Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
DeveloperAppleAlexander ClaussRPA Tech, INCBoris Stock (Twitter; Apptism)Dong-Wook KimNathaniel HermanRactorBugeyeMatthias GasserMichal WagnerAgemarks TechnologiesOpher LieberSEUNGHOON YEONVivek Javvaji (Ingenious Creations)Hung DuongEric James / SOPODSJinHee ParkHyo ByunHyorim Kim
Pricen/a$2$1$1$1$2$1$1; Lite version (still at 1.3) exists with the restriction of 5 bookmarks at most and no tabs at all$1$1Currently, free ($1 otherwise)$1$1$1 (70% rebate)$5$1$1$1Free
Last updatedn/a05/15/200904/28/200905/20/200905/20/200906/02/200906/18/200906/18/200905/31/200905/11/200905/27/200901/28/200905/26/200906/05/200906/02/200904/21/200905/22/2009n/tn/t
Landscape support?++++; Settings / Favorites icons grayed out in LS mode, though+++++- (!)+++++++ (it has a dedicated button on the command bar for rotation; that is, rotation isn’t based on the accelerometer at all)+-
Lock orientation?- + (in system-level Settings; see Other / Orientation)-+-+ (available from Settings, which can be accessed by tapping the screen with three fingers)-+ (in Settings)+ (double swipe upwards)n/a (no LS mode)+ (separate icon for this on the maximized controller) +++ (separate icon for this on the toolbar - could have been better when put in some kind of a Settings menu)--+ (see above)+ (in Settings)n/a
Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
Tab / multidocument support++-+++-+ (not in old, Lite version!)-+- (!)- (!)+- (!)+- (!)-- (!)- (!)
How many taps to switch between tabs?SeveralGood: one tap to bring up list of tabs, another one to select the wanted oneGood: one tap (and also one tap to bring up the full list of them + another tap to select the page)Same as with Safari; no double swipes to switch them, unlike with e.g, Journey. Note that activating a thumbnail requires a double-tap, unlike with Safari.One (dedicated "fast forward" icon)Easy: dedicated prev/next icons or swiping with two fingers left/right; the latter also works in full screen moden/a2 (there’s a tab list, accessible with one tap only)n/aBoth are concurrently visiblen/an/aAll four are visible by default; switching between them takes only few taps (minimizing the actual tab if it's maximized and maximizing another by just tapping its maximize icon)n/aDedicated arrows (two) on the bottomn/an/an/an/a
Open links in background tabs (no need to switch back to continue reading the current page while the other is still loading)-+ (in Settings, “Open tabs in background” must be enabled anlong with “New tab” as the default target, unless you use a short tap to get to the default context menu)Link collection allows for this; however, the bad memory usage mean you won’t make use of this.- (combined with the several taps needed to switch back, this is pretty annoying. Note that Settings has a switch (which is, by default, on), “Switch to a new Tab”. If you disable it, the browser doesn’t switch to the new tab when you open a link in a new tab; however, they aren’t downloaded in the background either. That is, when you do switch to them, you still have to wait for them to load.--n/a-n/a-n/an/a-n/an/tn/an/tn/tn/t
Default "open to" definable?-+ (Settings / Open Links to same / other domains)-Excellent: (Settings / Tabs): Open in the same / a new tab etc., this depending on the target URL (whether it's in the same site etc.)--n/a-n/a-n/an/a-n/a-n/an/an/an/a
Memory use: does it keep all opened pages in memory; test suite results- / + (!!); 4; upon loading the fifth, the previous four were all mapped out+; tested until 7/8 pages; after loading the 7th / 8th (which took slightly / much more than twice the time, 16s / 50s, of loading previous pages), the interface became very sluggish and switching to Landscape has resulted in an immediate crash (tested twice)-, even under OS3.0; 1 only (upon loading the second, the first was mapped out)+; all 8 rendered OK – impressive!+; was able to read 5 but immediately crashed after starting to step over them after having finished loading+; was able to read 10 but immediately crashed after starting to step over them after having finished loading the 10thn/a-: max. 4 concurrent instances (exactly like Safari) – but, at least, doesn’t seem to crashn/a+n/an/a+n/a+n/an/an/an/a
Test page loading time36s / 15…2018/ 7…8 until you hit 7 or 8 pages, when it dramatically increases and the browser becomes highly unstable – see above1413 first; after that, it pauses a bit and continues loading forever. However, the content is fully downloaded and rendered after 13 secs.15 / 614 / 712 / n/a13 / 7 to stop the “loading”sign; however, the full page needed considerably more time to fully loadn/an/tn/an/an/tn/an/tn/an/an/an/a
Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
Can you select where to open it in some kind of a runtime context menu?- / + (upon long-pressing)+ (if you enable this in settings; see “Ask” in Open Links to same / other domains. Note that you need short-taps (and not long ones!) to activate this – long taps access Safari’s own menu, without the option to open in new tabs)If Link queue mode is active (see the AppStore help for more on this), all taps on links are queued and only served when you do switch to another tab; that is, you read the current page fully, without having to reload it all the time and just enqueue the links on it.+-+: long-tap: “open in new tab” menun/a-n/aTapping a link in the upper pane brings up the page in the lower one.n/an/a-n/a-n/an/an/an/a
Titles of all tabs easily accessible?-+ (default: tapping the Tabs icon brings up this list)+ (excellent!)- (same interface as Safari)+ (Settings icon / Show All Tabs)-n/a+ (one tap)n/a- (not needed, though: both visible)n/an/a- (but you see all the four tabs on the same screen so it's not that big a problem)n/a-n/an/an/an/a
Max. number of tabs810+Several8?severaln/a5 (!)n/a2n/an/a4n/a?n/an/an/an/a
Search: Find in page? If not, compatible with my scriptlet?- / ++ (highlights all occurrences in yellow); accessible via the Search icon and selecting “Search in current page”+: highlights all hits (there's no next / previous switch, though)- / - (no URL modding support for favorites; direct javascript URL’s in the address field not accepted)- / - (no URL modding support for favorites; direct javascript URL’s in the address field not accepted)- / - (nothing happens when you click)- / - (no URL modding support for favorite at all)- / - (puts a http:// before all scriptlets, rendering them all useless)- / - (“The URL can’t be shown”)- / n/a- / n/a- -+ (with SpotLight; a bit slow; highlights, just like Air Browser but uses far bigger, easier-to-spot characters, particularly with zoomed-out page)-----
Built-in Web search engine support?Google / Yahoo; you can switch between the two in (system-level) Settings / Safari / Search EngineGoogle, Yahoo, Lycos Wiki + eBay; in addition, you can add your own search enginesGoogleGoogle, dedicated icon to the right of the address barGoogleGoogle-GoogleGoogle; preferred language can be changed in system-level setting---; the Google bookmark is, however, pre-addedGoogle, Yahoo, flickr, Wiki, Webster, FreeDictionaryGoogle+ (by default, if you don’t prefix your URL’s with http(s), it automatically runs a Google search)Google (default homepage)n/tn/tn/t
Favorites: Access Safari favorites?n/a-; nevertheless, it is able to read all the URL’s from the system-level Contacts database. In addition, you can export / import favorites through the Web-------n/a (it doesn't even support favorites!)n/a (it doesn't even support favorites!)- (They’re called “Quick Launch” here; it may be possible you can only add few of them)-----n/a (it doesn't even support favorites!)-
Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
Bookmark name editable?++++++-++ (only after adding first)n/an/a+ -+- (!)++n/tn/t
URL editable+ (only after adding); compatible with Javascript scriptlets++--+-+ (but no scriptlet support- see above)+ (only after adding)n/an/a+-+n/t+n/tn/tn/t
Favorite folders?++-++----n/a (it doesn't even support favorites!)n/a---+ (only one level: no recursion)--n/an/a (no favorites)
Support for reorganization?++--++-+-n/tn/tn/tn/tn/tn/tn/tn/tn/tn/t
History? ++; in addition, it orders them into date-based subfolders++- (!)++++; in addition, it orders them based on last access date and access count--- (!) (in it, "History" only stands for remembering the last opened page)--+--n/t-
URL autocomplete based on history?++++n/a+-+-n/an/an/an/an/a+--n/tn/t
Clear history?+ (in system-level applet)+; also supports private browsing (can be activated from system-level Settings)-+ (Options / Clear history)n/a++ (in Settings)+-n/an/an/an/an/a+ (Delete button in History – the middle icon in the lowermost row of Magic Wand)n/an/an/tn/a
Scrolling : Scrolling smoothness?+Almost flawlessstutters when you start dragging the web page - annoying!Excellent - almost as good as native Safari!Very badpretty bad - IMHO, worse than e.g. Air BrowserGoodGoodUsableNot very goodStuttersAcceptableWhile there's some discernable stuttering at starting to scroll, still better than Air BrowserStutters tooAcceptableAcceptableAcceptableGoodAcceptable
Quick scrolling to top / bottom of document?Top only (tap on the upper ribbon); bottom add-on scriptlet works just great!-Both: by quickly flicking the phone in either forward or backwardTop only when not in full screen; done as with SafariTop only, with a dedicated iconTop only - the usual "tap on the top" approachTop onlyTop only (traditional tapping in non-fullscreen mode)+; disabled by default; both can be (separately) enabled in system-level settings. Then, double taps will work just fine.--Top only and in non-fullscreen onlyTop; if and only if you switch to full screen mode and activate Hide to hide the toolbar at the top- (!); tapping the top of the screen, when zoomed in, scrolls one page up- (!)- (!)-- (!)Top only, traditional tap on the top
Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
Cookies: Clear cookies?+ (in system-level applet)+-+------------+n/t-
Fine-tuning acceptance?+ (From visited / never / always; settable in system-level applet)---n/t---------n/tn/tn/tn/tn/t
Misc.: Interrupting page loading?++++++++- (!)-Partial: only possible while the address bar is visible; becomes impossible when it auto-minimizes itself (very quickly)+-: Not possible to interrupt loading a page - a BIG problem! (Simply tapping Back doesn't work)++ (a dedicated icon on the bottom)- (!)+- (!)+
Full screen?-: top and bottom ribbons can't be hidden and aren't even transparent+ real full screen, shakingPartial: transparent top ribbon and the buttons at the bottom are always visible+; excellent: in full screen, only an icon is visible in the lower right corner+; shaking. The top / botton toolbars, by default, aren’t translucent; this can be enable in the system-level Settings.+: a single tap with two fingers on the screen. The usual, non-transparent top row will still remain displayed.Partial, with a transparent icon in the bottom right corner+: a transparent “return” bug icon is always visible in the bottom right corner+ (tapping on screen with three fingers to switch to Favorites and swiping with two downwards to access menu. Swiping with two fingers left/right equates to Back / Forward.)+; shakingPartial: the control bar on the right is only partially transparent; almost impossible to read anything behind it+; real full screen; shaking (also an icon to go to full screen), unless you explicitly disable it in Settings / Advanced FullScreen. +: only a transparent icon in the bottom right cornerPartial: only a small, transparent bottom bar (without icons) is visible to allow for redisplaying the full GUI. No shaking.+ real full screen (except for the “magic wand” icon in the top left corner); shaking+; shaking+ with three transparent icons at the bottom, which can also be disabled in Settings+; shaking-
Remembers last visited page(s) upon relaunching?+; does store in RAM memory+; can be disabled in system-level settings++ (can be disabled in Settings: Tabs / Save Tabs) n/t+ (can be disabled by enabling "private browsing"); doesn't store in memory++++-+ (can be disabled in Settings: History)n/t-+- (you can, however, set it as your homepage before exiting)--- (!)
Interaction with Safari (passing a link to / receiving a link from)n/a+ (passing only)-+ (passing only)+ (passing only)+ in addition to the usual "Open link in Safari" supported by other browsers, you can go backwards, by just putting the journey: prefix in front of the current URL+ (passing only)+ (passing only)+ in both directions; from Safari, after adding a quick link to fgPrivate:/// as is explained in the blog of the developer+ (passing only)+ (passing only)+ (passing only)+--+ (passing only)+ (passing only)n/t+ (passing)
Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
User-Agent faking?-----+ (from Settings; all four major desktop browsers are supported)-----------+-
File download?Partial: WMV: - PDF: + DOC: + (both rendered inline) MP3: + MP4: +Partial: WMV: -PDF: + DOC: + (both rendered inline) MP3: - (starts to load but, then, displays network error) MP4: - (see with MP3)n/tPartial: WMV: - PDF: + DOC: + (both rendered inline) MP3: + MP4: +n/tPartial: WMV: - PDF: + DOC: + (both rendered inline) MP3: + MP4: +. With the latter two, it displays “an error occurred”; however, after dismissing this dialog, playback goes on)+: excellent: it, in addition to passing the files to the native viewer (as is the case with the other browsers), can also store files in the local file system and allows for a Wi-Fi client access these files via a Web browser. Nevertheless, it’s unable to download unsupported files (ZIP, WMV etc.)n/tn/tn/tn/tn/tn/tn/tPartial: WMV: -PDF: + DOC: + (both rendered inline) MP3: + MP4: +n/tn/tn/tn/t
View source?-----+ (with the view-source: prefix in front of the URL)-----------n/t-
Copy-paste?- / +, excellent-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works--; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works-; OS 3-based works+ (to Address Bar or e-mails only; only full text blocks (not individual rows / words in there), which makes it necessary to edit it afterwards) -; OS 3-based works-n/t-
Can image loading be disabled?-+ (Settings / Display Images)-+ (Options / Load Images)-------+ (this is the default - "Quick" - mode; you can quickly switch between the two on the bottom-most bar)-----n/t-
Offline browsing?---+; but only the tabs that were opened when exiting the last time----------+ if you use web page saving (nevertheless, no images / styles)--n/t-
Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
Save web pages?------+ by simply tapping the Download icon while in a page. You can, then, both view the page (from inside the built-in file editor) and fetch it from another computer; the latter unlike with the other “save page”-capable browser, Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5.-------+, but only HTML, no style files or even images. They are saved as original HTML files in the home directory of the app; that is, it’s not accessible to other apps on non-jailbroken devices--n/tn/t
Auto forms fill-in?- (2.2.1) / + (3.0+); disabled by default; see (the system-level) Settings / Safari / AutoFill. A little more restricted than iCab Mobile (the, currently, only other browser supporting autofill) as the latter can remember the entered text in all fields of a given form. On the other hand, it can auomatize filling in personal info, which iCab Mobile is incapable of.+; works great on eBay--------------n/tn/tn/t
https support? (ebay test)++n/t+n/t+n/tn/t+n/tn/tn/tn/tn/t+n/tn/tn/tn/t
Input keyboard: the one with “.com”?+++++++++n/t+++; you can switch between it and the .com-less one right here with the “Switch keyboard” icon+- and can’t be enabled either+n/tn/tn/t
Ad filtering?+ (only popup filtering; no manually editable filters, unlike in iCab Mobile)+ (disabled by default; filters can be manually edited: Edit Filters in Tools)--------n/t-----n/tn/tn/t
Other annoyances?-Frequent crashes under pre-OS3; with OS3, it's much more stable.You can't display the top menu / navigation interface w/o fully scrolling up - use quick flicking to quickly do this -VERY-VERY slow to drag, pretty much uselessVERY-VERY slow to drag, pretty much useless----it doesn't even support favorites - really bad-------Really bad...
Browser:Safari (2.2.1 / 3.0)iCab Mobile 1.5Air Browser 1.1VanillaSurf 1.2CaizerWeb 1.0.2Journey Web Browser 1.0 BigBrowser+ 1.1Arachnid 1.4.1fgBrowser 2.5iBrowseTwo 1.1.0Mini Browser 1.0QuickSurf 1.2Multi-Full Browser 1.1.0Perfect Browser 1.0Magic Browser (iBlueAngel) 2.5Full Screen Web Browser 1.1.1Wide Web with Twitter 2.3.1Spy 2.5Mango Browser 1.1
General verdict?With OS3 (a MUST upgrade) it has become pretty usable and a decent alternative to most 3rd party titles.Particularly useful is the tabulated list of opened pages, find in page, bookmark export / import and excellent form filling-in. This title should be the first you purchase.While it has some unique goodies (quick scroll up and, particularly, down to top/bottom-most; find in page), the bad memory handling and the lack of real full screen makes it far less desirable than OS3’s Safari or some other 3rd party browsersIt isn’t bad; what I miss the most is background page opening capabilities and quick bottom scrolling. As it has never crashed on me, it'd be the most recommended browser you do want both full screen and multipage support - if iCab Mobile didn't exist. Now, go for the latter thoughThe ugly scrolling / dragging makes this title (which, otherwise, would be pretty nice) in no way recommendedPretty good and capable; too bad the scrolling speed / stuttering can be a real pain in the back. Therefore, not recommended. If you MUST store the downloaded files on your phone and make them accessible to an external computer, you’ll want to turn to this app.Pretty mediocre – go for something else.It would be nice if and only if it supported multiple documentsReally-really incapable: not even landscape is supported. Don’t bother.Don’t bother.Really nothing to write home about WeakReally nothing to write home about – except for the pretty much unique in-page text search. Hope the impending 1.2 will indeed be much better. For OS 3.0 users, there is not any point in going for this (otherwise, pretty mediocre and really overpriced) title any more as copy / paste is already supported.In no way recommendedWeak. Don’t bother.A disaster. Don’t bother.An absolute disaster. Don’t even think of getting it – not even for free.