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Alternate Web Browser for iPhone?

ShiggyMiyamoto

ShiggyMiyamoto

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 29, 2004
620
31
Just outside Boston, MA.
Hey all. I was wondering whether an alternate web browser has been written for the iPhone. Safari is nice and all, but it's not "secure enough" for my bank's online banking server. While I can get in after closing their warning popup, it's not secure and I don't wanna have to close their popup each time.

I'm thinking along the lines of such browsers as Opera or FireFox, both of which are open source and in theory I think wouldn't be too hard to port over. I hope it appears on Installer.app soon. lol
 
wifi may not be secure, but why not edge? bank of america created a whole banking system for mobile phones it must be secure enough x_X
 
I bank all the time on my phone, and have had no problems. Just follow safe internet practices and you'll be fine.
 
It's surprising....the iPhone's browser far surpasses anything else on a mobile device, and still people aren't happy. Geez.......btw, Safari supports pretty much everything Firefox supports browser-wise.
 
It's surprising....the iPhone's browser far surpasses anything else on a mobile device, and still people aren't happy. Geez.......btw, Safari supports pretty much everything Firefox supports browser-wise.
Click to expand...

where are add-ons and google gears in safari?

i'm not unhappy with iphone, just curious about its open-source potential.

oh and gmail SUCKS on iphone
 
rajfantastic said:
where are add-ons and google gears in safari?

i'm not unhappy with iphone, just curious about its open-source potential.

oh and gmail SUCKS on iphone
Click to expand...
blame google, not apple. a lot of google apps and stuff don't work in desktop safari either. it's not apple's fault google doesn't code for all browsers.


and to the OP, just because something is open source doesn't mean it'll take 10 minutes to port it. something like a web browser is going to have platform dependent code involved, so FF for example would need to be made to not only run on this mobile OS X, but also on ARM CPUs. it's a lot more complicated than just typing 'make' and it's done.
 
Merlyn3D said:
It's surprising....the iPhone's browser far surpasses anything else on a mobile device, and still people aren't happy. Geez.......btw, Safari supports pretty much everything Firefox supports browser-wise.
Click to expand...

except flash :eek:

just wanted to put that out there.
 
ScottDrummer said:
except flash :eek:

just wanted to put that out there.
Click to expand...

I would expect getting flash to work on a mobile device with far less processing power and a different CPU architecture takes time. What's funny is you already have a mobile browser that far surpasses other and yet still you want more. Have patience...good things take time.
 
dalvin200 said:
all banks should be using https anyway, so transmitting data over wifi over a "secure" (ie, https) connection will encrypt the data..
Click to expand...

That is assuming the WiFi source is secure, too. It could log everything through it, or spoof https and your destination site. WiFi is NOT secure, and I would never use it for Banking.
 
aerospace said:
wifi may not be secure, but why not edge? bank of america created a whole banking system for mobile phones it must be secure enough x_X
Click to expand...

dalvin200 said:
all banks should be using https anyway, so transmitting data over wifi over a "secure" (ie, https) connection will encrypt the data..
Click to expand...

I am well aware of how https works and how EDGE and WiFi encryption works, but my money is not worth the convenience of using my phone to make transactions. I just don't want that information being transmitted through the air, encrypted or not. Call me loony, but I'd rather plug into the wall.

CAT5e is the best wireless security out there. ;)
 
blame google, not apple. a lot of google apps and stuff don't work in desktop safari either. it's not apple's fault google doesn't code for all browsers.
Click to expand...

i'm talking about mobilemail.app, not the browser version. i have no problems with gmail on safari, except its really hard to press the right links on iphone. mail app, however, blows.
 
The General said:
I am well aware of how https works and how EDGE and WiFi encryption works, but my money is not worth the convenience of using my phone to make transactions. I just don't want that information being transmitted through the air, encrypted or not. Call me loony, but I'd rather plug into the wall.

CAT5e is the best wireless security out there. ;)
Click to expand...

What about spyware and anti-virus protection?
 
mpuck972 said:
Fanboi reply of the day right there!
Click to expand...

I am by no means an Apple fanboi, in fact I'm downright critical of them for not having some sort of added functionality already, or not having 3rd party apps made official on the iPhone, but the one part of the iPhone that really does shine is the browser. That browser experience isn't easy to bring to the mobile platform, otherwise it wouldn't have taken this long and windows mobile devices would have had something similar long ago. The lack of 3G and a true SDK also has me swapping sims between the iPhone and my Treo 750.

All I'm saying is something like flash is not a trivial thing to put on a mobile device, especially when you're wanting to make sure it runs well. That's likely what the hold-up is.

Thanks for generalizing and dismissing my comments though, mpuck, I really appreciate it.:rolleyes:
 
Merlyn3D is just pointing out that no matter what you do, people will keep complaining. You can have a Mobile Safari with all the features anyone could want, and people will still complain. It's the nature of many, if not most, human beings.
 
Anybody that won't use wifi for banking has some serious paranoia issues, seriously get a girlfriend or lay off the smoke.
 
I've read through the forum and still cant determine if there is an alternate to safari...its not that i think safari is bad its that i cant access some of my online sales databases without internet explorer. I would like to hear if any body has any suggestions.
 
foodnerd said:
I've read through the forum and still cant determine if there is an alternate to safari...its not that i think safari is bad its that i cant access some of my online sales databases without internet explorer. I would like to hear if any body has any suggestions.
Click to expand...

Complain to the people in charge of the online sales databases for only supporting a web browser that complies to the least amount of web standards.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly happens when you try to use these websites in Mobile Safari?
 
i usually get a message that looks something like this :
You need Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2 or later to view this page correctly. Please download it and try again.
 
Merlyn3D said:
It's surprising....the iPhone's browser far surpasses anything else on a mobile device, and still people aren't happy. Geez.......btw, Safari supports pretty much everything Firefox supports browser-wise.
Click to expand...

To say that safari "far supasses anything else on a mobile device" is just not true. You are exposing your lack of experience of other softwares... Try Opera Mini, Opera Mobile, Thunderhawk, skyfire, picsell, etc. etc.

Safari is neat becasue it supports two finger gestures.

nid
 
I've just started using an iphone. Came from a HTC windows mobile 5 device (TyTn).

I have to say, iPhone Safari takes some getting used to, compared to WM5 Internet Explorer.

WM5 IE reformats the page to a long column to fit the screen, making it easy to open a page and start reading. This matches the original intent of the WWW, to provide content independently of presentation, allowing devices and users to change presentation to suit their needs.

And (IRRC) it has instant previous page.

iPhone Safari preserves the page layout, meaning you always see the designer's layout. It has its advantages, and it's prettier, but it means EVERY SINGLE page I go to, I have to poke about, resize, fob about etc to get it to the right size for reading. (e.g. BBC News, MacRumours etc) OK for some, but for me it's a hassle, when I just want content presented quickly in a readable form. And it clashes with the original vision of the WWW.

Also, it seems to do a full reload every time I go to a previous page, wich takes longer, and it forgets where I was on that page too, so I have to poke and enlarge all over again.

Just my $0.02. Wouldn't mind having a few more options for how safari deals with pages.
 
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