The difference for me at least is that I have replaced the default Safari icon (in the dock bar) with Chrome.. something which I did not do with Opera. A friend of mine did too as I noticed today. So it definitely has better chances of sticking with at least the people I know.
(A little OT but right now the Chrome icon it looks ugly as hell. The black just doesn't seem to mix well with green and blue for some reason)
So true. iOS users love trying new apps. That doesn't mean that those apps will actually gain a place on the home screen, or even be in use after a week by the majority of those users (that would be a good metric, but hard to check.)
I didn't even download Chrome for iOS, as I don't use any Google services besides Analytics, Adsense, and Places (I switched to DDG for search.) I don't see the upshot of using Chrome for iOS, because I have all my bookmarks in Safari and use Reading List and iCloud (with Instapaper and Evernote bookmarklets.)
I find the default browser on iPad very limiting. First of all you can only a have limited number of tabs open and if you open more tabs it closes the earliest opened tab. Another drawback is that you can't search from the address bar. In fact, the pop-up keyboard hides the space bar key. I have been spoiled by the Chrome omnibox.
Same here. For me the Omnibox is the biggest "lock-in" feature that keeps me on Chrome - not that I've had any reason to switch to something else, or anything. The 2nd biggest one would probably be the pre-rendering of webpages.
> If you open more tabs it closes the earliest opened tab.
This is the case with Chrome for iOS too. At least on my original iPad, Chrome trash the first tab after I open the 4th tab (tested this with Reddit front page) where I can open up to the 9 tabs limit in Mobile Safari. I guess this is just the original iPad showing its age. Things seems to works better on iPhone 4, but my point is Chrome for iOS do trash tabs.
I don't see the need for keeping open more than 9 tabs in Safari. Pages I need later, I save in Reading List or Instapaper, which also have the advantage of being available on all my other devices.
One thing that might help is that even when safari closes a tab, if you tap and hold the + button you will see a list of closed tabs and you can reopen any that were closed.
Which is ironic, because it really is just a webkit view, not even running the latest js engine that native Safari has access to. In short, it's not very good, this Chrome.
Well, there's more to Chrome than its pure rendering and JS speed you know?
Predictive prefetching makes sure Chrome already has the page data before you finish typing. It can still beat Safari with tricks like this.
Chrome Sync syncs your profile (credentials, tabs, bookmarks, omnibox typing model, etc.) across all your devices.
The user interface for managing tabs is also very slick.
Auto-update is gimped by the app store approval process, but at least you know that the Chrome team takes security very seriously and will take the minimum possible time to patch security flaws.
Those are some things that I would want over Mobile Safari.
It is pretty good instead, you and all the other people making noise over here since yesterday should try it instead of making assumptions just for the love of bashing iOS.
There is much more to a browser than the rendering engine.
It often feels faster than Safari (no matter how much people complain it being THREE TIMES slower than Safari because it doesn’t have JIT), incognito mode is much better as I don’t have to go to Settings every tim, passwords sync, omnibox.
The only big issue is that you cannot set it as default.
Hopefully this will force Apple to maybe think about giving users a choice of setting default web browser as more and more people (like me) write to them complaining about it.
Just like they denied Sparrow of push notifications at first but as more and more users started pestering them about it, they finally had to give in.
Sparrow tried to position it like that, but that was not the real story: it was not Apple "blocking" them, it was that they did not want to put in the effort to setup a real push service, and instead wanted to run all the time on the device (using battery) to maintain an open connection. Which, of course, not having every app doing that is exactly the problem that push notifications, as implemented by Apple, were designed to solve.
The issue was Sparrow would have to handle notifications themselves, which would mean every user's Gmail account (user, plaintext password, and mails) streaming through their servers that likely aren't hardened against attackers nearly as well as Google's. Understandably, this is a risk they didn't want to take.
Apple will not do that out of the kindness of their own hearts. Users must complain about it and demand those features. Apple usually listens if the outrage is big enough that it turns into a PR problem for them.
Indeed. I downloaded it to try it out, and it is very interesting, but there's no way I'm going to even think about really using it until I have the option to set it as the default browser.
iCab is currently my main browser on the iPad. I've installed Chrome and like it so far, but I'm not sure if I'll stick with iCab or switch over yet..
I do wish that Apple would make Safari's javacript engine available to third party browsers OR allow them to provide their own javascript engine. I don't even care about the ability to open links from other apps with a third party; just give it a level playing field when it comes to speed.
It's a security thing. Making a dynamic language (or even a static language) perform well means that you have to generate machine code at runtime, because much of the information required for optimization is only available then. But, to run those instructions, you need a writable and executable page of memory. The problem is that having writable and executable pages means that a poorly written loop or string operation can also write code to memory and execute it. So Apple made the decision to W^X (write xor execute) app memory that's not their Safari app so that poorly-programmed apps don't leak user data or compromise the OS. It also conveniently prevents apps from running code that Apple didn't approve, which is probably what they really care about.
Anyway, Apple's business model seems to preclude neat software. Use Android or a laptop if you want a good Chrome experience.
Chrome is the best browser out there on laptops. Naturally a lot of people are interested in trying it out on the iPhone.
The app store ranking is determined by number of downloads in the last 5-6 days. Since it just launched, a spike in downloads and a subsequent rise in rankings is expected. Whether it stays on top in the coming weeks/months will determine how it compares to other apps.
Only if you have as much memory as a desktop. Chrome is painful to use on anything with limited memory, even with very limited plugin use. (Roughly 20 megs per extension and 50 megs per tab).
I've had much better luck with Safari, even the Windows version. No lastpass for Safari Windows though :(
Why does Apple allow competing browsers in the App Store, but not competing mail clients? For me the iPhone's mail app has terrible IMAP support, but there aren't any other options.
I think they run it on reputation, not on the actual quality of the application. Users do not yet have enough experience to judge on the basis of its actual performance.
I wonder what will happen if Google and a few other big hitters publicly encourage people to jailbreak their iOS devices in order to get the best experience (by avoiding Apple's lame restrictions).
Like suppose Larry Page goes up on stage at Google IO and saying "here's the next version of Chrome for iOS and btw, we suggest you jailbreak you iPhone to get the one with our awesome V8 engine".
I wonder if Apple can take any action against Google after that (other than kicking out current Google apps).
The problem with ideas like this isn't so much a hypothetical situation of what would happen if we decided to burn bridges tomorrow (probably not good.) It's neither about "What would Apple do?" or "How could Google leverage this"... unfortunately the truth is much more mundane.
The point that I feel is forever-lost on this forum, is that you as a user in your position are statistically unique, there aren't a terrible lot of you versus the great expanse of smart phone users out there. The overwhelming majority of smart phone owners are not interested in any of this in the slightest. Ironically, this is especially even more pronounced on the Android platform due to the penetration tactics that have been engaged(taking the cheap-default-handset crown from Nokia). You see yourself and your peers with the latest Android devices, this creates a false bias that everyone is the same as yourself, but you're actually part of the less than 7% of the Android market that uses the latest Android software. (Many of which can't upgrade even if they wanted to.)
This forum presents a group of like minded users who understand ideas like jailbreaking, follow news releases from Google and other tech companies. (Amongst other tech related discussion.)
However, what this forum seems to forget is that they represent a fringe user of both the internet and of technology as a whole. You may use the technology subjectively better, but even then you're still just a sliver out there.
The bias of being surrounded by people who are technical/brilliant/whatever, whether it's in your technically-minded workplace, your awesome university or the online places you lurk. You are still such a tiny fraction of users. There are more people out there using their smart phones to twitter images of their breakfast than there are forum users here. Even the list of unknown tech start ups dwarfs this forum.
The point I'm making, is that you'll have more effect on people by helping them do something incredibly mundane, than you will influence them to change a behaviour for differences that they truly won't notice.
About the idea: No one is buying an Apple product because they hate Apple. If the sole reason to jail break the device and install a competing fully-fledged browser is to stick it to Apple, or provide an experience that is available on Android - then you're talking to someone who is already an Android customer, or will be very soon. There is a mistaken idea that iPhones are status-quo grudge purchases, far from it, rather they're quite expensive propositions in comparison to the vast array of cheaper Android devices.
[+] [-] rkudeshi|13 years ago|reply
Is anyone still using it?
[1] http://www.gadgetsdna.com/opera-mini-goes-rampant-tops-all-2...
[+] [-] superasn|13 years ago|reply
(A little OT but right now the Chrome icon it looks ugly as hell. The black just doesn't seem to mix well with green and blue for some reason)
[+] [-] Samuel_Michon|13 years ago|reply
I didn't even download Chrome for iOS, as I don't use any Google services besides Analytics, Adsense, and Places (I switched to DDG for search.) I don't see the upshot of using Chrome for iOS, because I have all my bookmarks in Safari and use Reading List and iCloud (with Instapaper and Evernote bookmarklets.)
[+] [-] ricardobeat|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dhawalhs|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mtgx|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sirn|13 years ago|reply
This is the case with Chrome for iOS too. At least on my original iPad, Chrome trash the first tab after I open the 4th tab (tested this with Reddit front page) where I can open up to the 9 tabs limit in Mobile Safari. I guess this is just the original iPad showing its age. Things seems to works better on iPhone 4, but my point is Chrome for iOS do trash tabs.
[+] [-] pooriaazimi|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Samuel_Michon|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dr42|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] f055|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rryan|13 years ago|reply
Predictive prefetching makes sure Chrome already has the page data before you finish typing. It can still beat Safari with tricks like this.
Chrome Sync syncs your profile (credentials, tabs, bookmarks, omnibox typing model, etc.) across all your devices.
The user interface for managing tabs is also very slick.
Auto-update is gimped by the app store approval process, but at least you know that the Chrome team takes security very seriously and will take the minimum possible time to patch security flaws.
Those are some things that I would want over Mobile Safari.
[+] [-] falling|13 years ago|reply
There is much more to a browser than the rendering engine.
It often feels faster than Safari (no matter how much people complain it being THREE TIMES slower than Safari because it doesn’t have JIT), incognito mode is much better as I don’t have to go to Settings every tim, passwords sync, omnibox.
The only big issue is that you cannot set it as default.
[+] [-] superasn|13 years ago|reply
Just like they denied Sparrow of push notifications at first but as more and more users started pestering them about it, they finally had to give in.
[+] [-] Xuzz|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robgough|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ConstantineXVI|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kemayo|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] binaryorganic|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonny_eh|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mtgx|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tvon|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rkudeshi|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MikeCapone|13 years ago|reply
I do wish that Apple would make Safari's javacript engine available to third party browsers OR allow them to provide their own javascript engine. I don't even care about the ability to open links from other apps with a third party; just give it a level playing field when it comes to speed.
[+] [-] jrockway|13 years ago|reply
Anyway, Apple's business model seems to preclude neat software. Use Android or a laptop if you want a good Chrome experience.
[+] [-] durga|13 years ago|reply
The app store ranking is determined by number of downloads in the last 5-6 days. Since it just launched, a spike in downloads and a subsequent rise in rankings is expected. Whether it stays on top in the coming weeks/months will determine how it compares to other apps.
[+] [-] Karunamon|13 years ago|reply
Only if you have as much memory as a desktop. Chrome is painful to use on anything with limited memory, even with very limited plugin use. (Roughly 20 megs per extension and 50 megs per tab).
I've had much better luck with Safari, even the Windows version. No lastpass for Safari Windows though :(
[+] [-] TwoBit|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] khangtoh|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] currywurst|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dewind|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pgambling|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tnorthcutt|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dorianj|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] abjr|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] masklinn|13 years ago|reply
Uh?
http://itunes.apple.com/app/sparrow/id492573565?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/app/emailganizer-pro-email-reader/id...
[+] [-] rococo|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cema|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ddon|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rogerchucker|13 years ago|reply
Like suppose Larry Page goes up on stage at Google IO and saying "here's the next version of Chrome for iOS and btw, we suggest you jailbreak you iPhone to get the one with our awesome V8 engine".
I wonder if Apple can take any action against Google after that (other than kicking out current Google apps).
[+] [-] idspispopd|13 years ago|reply
The point that I feel is forever-lost on this forum, is that you as a user in your position are statistically unique, there aren't a terrible lot of you versus the great expanse of smart phone users out there. The overwhelming majority of smart phone owners are not interested in any of this in the slightest. Ironically, this is especially even more pronounced on the Android platform due to the penetration tactics that have been engaged(taking the cheap-default-handset crown from Nokia). You see yourself and your peers with the latest Android devices, this creates a false bias that everyone is the same as yourself, but you're actually part of the less than 7% of the Android market that uses the latest Android software. (Many of which can't upgrade even if they wanted to.)
This forum presents a group of like minded users who understand ideas like jailbreaking, follow news releases from Google and other tech companies. (Amongst other tech related discussion.)
However, what this forum seems to forget is that they represent a fringe user of both the internet and of technology as a whole. You may use the technology subjectively better, but even then you're still just a sliver out there.
The bias of being surrounded by people who are technical/brilliant/whatever, whether it's in your technically-minded workplace, your awesome university or the online places you lurk. You are still such a tiny fraction of users. There are more people out there using their smart phones to twitter images of their breakfast than there are forum users here. Even the list of unknown tech start ups dwarfs this forum.
The point I'm making, is that you'll have more effect on people by helping them do something incredibly mundane, than you will influence them to change a behaviour for differences that they truly won't notice.
About the idea: No one is buying an Apple product because they hate Apple. If the sole reason to jail break the device and install a competing fully-fledged browser is to stick it to Apple, or provide an experience that is available on Android - then you're talking to someone who is already an Android customer, or will be very soon. There is a mistaken idea that iPhones are status-quo grudge purchases, far from it, rather they're quite expensive propositions in comparison to the vast array of cheaper Android devices.
[+] [-] ipink|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]