Android browsers

Howdy,

I was sitting here, getting sick of the default Chrome behavior on my Pixel 2 XL while browsing SBAF, and started wondering if the grass was greener on the other side. So I tested the top browsers (that I am aware of) to see what was what. I'm a bit of a security fan, and I specifically looked at the security options in the browsers. Some were good, others terrible.

This is just a brief impression of each, so... grain of salt, and all that. Also, if you don't like stream of consciousness / bullet points - tough titties. =P

If I were to give Chrome an overall grade of a C, how do I think the other browsers compare?

Opera - Overall grade: F- (Yes, that's right. F minus.)

• News feed is shit. TMZ style clickbait fuckery. (-)
• Settings options are limited. (-)
• Adblocker too agressive - blocked entire menu frame on SBAF site, with no way to correct it. (-)
• Not a fan of the bookmark system. (-)
• Did NOT stay logged in to SBAF after close / new tab. (-)
• Upload to imgur didn't refresh properly, didn't know when transfers were done. (-)
  
• Going fullscreen on embedded youtube vids = landscape only (na)
• Handled popups and login screen well. (+)
• Loads pages fast, scrolls well, overall good page UX. (+)

Spoiler: Pictures

Exactly what the f**k are you setting up that wasn't done during install?


I despise this "home" screen.


Killed the ad at the top of the SBAF window. I guess that means AdBlock is working.


Oops. AdBlock too much. I want my SBAF menu back please.

Firefox - Overall grade: D

• Laggy scrolling on "what are you listening to now" thread with tons of embedded content. (-)
• UX in pages not so good. (-)
• Apparently no pull-down to refresh page option. (-)
• Upload to imgur didn't refresh properly, didn't know when transfers were done. (-)
  
• Handled sbaf popup login ok. (+)
• Stayed logged in to sbaf after close / new tab (+)
• Full screen mode on embedded youtube content plays in both portrait and landscape (+)
  
• Good security options in settings menu. Needs better adblock ability. (+)

Spoiler: Pictures

Text formatting is a little weird, but ok.


Big, simple, homepage. Ok, but... Meh.


Location services are automatically on. Had to dig around to turn that off.

Edge - Overall grade: C+

• Does not automatically shift focus to SBAF logon popup. (-)
• Default security options not good. (-)
• Wants to send way too much data to Microsuck by default. (-)
• Stayed logged in to sbaf after close / new tab. (+)
• Embedded fullscreen youtube content = landscape only.
• Send page to other device feature is nice (+)
• Themes! Dark theme = teh win. (+)
• Uploaded images to imgur flawlessly, and did it FAST. The only browser to get this right. (+)
• Loads pages fast, scrolls well, overall very good page UX. (+)

Spoiler: Pictures

Clean home screen, a plus. Driven by MSN, a minus.


Bing. The sound you make when you realize this isn't Google.


Ok, time to test the SBAF log in... wait, what? Plain text is being transferred? Thanks for the security warning!


Ok, black theme and Google search. This feels much better.




Why am I sharing everything by default?! Come on... Give me opt-in, not opt-out.

Firefox Focus - Overall grade: Potato

• This has none of the above pluses or minuses, really. It's not built the same way.
• 100% about security. No frills. Bust out the tinfoil hats.
• It keeps *no* information - including logons, cookies, browsing data, you name it.
• If you clear data, you must log in again everywhere. It is VERY easy to clear data accidentally.
• Prohibits you from taking screen captures while browsing.
• Fast, clean, browses well.

Spoiler: Potato Pics

SECURITY!!!!!


No screen captures for you!


Why purple?

So, there are a ton of things Chrome does that annoys me. Opening embedded YouTube content in full screen mode gets wonky on most websites. Either the window doesn't scale to the video, or the video scales beyond the window. Opening a new tab without moving the page content is difficult. (It's mostly little shit that bugs me.) I actually find Chrome Beta to be a little better, as the address bar is moved to the bottom, and some navigation features seem to work a bit better. In both, the security options are fairly decent. It also has the best "home page" out of any of the browsers I've tested here - this is biased by the fact I've used it the longest though.

With that said, I took to the Edge browser faster than any of the others. It's the newest kid on the block, and seems to have quite a bunch of recent updates. I think it's actually quite good once you get the security features dialed in, search set to Google, and the theme dialed in the way you like it. The bookmark system isn't a pain in the ass. The home screen is close to the one Chrome gives you, and there are little built in things that are missing on any other browser - such as the not secure warnings on the login window. (Probably fixed once we go https: for the site? I hope so.)

Opera is a tangled mess of shit, imo. Didn't like it. Firefox had a lot of really nice menu options, security features, and can even load add-ons, but when it came to browsing pages with lots of embedded content, or sites like amazon where there was too much going on, it actually lagged. Scrolling doesn't happen at the same pace other browsers scroll, and I think this is actually a conscious design decision. It moves the screen less for each full swipe up or down than any other browser. It's not a negative, per se, but it is different and initially I found it to be annoying. It got the grade it did for lag and UX being sub-par.

Ok, so... it occurs to me I don't even know why I decided to post a review on these. It doesn't seem particularly helpful - anyone can download these and try them. I just needed something to do I guess. Enjoy. Have fun. Cya.

 

Nice reviews, Elnrik. If I was hot on one of these, I would check it out myself. Otherwise, it is much easier and less frustrating to read your experiences. Very much appreciated.

 

What are you smoking dude? Needs better adblock ability? Hint: UBlock Origin is the best adblocker bar none. It's the entire reason it's my main Android browser.

 

Yep, I use it at home. It's very good.

This is just the stock blocker. It got things wrong. That's no bueno in my book.

 

So install UBlock Origin. Apparently it's very good. (Seriously, do it. Totally worth it.)

 

Ok, installed.

Still laggy on heavily embedded content pages. Scrolling is still weird and feels unresponsive. No pull down to refresh.

Personal preference, I guess. Still a D grade.

 

Yeah, that youtube-heavy page is a nightmare- doubly so on mobile. That said, I think it's horrid on any browser on my phone, and it's hardly an old beater

 

I've been using Brave browser on Android and it's now my default browser (I haven't done extensive tests, just used Brave and Chrome, but I switched from Chrome as it was too slow/annoying). I've encountered a few minor issues, a few sites did not work correctly, but most issues have been fixed and I've been extremely happy with it - although I only do really basic forum lurking using my phone browser.

 

I don't care to browse on my phone and dislike Google Chrome. I use Google Fi to keep my monthly phone bill down to about $20. Where I live there are WiFi hot spots everywhere. I don't do much browsing from the phone but tend to just use AdBlock browser as it works as well as any other I have tried. At home it is Firefox with uBlock Origin and a few other privacy add-ons. I'm a old school laptop guy who uses a phone only when I have to.

 

I'm doing a search for "ublock origin" on the play store but don't see anything... am I just blind? I just got an Android tablet not too long ago so am still figuring this thing out.

 

It's a plug in for the Firefox browser. You have to use Firefox plugin store and search there.

It's also available for edge in Windows 10 from the Microsoft store.

Not sure if chrome has it or not. Doubt it. Maybe

 

uBlock Origin is available for Chrome on your laptop but not phone sorry.

 

Anyone ever try Naked Browser? I bought the Pro version a few years ago after trying it for a couple days and have never looked back. I pretty much despise everything about using a smartphone more than I have to, so it was welcoming to come across something that handles like I'm on a computer. Fast, sparse, full-featured configuration, and easy on my sensitive vampire-eyes.

Spoiler: pic

Mostly just use it for forums and Wikipedia at this point.

Spoiler: more pics

 

I hope im not the only one here that uses a Pi-Hole, a great great add on to any home network. Use it in addition with uBlock and you'll be set.

 

It is for desktop chrome. Mobile chrome does not support addons, sadly.

Open the three dots menu in the top right, go to Add-ons. "Browse all Firefox Add-ons" and search for "UBlock Origin". Make sure to install the one by "Raymond Hill" and not any of the dodgy offbrand soundalikes that pop up from time to time.

It should be pretty much good to go from first install. I wouldn't be inclined to use your new add-on powers to install many more than this one though. Mobile browsers need to be kept slim.

 

I've gone through the major browsers again recently as I changed phones, and have stuck with Opera.

Opera works fine with retaining login status with SBAF, and the menu frame. Some unusual UI quirks around tab management and scrolling make it much more palatable for me than other browsers.