Opinions about the Dolphin browser?

[jducoeur]

Question for my tech-geek friends: does anyone have experience with the Dolphin web browser for Android? I just got word that LastPass is now tightly integrated with it, and that's a pretty major win from my POV. I've been vaguely curious about Dolphin for a while, and this might be the feature that gets me to switch, but I'm interested in folks' opinions about the browser...

Comments

I like it, but didn't use the stock browser long enough to have a good comparison.

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

I've been using Dolphin from soon after my switch to Android. I found the stock browser adequate when I used that, and don't recall what pushed me onto the Dolphin path early. It might have been something as frivolous as the purple theme I found for it. Also, the adblock extension, along with several other convenience extensions were a plus. By default, they have pinch zooming turned off (which seems a poor default choice to me), which was my only initial knock, but once I played with the settings and turned that on, I haven't found much that it doesn't do.

The only issue I have is that there are a couple web sites where even if I try to open the real web site, it notices I'm on a phone, and force redirects me to their mobile site, which doesn't have a link to show the real site (damn it!). I don't know if the stock browser would have the same problem, and I haven't yet played around with settings to try to get around that.

Re: I like it, but didn't use the stock browser long enough to have a good comparison.

[jducoeur]

My suspicion is that the latter issue is true of the stock browser as well. I've actually been quite surprised at how many of my standard sites have automatic mobile versions...

Re: I like it, but didn't use the stock browser long enough to have a good comparison.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Agreed, except I know that it was the tab browsing and pinch-zoom features that sold me.

[dsrtao]

I liked it up until the point where it started showing me ads. Then I canned it; the only feature I missed was pinch-to-zoom, and that came into the default browser in 2.1.

I wish the default browser accepted plugins. I would really like AdBlock.

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

The only ads I've seen with Dolphin are on the default Dolphin run homepage. Mostly they're for things like plugins or extensions, but a few have been for third party apps. In any event, though, you can easily not see them by setting a different homepage.

[asim.livejournal.com]

I used Dolphin/Dolphin HD for awhile in tandem with the stock browser.

Dolphin has the edge in add-ons, such as the Ad-Block one, but I found it, in the end, to be kind of a mess on the UI end. Esp. HD, with some overall nice features, but kind of clumsy in implementation -- ideas such as sliding left or right to access sidebars seem cool, but didn't really work well for me.

It's worth trying out, as are all the alt. browsers (except Opera, I think; I found that one to hardly be worth the work to install...) for Android, to see which you like best. I have a friend who swears by Steel, and I find aspects of Skyfire intriguing, even with Flash and Froyo.

But all in all? Stock Browser in 2.2 is fast, it's got an overall elegant UI, and it Just Works. More than enough for me...

Browser comparison at PCWorld

[metageek.livejournal.com]

Just spotted via engadget: Battle of the Android Browsers.