Shout out to the default HTC web browser...

[bigoldthor]

...which kicks a$$. It is buttery smooth and so much faster than Chrome that I had to give it some props. It just does everything well, and it has none of that little bit of jerkiness that most of the others have (including Chrome and Chrome beta. I tried the exact same web pages loaded fresh on each, and the HTC browser had zero jerkiness...was smooth as silk. Chrome wasn't.) In addition, it has an easy toggle in settings to turn Flash on or off as needed. And the pi?ce de r?sistance for me was the fact that it syncs with the user's Chrome bookmarks. It loads web pages as fast or faster than any of them for me.

I was always searching for the perfect browser and have tried most all of them. This includes off the top of my head:

• Chrome
• Chrome (beta)
• Dolphin
• Dolphin (beta)
• Opera
• Opera Mini
• Opera Mobile
• Firefox
• UC
• Boat
• others that I can't think of

Chrome also gives maddeningly inconsistent text sizes in message threads and is sort of choppy. Dolphin is very smooth but doesn't seem to do text reflow correctly. Opera Others have their own little quirks which, to me, are irritating enough to try something else. The HTC browser hits all the sweet spots for me and is easily the fastest and smoothest of them all.

Not saying it should be *your* favorite browser, but for all the reasons above and more, it's easily mine.

 

[Patrick Williams13]

Couldn't disagree with you more. I tested chrome v stock on 10 popular sites with a stop watch and chrome was sometimes up to 8 times faster. One site took 17 seconds to load fully on the stock app whilst chrome loaded it in 4 seconds. Also I use swype keyboard and it comes up different on the stock browser with a tiny space bar meaning I always miss type and that for me was the turning point. Chrome all the way.!

Here's the example of the keyboard that I hate


https://share.htc.com/OS9MJUX64

 

[incinerate2007]

The stock isn't bad, but for me Chrome is the overall best compromise in terms of speed vs. features/compatibility.

 

[Cattails_r_Edible]

Stock browser for me too!

SENT FROM ANDROID CENTRAL'S TOP SMARTPHONE OF 2013!! WOOT WOOT!

 

[bigoldthor]

Couldn't disagree with you more. I tested chrome v stock on 10 popular sites with a stop watch and chrome was sometimes up to 8 times faster. One site took 17 seconds to load fully on the stock app whilst chrome loaded it in 4 seconds. Also I use swype keyboard and it comes up different on the stock browser with a tiny space bar meaning I always miss type and that for me was the turning point. Chrome all the way.!

Here's the example of the keyboard that I hate


https://share.htc.com/OS9MJUX64

Not sure about the swype thing, but as I said, ymmv. However, THE GUYS AT TECHRADAR (in their exhaustive 15-page review) had the same experience as me with the HTC browser. At least I'm not the only one!

An excerpt for those who don't want to click the link:

"However, while Google Chrome is undoubtedly useful in so many ways, such as being able to sync tabs across the desktop and mobile, beyond that we can't see a single reason you'll ever use it when the onboard browser is so much better. Firstly, it's a lot faster, and we mean blazingly fast. We use that phrase a lot, but give the HTC One the speed to perform, be that over 4G or through decent Wi-Fi, and it will never let you down in terms of loading web pages. Compare that to Chrome, which sometimes stutters when panning around or even loading the mobile version of sites, and you can see why we're favoring the former."

 

[karmamule]

I too prefer the stock browser in many ways, although in my experience the stock browser is a bit slower to load pages, but then faster to scroll/move/animate them once they're loaded. My fave thing I think it does better is respond to double-taps to zoom in to a portion of a page. It seems better at zooming in enough to make things legible, and flows the rest of the page better. Sometimes Chrome seemed to not want to zoom in on a double-tap whereas the stock browser always does.

I do like Chrome's handling of bookmarks better though, and also appreciate their syncing with my pcs at work and home, so I do still keep it around and use it sometimes. But, overall I'm impressed that HTC made a stock browser that I didn't just end up shoving to the side like every other stock browser in my past.

 

[steve31]

Stock for me too. Its one of my favorite things about the the One. Just as good as Safari on the iPhone.

 

[kanucme]

I have to disagree. Xscope is the best browser to me. Used to use opera on older phone but currently hooked on xscope

Posted via Android Central App

 

[secretLOVER]

I've been a dolphin guy until this phone. I'm currently giving chrome a fair shot before any final decision.

Sent from my HTC One using Android Central Forums

 

[terraaance]

I was a Dolphin guy with my Inspire 4G. I like stock browser on my One. I love the labs feature.

 

[Todesengel]

Am I the only one around here that uses Firefox?!

Sent from my HTC One using Android Central Forums

 

[Cattails_r_Edible]

Am I the only one around here that uses Firefox?!

Sent from my HTC One using Android Central Forums

Firefox killed my battery for some reason!

SENT FROM ANDROID CENTRAL'S TOP SMARTPHONE OF 2013!! WOOT WOOT!

 

[FaisDogg]

Stock htc browser supports flash... Another plus

Sent from my HTC via Android Central Forums!

 

[FaisDogg]

Am I the only one around here that uses Firefox?!

Sent from my HTC One using Android Central Forums

Used Firefox on my previous phone only cuz it supports flash... It sucks compared to htc browser

Sent from my HTC via Android Central Forums!

 

[bigoldthor]

Stock htc browser supports flash... Another plus

Sent from my HTC via Android Central Forums!

Yep. I mentioned that in the op. Plus it's easy to toggle on and off.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

[claytonharstad]

How do you import your chrome bookmarks into the stock browser?

 

[Russ Smith]

+1 for stock!

Sent from my HTC One

 

[Russ Smith]

How do you import your chrome bookmarks into the stock browser?

They're already there

Sent from my HTC One

 

[andriver]

I noticed this is a Skyfire browser for AT&T. I used Skyfire on a tab some time ago. It's a solid and fast browser.

 

[claytonharstad]

They're already there

Sent from my HTC One

Thanks for the reply! When I open the stock browser and go to bookmarks, the bookmarks shown include: AT&T Mobile Web, CNN, Yellow Pages, Wikipedia, AccuWeather, Yahoo....and so on. Pages I've never visited. If they are already there, am I missing something? I appreciate the help.