Monday, 24 September 2012
Safari vs Opera Mini vs Chrome: APPEAREACE
-
To our eyes Chrome is the best-looking browser here, its unified search
and address bar freeing up space for other buttons (back, menu/bookmark and
tabs) so there's no need for a second toolbar - although it'd be nice if the
address box scrolled away when you're viewing content.
- Safari's getting on a bit, and it shows: the interface hasn't changed much since the days of iPhone OS, and while it's perfectly functional it's due a bit of a polish (which is coming in iOS 6). Its address and search boxes disappear as you scroll down, but the toolbar at the bottom of the window remains, providing access to bookmarks, sharing, new tabs and navigation buttons.
- Opera takes a similar approach - its separate address and search boxes scroll away, with a permanent toolbar at the bottom - but you can enforce single column viewing and text wrapping as well as set the default zoom level, and there's a fullscreen mode that replaces the lower toolbar with just two buttons, a back button and one to bring the toolbar back. It's okay, but the black interface doesn't exactly blend in with the rest of iOS.
- Safari's getting on a bit, and it shows: the interface hasn't changed much since the days of iPhone OS, and while it's perfectly functional it's due a bit of a polish (which is coming in iOS 6). Its address and search boxes disappear as you scroll down, but the toolbar at the bottom of the window remains, providing access to bookmarks, sharing, new tabs and navigation buttons.
- Opera takes a similar approach - its separate address and search boxes scroll away, with a permanent toolbar at the bottom - but you can enforce single column viewing and text wrapping as well as set the default zoom level, and there's a fullscreen mode that replaces the lower toolbar with just two buttons, a back button and one to bring the toolbar back. It's okay, but the black interface doesn't exactly blend in with the rest of iOS.
Safari vs Opera Mini vs Chrome: FEATURES
All
three browsers have private browsing modes, although Safari's is the hardest to
access - where Chrome and Opera keep the on/off switch in the browser, for
Safari it's buried in Home > Settings > Safari - and all three
browsers enable you to synchronise bookmarks with your desktop PC or other
devices. Chrome has the best such system here: where the others only sync bookmarks,
Chrome can sync open tabs from device to device provided you sign in with your
Google Account.
- Safari has Reading List, which you can use to create a quick "read later" list that syncs between your devices via iCloud, and Opera enables you to save pages locally for offline reading.
- Opera has Speed Dial, which enables you to store your favourite websites in a simple grid layout for easy access. Chrome has the same, but it's implemented in a nicer way: when you choose the New Tab option you can swipe between your Speed Dial-esque favourites, your bookmarks, or the open tabs on your other Chrome-using devices.
- Safari has Reading List, which you can use to create a quick "read later" list that syncs between your devices via iCloud, and Opera enables you to save pages locally for offline reading.
- Opera has Speed Dial, which enables you to store your favourite websites in a simple grid layout for easy access. Chrome has the same, but it's implemented in a nicer way: when you choose the New Tab option you can swipe between your Speed Dial-esque favourites, your bookmarks, or the open tabs on your other Chrome-using devices.
Safari vs Opera Mini vs Chrome: SPEED
The
big problem for Chrome and Opera is Apple's refusal to let anybody change their
default browser. That quickly becomes an enormous pain in the backside, with
every link in an email, Tweet or RSS feed launching Safari. The "swear /
select URL / copy URL / close Safari / open other browser / paste URL /
go" routine gets old and annoying extremely quickly, and while Google has
published code for third party developers to offer an "Open with
Chrome" option that's not going to appear in core iOS apps such as Mail.
Safari vs Opera Mini vs Chrome: VERDICT
Safari
is the fastest browser here, as the benchmarks prove. However, in everyday use
Chrome often feels quicker, especially when you're tab switching or searching,
and it's hard to shake the feeling that if Apple didn't deliberately limit other
browsers' performance and iOS integration, Safari would have a real fight on
its hands.
Opera
is a nice enough browser, but it feels old in this company, and unless you
spend a lot of time travelling and/or using crappy mobile connections the data
compression isn't enough of a draw here. It doesn't feel as fast as its rivals,
and it suffers from the same (Apple-enforced) lack of OS integration as Chrome
does.
