Gadgetory

mobile browsing has come a very long way since the last time we looked at web browsers specifically so how do they compare now I'm Taylor Martin this is PocketNow and these are the browser Wars Android versus iOS for many of us web browsing is the heart and soul of our mobile usage browsing web pages from a coffee shop on your phone or buying something from Amazon while waiting in line these things to find what makes modern smart phones so different from their ancestors mobile browsing today is not all that bad enjoyable and efficient but how does mobile browsing compare between two opposing platforms Android and iOS third party web browsers are available by the dozens and many of the same browsers are available on both platforms Opera Dolphin and Chrome just to name a few rather than getting caught up on the third party discussion we'll stick to stock browsers and technically Android phones often come with multiple stock browsers the LG g3 for example comes with two browsers out of the box LG's custom browser and chrome but since chrome is now the default Android browser used on virtually every Android phone who use it for the basis of our comparison in other words this is Safari versus Chrome let's see how they compare we could compare page load times and benchmarks like the SunSpider javascript test but those things are more dependent upon hardware meaning the results will vary from phone to phone and those results are inconclusive and useless anyway since Safari and Chrome used different JavaScript engines so a simple feature comparison makes the most since Safari appears rather feature light the address bar has only four functions Omni search web address input refresh and toggle reader mode when applicable and the bottom navigation bar has only five buttons back forward share bookmarks and tab immediately it's easy to see chrome on Android has a considerable amount of additional features unlike Safari there is no bottom navigation bar it only has a slim address bar at the top with a button for refresh tabs and a Settings button which reveals a long list of options new tab new incognito tab bookmarks other devices so you can see which tabs are currently open on your other devices running Chrome history share and morph there is also a request subtitle which will try to override mobile websites to provide a desktop like browsing experience something which can't currently be done using Safari and other features like the print button incognito mode or even find in page are actually available in Safari though not so out in the open to print from Safari simply hit the share button and select the print button and to enter private browsing mode tap the tabs button and select the discreet private button in the bottom left corner searching a given page for a word is far less intuitive once the page has loaded tap the address bar and start typing the word or phrase you're searching for below the suggested searches bookmarks and previously visited pages the on this page section appears tapping that will give you the on page results between Chrome and Safari tab switching is almost identical tap the tabs button lint scroll vertically through all open tabs and slide left to right to close any tab the only difference is how easy chrome makes it to close all tabs in the press of a button this requires sliding each tab away in Safari the other major difference is the ability to share a web page to almost any installed application using Chrome on Android this is a core function of Android not Chrome specifically simply hit the Settings button and select share you're immediately met with all compatible applications which you can share to this makes it extra easy to save a webpage to pocket or Evernote to share to your third-party Twitter client or even Google+ in Safari the share function is limited to services handpicked by Apple airdrop messages mail Twitter or Facebook all through official clients only you can also bookmark add to a reading list add to homescreen copy or print for instance to share a page to pocket you'll have to copy the link close out of Safari open pocket and paste the link to save it or you could create a bookmarklet a short script that works like a bookmark but bookmarklets are very limited in functionality the upshot is that third-party sharing support will be coming in iOS 8 and thusly will be available in Safari the ability to request desktop mode is coming as well still we actually enjoy browsing from Safari almost as much as Chrome in Safari the address bar and bottom navigation bar hide away as soon as you begin scrolling and they reappear if you scroll upwards rotating to landscape also reveals a completely full screen mode and Chrome doesn't come with a reader mode either safari gives you a text-only view for more efficient reading frankly both browsers are great of course they both have advantages and disadvantages Chrome's tab sync for instance is more reliable and cross platform and you can seamlessly jump between regular and incognito browsing and Chrome a feature Safari users won't get until iOS 8 but Safari is a more lightweight experience with less clutter and a built in read later mode if we had to choose one over the other it would certainly be chrome on Android simply for its extensive sharing options desktop mode and more intuitive navigation but Safari on iOS isn't far behind at all we feel iOS 8 will put the 2 on fairly even ground folks thanks for watching if you enjoyed the video be sure to click the thumbs up button below and subscribe to the channel stay tuned for more browser Wars in the future and of course follow us around the web Twitter Facebook and Google+ at pocket now I'm Taylor Martin you can find me on twitter at casper tech and i will see you next time