[Q] Chrome vs stock browser - Stock's better! - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

I've been using Chrome beta since it came out - before I unlocked and installed the Virtuous Prime ROM. It was working better than the stock browser (less freezeups/stalls etc). Still wasn't working the way I'd hoped though. Decided yesterday to try the stock browser again. What a difference. Compared to the stock browser on Virtuous Prime, Chrome beta is a dog! Scrolling is much smoother on the stock browser, and rendering pages is fast as or faster. No annoying empty tabs when trying to search too!
I just assumed Chrome would be better, but I guess the beta's got a ways to go.
Anyone have Chrome working better than the stock?

agreed at this point stock is much better, but in time im sure chrome will be... they got some bugs to work out and alot of features to add. like user agent for starters until that is added i cant even think to try and use it... mobile view of sites is not gonna work for me.. but you gotta remember it's just in beta it will get better...
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app

Google Chrome is better than Stock whenever I'm on the train. I'm assuming it's handling the 3G communication differently. Not to mention it has a "Network action prediction" feature.
It's not stable yet, but pages load a lot faster with Chrome.

The important things for us prime owners will be keyboard support^^
Try ICS+ browser its free in the market - its improved stock browser with full keyboard support. Can only recommend it

Well no kidding that Stock is better than Chrome right now. Chrome is in beta, as in: it isn't finished.
Chrome is still missing a lot of the features that both the stock Android browser and Chrome on the desktop offer, however once Chrome comes out of beta I guarantee that it will replace the stock Android browser in official builds of Android.
For my money Boat Browser is better than Chrome beta and Android browser. It has the look and feel of Chrome, with most of the stock browser's features plus many features all its own. It is also faster and much more stable than either Chrome Beta or Android browser. If you want an improved browsing experience on the Prime I would seriously suggest giving it a try.

Related

[Q] GTab with Vegan best browser?

Is there a better browser for the Vegan 5.1 release? The Facebook website in particular has a problem with the bottom-docked chat bar scroll up the screen and getting in the way of games and posts.
Thanks!
Jim
I have seen the problem your talking about on Facebook. I haven't used any other browsers on it besides the default, an old version of fennec and the crashy veiwsonic one. When I get back home ill check out how fennec does on Facebook. I know dolphins a popular browser but I've never tried it. Does anyone know how it does on the gtab?
Decided to use my precious limited data on my Htc Aria, Xda app
I've been really happy with Dolphin HD on Vegan 5.1. The up and down gesture controls are pretty helpful.
There is also skyfire and xscope
Okay, I installed Dolphin on my Gtablet. It seems like a nice browser and a little more adapt for tablets than the regular android browser in froyo. It still dosnt seem to be better with the facebook chat bar. To tell you the truth I wasnt expecting the bar to work at all in any browser in android when i fist got my gtab. Im hoping for better browsers soon. If you take a look at the demo of the moto Xoom, It looks like they might have put chrome in honeycomb, if so it would be much better than any browser for android right now.
They are all sorta lacking
Skyfire has a nice feature in being able to easily switch between mobile and desktop rendering of a web page. I find their little toolbar at the bottom of the screen that lets you integrate with Facebook to be annoying and there's no way to turn it off. The tabbed browsing isn't very friendly. You have to access it from a button on the control bar which opens another screen to select the tab. I never did figure out how to close a tab. It is pretty speedy. It's the only one I tested that isn't compatible with my Netvibes homepage--I don't know why, so I don't know what other sites might trip it up.
For me, Xscope was noticeably slower than the others in rendering pages. It's tabbed browsing works well, more like a computer browser's would. This one seemed to be the best at keeping flash-based items framed where they are supposed to be in relation to the rest of the webpage. (The facebook chat bar still rides up on this one...it rides up on all of them.) I don't like the fact that you cannot save webpages/bookmarks as shortcuts on the device's desktop with this browser.
No reason to talk about Opera Mobile.
I am using Dolphin. The tabs are best of the bunch. Swipe right and the bookmarks show. You can save bookmarks as shortcuts on the desktop. It's not quite as fast as Skyfire, but faster than Xscope. It does get to acting flaky sometimes--like trying to enter a term into the search field on the XDA site here. I've had it shut down a few times. To me, this ones features and usability set it apart from the others.
I mainly use Dolphin HD but have also installed Dolphin Mini and I really like it on the Gtab.
There's also a newer browser named Miren Browser. Check the market for it. It supports full flash and has tab browsing. Pretty neat.
Scott
Miren and Dolphin HD are my "go to" browsers on this.
Miren just "looks" nicer for some reason then Dolphin HD. I tend to use Miren more for aesthetic purposes.
Either browser sometimes gives me download errors when I try to download. Once in a while (more often then not) I get the following error when trying to download: "Can't download as file size is unknown" and then it just quits.
Any one have any ideas how to fix that?
I'm also for Dolphin HD. Lately it's been FC-ing on me, but I'm not blaming Dolphin itself (I'll be repartitioning today).
Dolphin Mini, seems to be geared more towards the g-tab. I've tried several of the others and mini works best for me.
I just put vegan on my gtab but many of the applications wont show up on the market and when i find them via browser it says they are not compatable with my device ie launcher pro and any of the dolphin browsers. I love HD on my droidx and would love to have in on my gtab aswell
riverfenix729 said:
I just put vegan on my gtab but many of the applications wont show up on the market and when i find them via browser it says they are not compatable with my device ie launcher pro and any of the dolphin browsers. I love HD on my droidx and would love to have in on my gtab aswell
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All u have to do is look at the sticky that says READ HERE FIRST. its got a market fix that will let u access everything
Via TT
take a look at firefox. Was using Dolphin, but this is much faster.
I have been using dolphin browser hd. It has been working well on my g-tab
Swyped from my St0n3d VEGAn 1.0 Beta 5.1.1 G-Tab
On the G-Tab I have tried most of the browsers.
Dolphin HD is my favorite so far. I am really looking forward to their public beta of the tablet optimized version.
Skyfire is fast, but I HATE that bottom bar.
Firefox 4 is out for Android, but the website graphics are bad compared to others. Some type of optimizing I am guessing. Despite that it is still slow.
I need to try Miren. I have not had a chance yet.
Being a tablet as opposed to a phone I would love for them to just release full Chrome on it.
Dolphin HD has some nice features, but it seems to present a condensed version of my favorite daily newspapers. I've tried typing in the full url, but it changes it and won't seem to present the normal view, that the stock Vegan browser presents. (An example, AZcentral.com.) Anyone know of a fix. Meantime I will try Miren. Can't get firefox to download to my Viewsonic, as Google does not recognize it as a android device. (I heard that going back to stock rom will fix that??)
jeffhvt said:
Dolphin HD has some nice features, but it seems to present a condensed version of my favorite daily newspapers. I've tried typing in the full url, but it changes it and won't seem to present the normal view, that the stock Vegan browser presents. (An example, AZcentral.com.) Anyone know of a fix. Meantime I will try Miren. Can't get firefox to download to my Viewsonic, as Google does not recognize it as a android device. (I heard that going back to stock rom will fix that??)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably on the newspaper's web site, reacting to the fact that it is a mobile browser. Go in to the Dolphin settings and change the user agent to Desktop, and see if that helps.

Official Browser thread...

Can someone make this a sticky?
Since I've used my tablet, the one program/app I've kept switching and going back and forth has been the browser. Some do things well, while others do things just ok. I'd like to create this thread to list all browsers that work with the Transformer Prime tablet and list their strengths and weakness. This of course will be a "live" list and hopefully keep growing and be a good resource for lots of people. I just thought it would help. Since I'm no expert at all, I could at least start off with listing some of the browsers I use. Also, if this isn't even needed, let me know. No big deal.
Boat
Strengths -
Weakness -
Opera Mobile
Strengths -
Weakness -
Dolphin HD
Strengths - Gestures.
Weakness -
ICS 4 Stock
Strengths -
Weakness -
ICS+ 4 Stock
Strengths -
Weakness -
xScope
Strengths -
Weakness -
Firefox
Strengths -
Weakness -
Maxthon
Strengths -
Weakness -
Angel
Strengths -
Weakness -
Skyfire
Strengths -
Weakness -
Can you also put 'ICS Browser+' to the list?
Just interested to see people's opinion and reviews etc
Cheers.
I skip between ICS+ and Stock ICS
Maybe you would like to help with this? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1464268
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
I've been using Stock, Opera, and Dolphin HD, and so far I think I like Dolphin HD...
Dolphin HD just seems faster... could be mind tricks, but it does seem to load faster.
Opera, it's fast but I'm not used to the UI and don't really like it.
I love the stock "look" and the favorites button in the top right corner. If only I could combine Dolphin HD and the stock browser
*Edit*
Hmmm, guess it was false news? Can't seem to get it to work anymore atm... Crap.
Ive used Stock, Dolphin HD, Opera, and Boat Browser. I can say with full confidence that the Boat Browswer has been the best browsing experience. I've used this for 3 days now zero fc or locks and smoother/faster than any other ones ive tried and has full flash support.
Damn... I just updated opera and flash still isnt working for me. I'm using dolpin untill i can get flash to work with opera. Never tried boat. Might look into it.
newellj79 said:
Damn... I just updated opera and flash still isnt working for me. I'm using dolpin untill i can get flash to work with opera. Never tried boat. Might look into it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it says in change log log of opera that flash has issues with ICS 4.0.3. This new update took a step backwards as flash is not even in settings anymore. Of you go to a site that has flash, it'll say you need to install flash n enable Java.
demandarin said:
Yeah it says in change log log of opera that flash has issues with ICS 4.0.3. This new update took a step backwards as flash is not even in settings anymore. Of you go to a site that has flash, it'll say you need to install flash n enable Java.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, noticed the lack of flash settings as well...
But I think that when I go to youtube.com, click a flash video it opens in the youtube app but when I press back it goes back to opera and does play the video in the browser... Must check if I can reproduce it.
Amazing though that the opera team still hasn't got this working yet, insane actually.
I've tried stock, xscope and after that I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do the type of browsing I do on my laptop (speed wise)
Then I tried dolphin HD. It has a 'desktop / tablet mode ' that optimizes it for tablet size and unlocks more functionality.
Overall it looks nice and has good features it, but I promise you the only reason I use it is because it simply loads all my pages faster -never cannot view a page (which I would get random pages show as unavailable with stock despite knowing for a fact they work on other browsers) . Also It does not lock up nearly as much as stock did with the old wait or force close window (which upon hitting wait lead to complete functionality again dope)
Finding it hard to figure out a way to update the original post. I would love others to be able to input their own information, which makes it a real "live" document. Like sharepoint folks.
That's why I chose to use Google Docs, lol
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Guys, I have a problem. I've been messing around in Titanium Backup deleting bloat and I accidentally uninstalled the stock browser. I made backup, of course, but when I tried restoring it, it just went on working forever.
I've tried restarting the tablet, I've even done a factory reset but it didn't help. The browser is missing from my app drawer and the bookmarks widgets are not working.
I've checked the system/app folder with Root Explorer. The file named com.android.browser.apk is still there but there is no .odex file. Should there be one? I tried reinstalling the app from this apk but it doesn't work.
Any ideas what else I can try? Also, I'll be extremely grateful if someone can provide any browser related apk and odex files.
EDIT: I've solved it. I've got the deodexed Browser.apk from this thread, placed it in the system/app folder and restarted. It works now.
BTW, the ICS Browser+ does not work without the stock browser.
That belongs in it's own thread or broadcast in an IRC channel, you could also just use ICS Browser+.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
From my personal experience, I am getting a ton of lockups and freezes with both stock and ics +... Dolphin Pad seems sluggish... will try Boat next.
Sent from my Asus Transformer Prime
slaman said:
From my personal experience, I am getting a ton of lockups and freezes with both stock and ics +... Dolphin Pad seems sluggish... will try Boat next.
Sent from my Asus Transformer Prime
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't go wrong with boat IMO. Have been an opera user on my phones for a long time. Having never heard of boat browser I gave it a go on my prime and found it blows every other android browser out of the water. I enabled the desktop user agent and since have not even felt the need to try any other browser. In fact, boat is now on my phone also, its that good. Also looks much better than opera which I always thought was ugly but couldn't give it up due to its superior smoothness.
Anyways, until a real chrome browser is available for android (still dumbfounded it isn't, ffs Google!) I don't see myself replacing boat.

Chrome (beta) For ICS Released

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.android.chrome&rdid=com.android.chrome&rdot=1&pli=1
I'll try it out tonight when I get home.
Could someone check if extensions work? That would be awesome. (I'm still on 3.2 because I have TF101.)
edit: and how Google Docs work.
Not available in Ireland (Europe?) yet unfortunately!
Finally. Really hope that this will be a good browser that can take advantage of the hardware.
Was a little disappointed in how Primes browser speed and stability was with the stock browser.
Here the apk for us that don't live in the "right" country for the beta.
http://www.mediafire.com/?3xaxwd2xrn0rkgr
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
It is a Beta, so it's pretty unstable, from what I've seen so far. Also, there is no way that I can see to change to use agent to Desktop, which is pretty annoying.
Yeah, I wish there was a way to access the desktop version of pages. Either way I have been waiting for this since I switched to android. Yes its beta but I can't wait to see where Google takes this. Sucks I can't get it on my Skyrocket where mobile view would be better suited.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Ok, I installed it and here are my first impressions:
Good
- Bookmarks and stuff are synced at first-run
- URL bar is QUICK at giving search results and URL results.
- Switching tabs is instantaneous
- When there's lots of links close together and you try and touch one, it'll pop-up a zoomed window so you can accurately tap the right link. Cool! (tried it on news.bbc.co.uk)
Bad
- Pages don't load super quick and panning while loading is jittery
-- Once they're loaded is pleasurably smooth.
---Sometimes when panning heavier pages (like engadget.com) it will take a couple seconds to load tiles, so you'll have white parts of page.
- No way to set User Agent (at least not from my few minutes of poking around)
- Can't play flash videos (tried on news.bbc.co.uk)
That's what I got so far. Gotta get back to work!
Someone try about:debug in the address bar and see if any additional options show up, just like in the stock browser.
yumms said:
Someone try about:debug in the address bar and see if any additional options show up, just like in the stock browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it, it keeps rerouting me to chrome://debug/, and then saying "this webpage is not available.
Won't use as default until someone discovers how to change the User agent, which I'm sure won't take long. Maybe Chrome Browser + will be released by the guy who made the ICS + browser? However, I love the tab interface, and it has been running very smooth for me thus far. It is indeed faster than the stock browser. At first scrolling can bug and make everything on the screen disappear, but eventually it scrolls very smoothly and fast. is silky smooth and hasn't been jittery or freezing for me yet, and omnibar is fast to populate.
Definitely a huge improvement! Love it!
Veddy Nice
Installed immediately. Was coming here to post about it, and 9 replied already. I love this community!
Agreed with everyone so far, it doesn't do Desktop for user agent, which is a PITA, but it should be figured out soon. Another CON I noticed is that I can't login to facebook for some reason.
I hate android's facebook app on the prime. It sucks. But when I enter my password, the page resets while entering a capital B. Shift B on the hardware keyboard seems to be refreshing the page, even in the password field. I can enter a capital "L", but my password doesn't contain any Ls
Heres a picture of the iPhone 4s browsermark score on iOS 5 and some other devices.
GNex ICS Stock Browser.
Now GNex on ICS with Chrome.
Asus TFP ICS Stock Browser.
Asus TFP ICS Chrome Browser.
We can see that on tegra 3 there isnt much of a improvement according to the benchmark. But on the GNex there were HUGE improvements.
I don't see any option to install Extensions??? "Sorry, your operating system is not supported just yet".
and no Flash
By far the most promising browser. I have tried just about all of them and they all have their good points. I know we have the user agent options in most browsers but to be honest i'd just like a desktop browser on the prime and forget about the mobile sites.
I use chrome all the time so if we can have chrome on android that's definitely the way I will go.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
dandmcd said:
Won't use as default until someone discovers how to change the User agent, which I'm sure won't take long. Maybe Chrome Browser + will be released by the guy who made the ICS + browser? However, I love the tab interface, and it has been running very smooth for me thus far. It is indeed faster than the stock browser. At first scrolling can bug and make everything on the screen disappear, but eventually it scrolls very smoothly and fast. is silky smooth and hasn't been jittery or freezing for me yet, and omnibar is fast to populate.
Definitely a huge improvement! Love it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not going to happen unless the Chrome for Android code is rolled into Chromium, plus it may not be legal to use that name.
Now Chromium++ For Android, maaaybe !
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
The code will be added to Chromium. Google already said that. So we might see some great browsers soon!
Until they make the same pop out side controller the stock browser has - Quick Controls - I will not use.
No Flash support, but I don't care 1 bit about that.
Chrome is not open source project. No1 will make version "+" of Chrome browser. Maybe in future google will release menu with browser agents.
No flash support - adobe said that will not release flash for chrome. Rest of browsers will be supported by adobe. http://www.androidcentral.com/new-browser-chrome-doesnt-support-dying-plug-flash
JAVA support !!
Imba bookmarks sync.
Fast but when will load full page.
Gmail, maps and others woorks good in browser.
No lag text input.
U can move position tabs by drag and drop like in PC chrome.
Not smooth like stock ICS browser.
Pages are to bigggg and is not possible to change it...looks like 800x600 resolution on PC with 20" .
Wysłane z mojego Transformer Prime TF201 za pomocą Tapatalk
User agent
I found this page in Chrome: chrome://chrome-urls/
I tried all options, but found no user agent config. Maybe someone else can figure this out?
Just done a first impressions video on this. Ultra fast browser but obviously needs work on it as useless for tablets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBHGpfzXr2M
P.S. how do you embed videos? The youtube video button doesn't seem to work.

[Q] browser recommendations

What browsers are you all using? Why do you like it. I was using stock for a while, and recently switched to opera, but i am finding it quirky and a little flaky.
Depends on what your needs are. If you want a quick, touch based interface, stick with Opera. The UI just got updated and it's a lot easier. It can also download through filehosts. Otherwise, if you're using an external mouse, try chrome beta or maxthon. They have small, hard to touch buttons, but the mouse makes it feel more natural. Chrome is still in beta though and it crashes rarely.
I don't like, on opera, how often when I click on the page, it zooms. I also had several posts that I did on facebook that showed up there, but when I used another browser they were not there. There are some other issues that don't come to mind now.
jdeoxys said:
Depends on what your needs are. If you want a quick, touch based interface, stick with Opera. The UI just got updated and it's a lot easier. It can also download through filehosts. Otherwise, if you're using an external mouse, try chrome beta or maxthon. They have small, hard to touch buttons, but the mouse makes it feel more natural. Chrome is still in beta though and it crashes rarely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What UI elements did they change in Opera? I keep wanting to switch, but I utterly can't stand not having visible tabs on top.
Additionally, the stock browser and ICS+ have spoiled me beyond return with site specific desktop agent mode. I think that is my most critical feature at this point.
I really like Boat Browser. Very fast, simple but very configurable interface and options, stable, and supports Flash.
irishtexmex said:
What UI elements did they change in Opera? I keep wanting to switch, but I utterly can't stand not having visible tabs on top.
Additionally, the stock browser and ICS+ have spoiled me beyond return with site specific desktop agent mode. I think that is my most critical feature at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Extremely minor, if you click on an X, it will close instead of having to click it twice.
Try Chrome beta!
Send from my Gt I9100 & my Asus TP 64GB
I like chrome but no flash support. Granted I don't need flash all that much so it it generally fine to use even with fingers. I don't know why someone said it has small buttons. If I need flash I just use the stock browser. I don't know why everyone insists on NOT using it. I like chrome because I can access my desktop bookmarks and that pretty much the only reason.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
I've been using Boat browser, since it didn't crash that much, but have been lately switching back to ICS+ since I like the quick controls.
I've been using Boat Browser most of the time since it supports Flash, desktop mode works for most sites and I can easily adjust the fonts for my dang old eyes.
ICS Browser +
Only browser not to force close on me yet. Absolutely love it. Shame i cant use it on my phone which has gingerbread.
Maxthon Browser
I've been happy with Maxthon. Never heard of it until I ran across it in the app store. Redraws are very fast, autosizes to wide pages, has gestures, etc. Very few add-ons, but seems to do the job. I have version 1.5
Another vote for Boat, and I think I've tried all of them.
But the best is doing a remote desktop and using Firefox on Windows.
Since .13 update i am using stock browser. It is far more stable and pretty fine. I have chrome, Firefox, opera and dolphin inhaled. The second preferred is dolphin.
Had some keyboard issues with Chrome Beta, so sticking with the stock browser: seems stable.
Prefer the Chrome bookmarking though.
FG
Opera mobile used to be good but now it crashes all the time.I suggest Boat browser & Dolphin HD.
I kinda swap between Opera and Chrome although i will probably go straight to Chrome as soon as it's out of beta cause it's hella fast at the moment and will probably just get faster. The only thing I don't get is why they didn't release it earlier.
I use Opera if I want to 'chrome-to-phone' and download something, otherwise I use Chrome for everything else.

Brilliant Boat Browser

If you have not tried the Boat Browser then you are missing out on a great experience.
Not only does this browser support Flash, but it also includes a really good password manager, bookmarks speed dialer and full screen mode.
If you want a Windows browser experience on Android then this browser provides it.
I've used Boat extensively and while it's pretty damn good it really can't hold a candle to Ocean Browser as far as rendering speed and scrolling speed. Ocean is essentially the AOSP browser, but unlike AOSP, it can be found on the Play Store and you don't have to be rooted to run it.
digitalrelic said:
I've used Boat extensively and while it's pretty damn good it really can't hold a candle to Ocean Browser as far as rendering speed and scrolling speed. Ocean is essentially the AOSP browser, but unlike AOSP, it can be found on the Play Store and you don't have to be rooted to run it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the Ocean browser and it is fast. However it crashes when you try to play video on full screen and it keeps losing the Desktop mode. It also lacks a Password manager and Speed dialer, which is probably why it is fast, because it is not a fully featured browser.
I have the Ocean browser as a backup, but so far the Boat browser copes with everything.
I particularly like the password manager which fills-in my login details and the speed dialer where I keep all my bookmarks rather than use the tablet home screen.
I personally like AOSP and Chrome (Chrome on stock ROM, AOSP on anything else). I rely on Google Sync, and I just like having "stock" browsers I guess (Chrome is stock on stock; AOSP is (usually) stock on anything else).
Haven't really had any want to use a 3rd-party browser yet. Even on stock Chrome hasn't disappointed me (I hear horror stories of crashes and slowness from others, but I can't recall me having any crashes, and performance is very acceptable, for what I view anyway).
My mom's Galaxy Prevail has Boat Browser on it though (default by ROM creator). Works alright I suppose (or at least I haven't found a need to switch to anything else ).

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