With life becoming almost impossible to imagine without internet, internet has become an indispensable part of one’s life. To make the internet experience more hassle free there are firms coming up with many web browsers loaded with features that make them user friendly. Following is the comparison between three good browsers for iOS; Safari, Opera Mini and Google Chrome.
Appearance
Google Chrome is best when you talk about the looks, the address bar and unified search leaves lot of space for other use such as for options like back, tabs and so on. This makes the thought of second toolbar vanish from our minds. But it would have been better if the address bar scrolled down when the content was viewed.
Safari is working hard and it is evident now. Although the company has not touched the interface and it remains the same as it was when it was first launched but it has made small changes here and there and what we get is an improved version of Safari. While viewing the content the address bar and search box vanish but at the bottom the toolbar is present with options like sharing and various navigation buttons.
Opera mini works like Safari, the address bar and search box go away when you go down while viewing the content and when we move down the page there is a toolbar with many useful options. In Opera Mini browser you can have single column viewing as well as text wrapping and can set a zoom level. The browser also allows the users to switch into a full screen view mode in which the lower toolbar is replaced with two buttons.
Safari has an option of Reader mode which cleans off all the unnecessary material like the commercials from the screen so that you can pay more attention on the thing that you are looking for. This feature is missing in Google’s browser but it comes with the option of Request Desktop Site for that website which serves the mobile version.
Features
All the three web browsers come with browsing in private mode but in Safari it is not easy for the users to access it – where Opera Mini and Google Chrome comes with the on/off button, for Safari you have to go to Home then Settings and then Safari. The three browsers come with the option of synchronising the bookmarks on the system or other devices. In this regard Chrome overpowers the other two browsers, while Safari and Opera can synchronize the bookmarks, Google Chrome can synchronize the open tabs but only if you sign in using your Google account.
Safari has the option of Reading List which can be utilized to have a “read later” record and Opera allows the users to save webpages for reading them later offline. The handling of the tabs is very different in all the three browsers. There are visual tabs in Opera in which there is a small drawer with thumbnails of the open tabs. In Safari each tab is zoomed as a different document. In chrome you will see the mix of both the browsers; the browser shrinks and stacks the content to make it more visible. Chrome also enables the users to switch between two tabs without using the tab bar.
Opera has another feature of Speed Dial where you can store the frequently visited websites in an easy-to-access grid. Chrome has this feature but in a more polished form. When you open a new tab you can select the website from the grid. In addition to this, Chrome comes with voice search and unlike the Apple’s software Siri is not restricted to iPhone 4S.
Speed
If browsers of other companies have to operate on Apple’s products it is compulsory for the web browsers to use UIWebView browsing component of the company. This component does not give the permission to use the company’s JavaScript engines. This condition is not applicable to company’s own browser and this gives Safari great advantage over the other two browsers. Safari’s speed is not even comparable to Chrome and Opera, however while using a Wi-Fi connection Chrome was faster than the other two.
Best iOS browser Verdict
Out of all the three browsers, Safari works like a shot. But in daily use, Chrome is more users friendly especially when you have to switch between many tabs. Also, it is hard to overlook the fact that if Apple had not conditioned the browser’s performance then the company’s browser would have not stood at the top. Opera is a decent browser but is obsolete in this group and is helpful when you are too dependent on data compression. It is not as quick as its competitors and is also a victim of Apple’s restrictive policy. Therefore, Apple’s decision to maintain, fairly or unfairly, Safari as the default browser for all its gadgets makes the Safari as the most convenient browser.
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