Got this e-mail from Skyfire, tested it and yes...it's true sometimes even better than the benchmarks but never worse...
In a recent review by Laptop Magazine, Skyfire was put to the test against Opera 9.5.1 and the new 3G iPhone. Skyfire raced ahead of its competitors with download speeds that far surpass our competitors. (Source: Laptop Mag)
NYT.com
Skyfire Beta: 6 (sec)
Opera 9.5.1 Beta: 60 (sec)
Safari: 29 (sec)
I'm not sure what you're talking about. Things have varied for me when I tried skyfire against PIE. Both seemed to load about the same, yes skyfire was easier to move around in but skyfire failed serveral time to be useful.
I wasn't able to open links or download files that PIE would with no problem.
I don't mean youtube stuff, I'm talking about opening email from aim.com (just like hotmail.com) and downloading any file at all.
skyfire for me = fail
My browser needs to do it all, if it's slow thats ok but it can't lead me somewhere and then not complete what I need. If I surf for something for 20 minutes and then I can't open a link I get pretty pissed off. PIE can do it.
Also I couldn't copy the URL I was at. I don't think
the initial page may come up faster, but skyfire only initially loads up an overview of the page. it still needs to load the individual parts as you zoom in on them. so those results are very misleading....
for me it's annoying...i'd rather wait a bit more on initial page load (opera 9.5/safari) than waiting every time you scroll around inside the page (skyfire).
for me the fastest is opera mini.
I'm a skyfire fan, but I imagine things would speed up if everything wasn't passed through their servers first....I guess it has to be though
yeah i does load quickly and have embedded flash, but zooming is more combersome compared to opera mini, and when you look around when zoomed in the page has to load even more.
opera: fast but no flash
PIE: slower but plays mobile youtube
skyfire: embedded flash but cumbersome zoom.
take your pick. however skyfire is currently in beta testing, the zoom loading could be a problem they're working on for final product
Anyway to turn off the zoomed-out mode on ALL pages?
It makes mobile-friendly pages unusable, and SkyFire unusable. I don't have a 800x600 screen so I really wish it wouldn't assume all HTML-compliant (meaning content will auto-flow) pages such as Google Reader Mobile loaded as such.
MineralGray02K said:
I imagine things would speed up if everything wasn't passed through their servers first....
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Click to collapse
It's actually the opposite. Their servers have fast access, will recompress the page data and pre-render them, just like with opera mini. That's what speeds up the whole process so much. a 1MB page will be recompressed by the servers to a few dozen kBs, speeding up not only the download but also saving a lot of time the small processor of the PPC would need to render that amount of data.
That's why it's faster than the others, which have to deal with it all. It just can't be compared. And to me a browser that requires the availability of a 3rd party server isn't really a browser.
If only it had text wrap like opera mobile/mini.
kilrah i have to disagree.
opera mini may take slightly longer to load a full page but it renders the whole page, which means zooming, any where fast. in the long run its faster than skyfire beta browsing wise (for now)
All i can tell you is i can do the streaming tv on skyfire and that makes me happy.
I hope they add the "touch flo" like feature to Skyfire. It really is cumbersome to scroll around the page without it. Perhaps, though, it is not possible because skyfire doesn't preload the pages.
Just my thinking.
Having tried opera mini 4.1, opera 9.5 beta, and skyfire beta 1...first of all, O mini is like the kindergarten browser version of opera 9.5 so it's almost not even worth mentioning unless you're looking for the simplest of pics n text browsing. Opera 9.5 is the most fluid, responsive, intuitive, and easy to navigate browser. Then you boot up skyfire; supports every online video and audio codecs, from youtube, redtube, comedy central, fm radio streaming; any websight imaginable; even apple web trailers stream flawlessly. As much as I dig Opera's interface, getting the "this device does not support flash 8", is simply not an obstacle for skyfire, and does something not even the "delivering the real internet" Iphone can do. Hopefully, opera will soon follow suit
I tried Skyfire on my Kaiser, BlackJack II, and Dash. I already stopped using it on all three. I browse mainly mobile friendly sites with my phones so I didn't gain much. But I missed the tabbed browsing which I would have expected from the "greatest browser ever" comments I kept seeing.
I'm a huge fan of Opera Mini and keeping an eye on Torch Mobile's IrisBrowser. If they can make Iris work as smooth as the iPhone's browser, it will be a winner. OperaMobile still seems buggy...
Until then, I'm back to PocketIE and Opera Mini.
-Mc
looks like PocketIE PWNZ!!!
Opera 9.5 + Flash 3.1 = FTW
Related
Anyone have this on their Tilt/TYTN II and able surf the web? I keep getting an error that says "Unable to connect to the server. Please try later". I can connect with PIE, and Opera Mini, is there a setting or something I'm missing?
I dont use mine often, but I used it about 9 hours ago and it worked fine. With the older version, I got that error from time to time, maybe about 3% of the time. But since using the latest version, I have never seen the message.
I had to connect to the internet with regular IE, then start up Picsel Browser before it would work. You might try Netfront Browser instead, it works a lot better IMO.
snooginsguy said:
You might try Netfront Browser instead, it works a lot better IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. IMHO, Picsel is just isn't worth bothering with. Alternative browsers are WAY better. See http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...new Opera Mobile, Picsel, Spb Pocket Plus etc.
Thanks i'll check out net browser, i really liked the way picsel was setup but i can't tell how surfer the net is, all i know is PIE is slow for surfing the net and i don't like the way Opera Mini is setup, i've tried minimo which isn't too bad, but i can't seem to be able to scroll using the screen w/it, i have to use the scroll bars on the side and bottom.
Why don't you give Opera 8.65 mobile a try. I mean the real Opera mobile not Opera Mini. NetFront used to be my favourite browser but now I think Opera Mobile has overtaken NetFront plus the developers of NetFront have excessively slowed down their development process. Just see for almost a year they are just posting Technical Previews of version 3.4 and not the final version and for most of the Technical Previews I failed to see how it differed from the previous except for an extended expiry date.
srmz said:
Why don't you give Opera 8.65 mobile a try. I mean the real Opera mobile not Opera Mini. NetFront used to be my favourite browser but now I think Opera Mobile has overtaken NetFront plus the developers of NetFront have excessively slowed down their development process. Just see for almost a year they are just posting Technical Previews of version 3.4 and not the final version and for most of the Technical Previews I failed to see how it differed from the previous except for an extended expiry date.
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Click to collapse
does opera mobile work similar to opera mini? i mean the functions were you click to type into the search section of a site then it opens up another window were you type in what you want? that's one of the few features i don't like about opera mini, that and you can't take off the yahoo search function. and are you able to play youtube video's on opera mobile? or do you have to add programs to do that?
The behavior for new windows opening in Opera Mobile is exactly the same as on the real desktop internet explorer, specially if you have set it to allow opening of Pop-Up windows.
Regarding playing of Youtube movies, yes it does manage playback but the video is very choppy.
I suggest why not try the free evaluation version?
Regards
srmz said:
The behavior for new windows opening in Opera Mobile is exactly the same as on the real desktop internet explorer, specially if you have set it to allow opening of Pop-Up windows.
Regarding playing of Youtube movies, yes it does manage playback but the video is very choppy.
I suggest why not try the free evaluation version?
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's what i did was download the 30day trial, i'm mainly just looking for something that will load pages a little faster than PIE, if i can play videos of sites, that'd be nice too, but loading pages quickly is what i'm looking for. so far it seems no faster than PIE.
can i watch the good trailers?
In Order For Picsel To Work by itself... You Have To Do The "always Online" Hack
Hey folks,
i got 2 questions for my tytn2.
1. Which is the best internetbrowser at the moment to use? Most stable and fastest? And why?
2. is it possible to hack/tweak the resolution of for example mediaplayer? If i run youtube movies or whatsoever the resolution is just crap, also in fullscreen mode. What is the best tweak to get much better resolution?
Thanks in advance!
(using hypdragon 3 rom=wm6.1)
Answers
1. Skyfire It's stable and it's fast because they cache pages on thier server so you don't have to download all that crap.
2. Not that I know of so just use Skyfire. It plays videos right on the webpages so there is no need for a sperate app like the youtube player.
PS I do not work for Skyfire, it's just the best browser that I've used.
As far as mobile web browsers go, I find that Opera mobille 9.5 is the best for speed and options. But if your going to be visiting sites that have embedded video and such, then Skyfire is hands down the best. Skyfire is definitely the browser to use if you want a desktop experience. But I find myself using Opera more often since you can open multiple tabs, use bookmarks, and you can download files/long press on pictures and then save them. I also think Opera loads pages a tad bit faster and I like how when you flick and scroll it will continue to scroll and come to a gradual stop (like when you flick through icontact).
Now about the whole image quality of movies I have read several threads suggesting ways on how to improve movie quality, but when you boil it down, nothing will make a huge difference cuz our screen resolution is only 240x320 at only 65,000 colors. So no matter what software you install, its not gonna give you more pixels. If you want to watch high quality movies on your phone then iPhone would be your best bet at 320x480 with 16 million colors.
Ok, thanks for answers.
seems i might install latest skyfire browser..
is there any thread about skyfire and latest versions?
are people using other browsers with excellent performance?
i guess internet explorer is just standard crap then..
about my second question, the movie quality in for example youtube, im pretty disappointed about my device then (compared to iphone, ofcorz kaiser can do a lot more then iphone, but just this aspect then).
i get that u cant get the resolution better, its just a ''phone-handicap', but im surprised there are no tweaks/drivers for it as well..
maybe other ppl still have solutions?
I like Skyfire ( I have Beta version 0.85.0.7927), but I HATE the small view EACH page. Once I set it to the size, I prefer it to STAY there! Too much having to manipulate each page so that I can READ the thing!
Next, I notice that Skyfire is able to bring up images that IE and Opera cannot. I log into an online study website for my securities license. With IE and Opera, I cannot view the study material, but with Skyfire I CAN. BUT... It's too small! And I have to resize it for EVERY study question.
Does anyone know what it is in Skyfire that allows me to view things that IE and Opera don't? And... is there ANOTHER browser that can do that? (In Opera, I have the JAVA SCRIPT enabled) but it's not indicative of my not being able to view the study site.
Thanks for the help everyone...
I use multiple browsers depending on what I need.
I use Opera Mini most of the time because it is blazing fast. In my experience, it smokes skyfire and Opera Mobile in pure speed, and it does a decent job rendering the page. However, it is pretty bare bones - no tabs, no java, etc. But it gets the job done if you just want to read the news or look at a website.
The rest of the time I go back and forth between skyfire and opera mobile. Skyfire is pretty quick, and it is a full on browser. You can even watch videos on hulu - they are pretty rough, but they are viewable. I think Opera has a better user experience, but it is not as fast.
i did some testing on the browsers skyfire and opera mobile just to see which browser has the faster loading speed. here are the results:
to google.com
opera
-loading time
4.28 seconds
-zoom (to clarity or read ability)
1.91 seconds
skyfire
-loading time
1.99 seconds
-zoom
less than 1.00 second (couldn't hit the stop watch button fast enough)
to forum.xda-developers.com
opera
-loading time
1 minute 15.90 seconds
-zoom
2.66 seconds
skyfire
-loading time
20.37 seconds
-zoom
2.69 seconds
i have noticed that on a slower network opera dose give a better experience in zooming but skyfire still takes the cake in loading times. all of these tests were done with the phone in the exact same place it was not touched by any person or object at any point during testing to ensure no outside forces influencing a certain outcome. if you have any questions just post them on the forum
akawings said:
i have noticed that on a slower network opera dose give a better experience in zooming but skyfire still takes the cake in loading times
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Click to collapse
I don't get why people compare loading times between Skyfire and Opera Mobile. and are shocked that Skyfire is always faster. Skyfire uses server side rendering so it's always going to load the webpages faster then Opera Mobile which does not use any type of server side rendering (that could change though)
@akawings
You should also compare display quality, Opera is rendering webpages in full 640x480 while skyfire only in 320x240 (becouse of server side rendering).
Since the usability/configuration of Opera is 5x as developed as Skyfire why not use both? I only use Skyfire when I cant get my sports picks in or want to play some flash games..
norkoastal said:
Since the usability/configuration of Opera is 5x as developed as Skyfire why not use both? I only use Skyfire when I cant get my sports picks in or want to play some flash games..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty much what I do, I use Opera Mobile (or Mini) for most of my browsing, if I want to watch some flash video, like hulu, I use Skyfire.
I wish the skyfire provided the real vga instead of blown up 320.240.
Now that Iris is relatively stable (Latest release hasn't crashed/locked on me yet) why not take a peek at that?
In my opinion, it's the best one out there. Sure, SkyFire has its uses with the off-machine rendering (like flash heavy sites) but, really, Iris is top-notch. It will be interesting to see if Fennec is close.
ekruse said:
Now that Iris is relatively stable (Latest release hasn't crashed/locked on me yet) why not take a peek at that?
In my opinion, it's the best one out there. Sure, SkyFire has its uses with the off-machine rendering (like flash heavy sites) but, really, Iris is top-notch. It will be interesting to see if Fennec is close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been quite impressed with Iris so far, web kit was made for mobile devices IMO. The only thing I wish they would work on is the overall UI is a bit akward, but they probably wanted to get the rendering issues fixed first then work on the UI.
why compare both browsers?
opera better for general nav and skyfire mainly for flash.
opera can't play some flash video players like skyfire's yet
Title pretty much says it all. I know a lot of you guys talk good about Opera, but the latest download on their website says that it does not support flash, and that is pretty much the reason why I want to use something other than mobile IE that came with the phone from HTC.
iris or skyfire, opera has flash but it crashes mostly
So which out of those two is best and/or easiest to use?
EVOIXGSR said:
So which out of those two is best and/or easiest to use?
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Click to collapse
i say skyfire, it handles every detail of the web practically flawlessly, but iris is sharper in rendering
but for your needs, skyfire
Skyfire gets my vote - it has been able to render everything I've tried.
Thanks mike
There's also minimo which is Mozilla Firefox, I use that. My suggestion is try them all out and see which one fits your needs the best. There's cab files for all of them floating around, just use the search.
cheetoh said:
Skyfire gets my vote - it has been able to render everything I've tried.
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Click to collapse
co-sign....same here.
the only thing i hate about skyfire is that god awful text resizing, it really makes the page look horrible with bigger text while the rest looks small, is there a way to fix that?
I use Skyfire for most of my browsing, and I don't run into issues with sites loading up in mobile format like Opera Mobile does. As well, I can go to my bank's website with Skyfire and veiw my account just fine, Opea does not work.
I have tried Iris, and it is pretty cool, but it doesn't really do anything for me that Skyfire doesn't already do. Skyfire also has amazing flash support, test it out and check out Youtube with it... there is some delay issues and what not, but once it gets going it is awesome! My delay issues could be the fact I am on EDGE. I have yet to test it on WiFi to see if it does anything to help that out, as if just crossed my mind.
Skyfire gets my vote although when Im in a hurry and need to look something up, I wuse Opera only because it loads faster for some reason - other than that... Skyfire for browsing....
For flash, Skyfire is superior, no question. However, it has no text reflow, which is the dealbreaker for me. For flash, I use Skyfire, for everything else, Opera Mini 4.1 and Mobile 9.5. As for Iris, it's alright, but still somewhat unpolished and it needs a little work. However, it passes the ACID3 test, and renders things quite well.
Dave
I feel like using skyfire kills my battery really fast, does anyone else have that? Or maybe i'm just trippinn.
I get that with Skyfire too. I don't think it is any worse than Opera Mobile if you are not scrolling much, but if you are scrolling a lot, then it seems to eat a little more, and if you are youtubing it drains it fast!
I still prefer Skyfire for the majority of my browsing. I use Opera for forums because of the wrap around, but it is too sensative to the double tap zoom in and out.
i know a lot of people will tell u opera, but I found skyfire to be just the thing I needed! soo blazing fast, nice look and feel, zoom in and out much like opera, very finger friendly..hands down best mobile browser
skyfire hands down!
Im using Skyfire now since I wanted a browser that supports Flash but Im having some issues with the audio. I can see the video beautifully but it has no audio. Ive tryed different vids on youtube and I cant hear single one. Any one have a suggestions.
I have had success with Skyfire playing both Audio and Video without any real issues when my phone wasn't muted. If Audio & Video is important to you, I would vote Skyfire, but Opera is my overall preference for other sites.
Jason
ripinfamous, do you have the latest version? One of the .8x builds of it gave me the same issue, but the newer .9x versons work fine again. If you do, just wait for the next version to be released.
Dave
In my mind there is no perfect browser. The perfect browser would have Skyfire's functionality for flash, Iris's animations and touch response, and Opera Mobile's UI. Iris needs Opera's text wrap. Perhaps Opera Mobile 9.7 when it comes out my work out better. I use Opera Mobile and Skyfire.
What browser is everyone using? I tried many of them, but they all lack something. I am using CM7 RC4.
- Firefox. Excellent in all areas except for speed. Scrolling and loading is too slow to be useful. Does not support flash - I do not care about flash much, but for some it would be a dealbreaker.
- Dolphin HD. Slow scrolling. Supports flash. Incorrectly renders some pages (iclarified.com). Too slow to be useful for me.
- Opera mobile. Very fast. Supports flash. Would be perfect if it had an ability to change browser agent. Without it many websites insist on using mobile version.
What I want is Firefox features with speed of Opera. Does such thing exist?
Maybe mirin browser. I haven't tried it so much but it seems fast. Don't know if it supports flash though.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I use Dolphin HD. Never had any issue except slow scrolling for graphics heavy sites.
by the way you cab change user agent in opera mobile. look at the Opera thread on how.
i use xscope. I have tried dolphin but i cannot stand how it renders some pages (one that comes to mind is reddit).
Firefox like you said is too slow
Opera seems promising, I am using that every once in a while now but still always find myself going back to xscope
Skyfire 3.0
I would suggest skyfire. Been the best of all worlds for me!
I love and use the stock browser just fine.
Since Opera 11 got flash, I feel the other browsers can't compete. up until that point I was a Dolphin HD Guy.
I use xscope or dolphin HD. I do not like Skyfire or Opera since they proxy your web traffic.
Opera Mobile 11 is the only browser I use now. Too many of the websites that I frequent have really slow scrolling on the webkit based browsers. Now that Opera Mobile has GPU acceleration and flash support I can't use anything else.
painter_:
Opera Mobile does not use a proxy unless you turn on turbo mode which will just compress images for you.
was using miren, but i prefer opera mobile now, i like how it render pages much than miren or firefox. Miren is pretty fine too, i like how it handle tabs.
Opera has font rendering issues, particularly in its always-on overview mode. And it's bookmark management sucks. I don't understand why they made their browser have so little in the way of configuration options.
Dolphin HD is my favorite but Opera is definitely faster.
Firefox is a disaster yet with some serious issues. I hope they continue to work on it.
opera has tons of config options, if you go to "opera:config" way to much. But I do agree there are few options that I would like that doesn't exists. like disable page overview/preview, bookmark ordering, disable navigation bar. I have a phone and nook, both running 2.2, and same version of opera. On the phone I can disable the navigation bar but I can't do it on the nook. They must be doing some filtering of configs based on device type or resolution.
swaaye said:
Opera has font rendering issues, particularly in its always-on overview mode. And it's bookmark management sucks. I don't understand why they made their browser have so little in the way of configuration options.
Dolphin HD is my favorite but Opera is definitely faster.
Firefox is a disaster yet with some serious issues. I hope they continue to work on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
opera is faster, but the speed isnt enough to make me switch from dolphin hd. it just flows so much better. I dont like the gestures, but like the swipe actions with the shortcuts on the left panel. I also like how it goes to full screen when a site is loaded, and the address bar goes away once it's scrolled away. the tabs are also a joy to use.
Opera Mobile has now replaced dolphin HD for me. The great increase in speed and performance made me switch. I still hope Opera gets better tab and bookmark management though. Once that happens, Opera will easily be the best IMO.
Opera is a complete piece of trash.
The scrolling doesn't lock when you scroll up/down so it jitters left/right as you scroll down a page. It looks awful. Every other mobile browser in existence has this feature. Why did they leave it out?
Websites that are not formatted for mobile always load first in completely zoomed out mode with the letters at 0.5 font, regardless of what you set the "zoom" to in the settings. This means browsing around some websites becomes extremely painful since you have to zoom in a TON for every. single. page click.
And the worst of them all: on content heavy pages (ie when a website doesn't have a mobile version), after it finishes loading, the entire page just goes blank. Literally, completely white. The weird thing is when switching tabs, the tab preview still shows the content. But going back to the page and it's still just fully white. Reloading the page doesn't help.
Opera Mobile has "nice scrolling" but that's about it. What a bug-ridden infuriating, and not to mention HUGE (25+ mb) app.