Previously, I had reviewed Opera Mobile Browser for tablets which I liked but didn’t think it would replace my stock browser. Today, I will review Dolphin Browser for Pad which I believe does have what it takes for everyday browsing despite being in beta. I’ve also tested Dolphin Browser HD for phones which does work on the tablet but it was a far inferior experience compared to the tablet version. Let’s take a look at the details of Dolphin for Pad browser.
One obvious difference when using the Dolphin browser is that it’s very gesture based compared to the stock browser. You can complete many standard task using on-screen gestures. Swiping to the right side of the screen brings up a sidebar of your bookmarks and folders while the left side reveals your tab list. The sidebar tab list is very useful and easy way to switch between tabs or close and open new tabs. Dolphin has also built a unique gesture swipe feature to help with faster navigation. Clicking on the play button at the top right of the screen enters gesture swipe mode. Here you can for example make a “V” shape that will take you to the bottom of the page. Making a “backward arrow” will take you back while an “N” opens up a new tab. All the gesture can be customized or changed and you can also add your own gesture. Very cool and easy way to navigate the web. Checkout out the pics below for a demonstration.
There are many other useful features in Dolphin like automatic resizing of web pages to fit the screen. Double tapping on any part of the screen not only zooms in but also resizes the screen. There is an option for full-screen mode that removes the tabs and address bar. You can choose to view pages in desktop or mobile mode through the setting which is critical for tablets. Flash is handled with options to turn it off, on, or on-demand. There is a smart address bar which auto-completes URL’s and brings up bookmarks and browsing history. One issue is that the address bar only searches Google with no options for other search engines. This I would think will be addressed once they are out of beta. The browser is also very customizable with themes and add-on. One of the more useful add-on is read later that allows off-line reading of web pages. Still, I found the list of add-on to be good but not currently enough. Hopefully it will be significantly expanded in the future.
Overall, I really enjoyed using the Dolphin Browser due to its speed and many custom features. The app is in beta and does have some bugs but I found to be very functional. I’ll be switching to Dolphin Browser for my everyday web surfing. How about you?
You can download the app from the Android Market.
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