Best NON-safari browser for iPad? POLL

[filmbuff]

When is Opera Mobile going to be available for the iPad? It's great on my phone.

 

[laurenr]

Looks like icab and atomic are the big ones..for some reason the free version of atomic hurts my eyes...is it just me? I imagine it is no different in the paid version..?

Also, would those who have tried icab and atomic and terra and the rest tell me which will be able to do all of the below the best/smoothest (some features are not articulated on the web at all and in some browsers they Are not well implemented):

can download files to dropbox
Can open/view docs and PDFs
Ad blocker
Private mode
Has search/find feature allowing you to click go to next word sequentially
Can save passwords like safari/ autofill
Has suggestions when you type in google search bar like safari
Bookmark bar

Edit: forgot to add--sometimes it's a pain to open a background tab in terra by long pressing because it doesn't detect it so I have to keep trying...do any of the other browsers have this problem?

Icab does all of the above extremely well, including opening a link in a background tab. I also find the incorporated modules extremely useful, eg. Evernote, Instapaper, Goodreader, etc. (similar to what you would find in a desktop browser extension.)

Another cool feature, is that today I discovered I could upload/attach pictures to my forum posts directly from my iPad - have not been able to do this with any other Browser, such as Safari or Atomic. This new discovery is especially useful, as I belong to several types of forums.

 

[MasonH]

Debates of Safari aside, which is the best alternative web browser for your iPad? Please leave comments on why you think your browser is the best. If your browser isn't listed please identify it! We all want to learn what's the best and why!

I use Mercury now as it has all the bells and whistles of Atomic but actually has an.... AD BLOCKER!!!

 

[zweigand]

I use Mercury now as it has all the bells and whistles of Atomic but actually has an.... AD BLOCKER!!!

Atomic has an Ad Blocker too.

 

[archdelux]

Icab does all of the above extremely well, including opening a link in a background tab. I also find the incorporated modules extremely useful, eg. Evernote, Instapaper, Goodreader, etc. (similar to what you would find in a desktop browser extension.)

Another cool feature, is that today I discovered I could upload/attach pictures to my forum posts directly from my iPad - have not been able to do this with any other Browser, such as Safari or Atomic. This new discovery is especially useful, as I belong to several types of forums.

bought icab..works perfectly!

Only thing is that in order to download a word doc or PPT to my dropbox folder, I have to first open it in quickoffice and then use quickoffice to move it to dropbox... when I try downloading those files directly to dropbox, it only donwloades the webpage and not the file itself.. (it works for PDFs though..)

 

[laurenr]

bought icab..works perfectly!

Only thing is that in order to download a word doc or PPT to my dropbox folder, I have to first open it in quickoffice and then use quickoffice to move it to dropbox... when I try downloading those files directly to dropbox, it only donwloades the webpage and not the file itself.. (it works for PDFs though..)

Do you have the Goodreader App? It has the ability to download a file directly from a specific URL, and has Dropbox intergration, also many, many other features.

 

[MasonH]

Atomic has an Ad Blocker too.

Ahh good to know. They must not offer it in the demo. I notice icab also has it.

 

[TroyBoy30]

what about skyfire?

 

[toxotis70]

Icab does all of the above extremely well, including opening a link in a background tab. I also find the incorporated modules extremely useful, eg. Evernote, Instapaper, Goodreader, etc. (similar to what you would find in a desktop browser extension.)

Another cool feature, is that today I discovered I could upload/attach pictures to my forum posts directly from my iPad - have not been able to do this with any other Browser, such as Safari or Atomic. This new discovery is especially useful, as I belong to several types of forums.

How did you did that ?
I have icab but i cant find the way...

 

[laurenr]

[/B]

How did you did that ?
I have icab but i cant find the way...

I discovered this quite by accident, and it's really quite simple:
1)Click on "manage attachments" icon and be sure to open this link in a SEPERATE TAB; >Click "Select File". A popup will appear, select the "photos" icon, bottom right corner and scroll to the album that holds the picture you want to post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=281507&stc=1&d=1302904061

2)Enter random letters in box labelled "Upload file from a URL". > Click upload button.

3)Attached pic will show under "Current Attachments". Click, hold, and select "Copy Address".

4)Go back to your post tab (message window) and hit "paste". Check with preview option that picture has been posted. (see pic below that I uploaded from my iPad photo album:

https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=281509&stc=1&d=1302904286

Voila! your uploaded picture appears!
Click on both pics to see details clearly.








https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=281505&stc=1&d=1302903593

 

[toxotis70]

Thank you.... Nice!

 

[archdelux]

Do you have the Goodreader App? It has the ability to download a file directly from a specific URL, and has Dropbox intergration, also many, many other features.

no, i don't have goodreader.. If only it had a way to highlight text via stylus/finger instead of selecting it...

But if I were to use goodreader in the way you said, wouldn't it be the same number of steps? ie I would have to open goodreader and then paste the link i copied from icab..?

in terms of file organization and managing files in dropbocx, quickoffice works great! Does goodreader let me do something more (other than the PDF editor)?

 

[laurenr]

no, i don't have goodreader.. If only it had a way to highlight text via stylus/finger instead of selecting it...

But if I were to use goodreader in the way you said, wouldn't it be the same number of steps? ie I would have to open goodreader and then paste the link i copied from icab..?

in terms of file organization and managing files in dropbocx, quickoffice works great! Does goodreader let me do something more (other than the PDF editor)?

Not having access to Quickoffice, I cannot be sure of all its features. Goodreader has an interesting feature that would involve only one step for downloading, say a PDF. For example Apple has their manuals posted on their website; the Ipad manual is located at the URL:"http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/ipad_2_user_guide.pdf".

Now, if I was in iCab, all I need to do is type the letter "g" in front of the "http" section at the beginning of the URL in the address bar. It would therefore look like this:
"ghttp://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/ipad_2_user_guide.pdf".

As soon as I hit the enter button, iCab swings away, straight to the Goodreader app, which will then immediately download that PDF. This should work on any webpage you browse to.

Good reader also has the ability to read/display an amazing amount of file formats, from Word,.PPS to Images, to movies,audio, etc. You can also connect to your desktop computer wirelessly to send or receive files from your computer to the iPad. The document would then appear in your Goodreader "cabinet", where you can open and then export it to any other applicable app, (if you don't wish to view it in Goodreader).

Hope that makes sense.

 

[tjcampbell]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

Atomic Web Broswer. For sure.

 

[archdelux]

Hope that makes sense.

It does; thanks!

But it is still the same issue..one extra step to get it into dropbox..quick office works similarly.

Basically I was just wondering if I could (within icab itself) direct where in my dropbox folder a download was going..

 

[Antfer]

Awb.

 

[laurenr]

It does; thanks!

But it is still the same issue..one extra step to get it into dropbox..quick office works similarly.

Basically I was just wondering if I could (withinicab itself) direct where in my dropbox folder a download was going..

Actually, you can direct iCab to a specific folder within your dropbox. For example, I created a folder called "URLS" in my Dropbox. I then "linked " iCab to that particular folder in the iCab tools setup:



Note in the pic - my dropbox linked folder is the one labelled "URLS".

 

[archdelux]

Actually, you can direct iCab to a specific folder within your dropbox. For example, I created a folder called "URLS" in my Dropbox. I then "linked " iCab to that particular folder in the iCab tools setup:

View attachment 281526

Note in the pic - my dropbox linked folder is the one labelled "URLS".

yeah, thanks for the explanation and pic.. i have a folder designated there, but dont always want files to be sent to the same folder... just wondering if there was a way to select a particular folder each time i download a file... a brief search online makes it seem that there is not a way, but it would be great if u guys had found a workaround..

 

[laurenr]

yeah, thanks for the explanation and pic.. i have a folder designated there, but dont always want files to be sent to the same folder... just wondering if there was a way to select a particular folder each time i download a file... a brief search online makes it seem that there is not a way, but it would be great if u guys had found a workaround..

You could use the service http://sendtodropbox.com/. This give you an "email address" to your Dropbox, but a file/web page sent this way will always land in your Attachments folder.

 

[steadysignal]

sounds like it is time to try atomic and icab. i have been languishing too long under safari...

 

[josun]

Recently I've been changing options on social websites to use https protocol, however, I found out last night that out of all the mentioned Browsers, except iCab, only terra and perfect browser would handle https so those are my choices for the moment. If I had to choose one it'd be the perfect browser.

 

[jjk454ss]

I tried both iCab and Atomic when I got the iPad 1, but kept using Safari because of bookmark syncing with MobileMe. Is there any way to keep bookmarks synced with either of these browsers and Safari on my MBP?

 

[MasonH]

Actually, you can direct iCab to a specific folder within your dropbox. For example, I created a folder called "URLS" in my Dropbox. I then "linked " iCab to that particular folder in the iCab tools setup:

View attachment 281526

Note in the pic - my dropbox linked folder is the one labelled "URLS".

Does icab have the option to cover the upper Apple status bar (battery, etc) to save more real estate?

I ask because it already uses a tad more space than Mercury for the 3 main sections I need on top... Address bar, bookmarks bar and tabs.

Mercury has this option so I wondered If other browsers offer it.

Thanks

 

[joec1101]

Recently I've been changing options on social websites to use https protocol, however, I found out last night that out of all the mentioned Browsers, except iCab, only terra and perfect browser would handle https so those are my choices for the moment. If I had to choose one it'd be the perfect browser.

Not correct - iCab and Atomic both (probably others as well) handle https. I just tested iCab and Atomic on a few different web sites using the https protocol and they work just fine.

 

[Sounds Good]

I just got an iPad yesterday so this thread is helpful.

How much different is the free version of Atomic (which I currently use on my iPhone) vs the paid version of Atomic?

Thanks.