change your default browser without jailbreaking?

I personally think safari is terrible. Atomic browser is by far the best browser for iOS but I still have apps opening links in safari.

Wasn't microsoft sued for locking people into IE in windows? What's the difference here?

well to go OT and answer your question, the difference is that Microsoft had an iron-clad monopoly on desktop PCs.

Why wouldn't AWB have almost the same performance levels as Safari? I thought they use the same rendering engine, which excluding any changes (pre-processing the source, removing ads, etc.) should make them about the same.

When iOS 4.3 came out with the Nitro JS engine, only Safari got the improved performance. Even home screen Web bookmarks did not, as they opened a different binary than Safari.app. There was blogosphere hoopla at the time, but this was essentially a security precaution because of the way Safari was marking code pages as read-writable (they didn't want to extend those escalated privileges to any app using WebKit).

So the side effect was Safari had the latest JavaScript engine, while other apps calling WebKit did not. I do not know if this issue was fixed in iOS 5.

Yes but admitting the fact that you used IE since v3 (when v4, 5 and 6 were absolute abominations) precludes you from having a valid opinion on web browser choice.

not at all, it was either MSIE 3/4 or Netscape Communicator, pick your poison.

 

[Red Storm]

As much as I hate the fact that Apple doesn't let you do certain things, the stock browser completely steamrolls Android. So while on Android I feel like I *need* Opera mobile at times, or Dolphin HD, I don't mind using Safari.

When I had my iP4 I *needed* Atomic Web Browser because it gave me options that Apple didn't deem necessary in stock Safari (most notably tabbed browsing). I faced a similar problem in Android, and so I got another browser. Android was nice enough to let me make the new browser my default for all web browsing. Apple not allowing these simplest of features is what annoys me with iOS.