Still using Safari on iPad and Chrome on your Android tablet? Tim Danton reveals how to boost your device by ditching its default browser
Firefox fans around the world rejoiced when, on 11 November, the browser's creator Mozilla released a free Firefox app for iOS. If you own an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, you can now use Firefox as the main browser on your device.
And yet, just because the Firefox app is hot off the press, don't assume it's better than others. With more and more browsers available for your tablet and phone, this is the ideal time to “shop" around (but not pay anything - all the browsers we feature here are free).
Changing your browser could be all you need to breathe new life - and speed - into your old phone or tablet. We tested this theory by running a number of browsers on Android and iOS tablets and phones to speed-test them in everyday use. Here we reveal which browser may give your device the biggest boost.
Speed up and sync with Firefox
The new iOS version of open source browser Firefox (www.snipca.com/18883) doesn’t make any amazing speed claims - and it’s not in a position to. Apple requires all third-party browsers to use Safari's WebKit rendering engine (https://www.webkit.org). This rendering process is what turns a site’s HTML code, photo files and so on into a readable layout for your device.
As a result. Firefox and Safari, which is pre-installed on all iOS devices, performed nigh-on identically in our speed tests. However, Firefox was four times faster than Safari in the SunSpider WebKit benchmark test (www.snipca.com/18882), which measures browser speeds running JavaScript, a coding language used by many sites (not the same as the dreaded plug in Java).
Firefox also raced ahead of Chrome on the iPad in our tests, opening pages around 30 per cent more quickly. However, on Android, there’s little reason to abandon Chrome for Firefox. Chrome comes pre-installed on most Android devices; if it's not on yours, download it free from the Google Play Store (www.snipca.com/18948). Chrome took just a few seconds to load web pages that were full of links and banner ads. while Firefox took up to a minute.
One advantage of using Firefox in iOS is that it synehonises your bookmarks, passwords and history with other devices. Open a new tab in the browser on your iPad or iPhone, then tap the cloud icon and sign in or create a free Firefox account.
Go private with Ghostery
Your every move is being tracked online. You know that - and you know from our ‘Who's selling your data?' that sites and tools store data about your activity, and some even sell it to advertisers.
To find out exactly what sites are up to, switch to Ghostery (Android www.snipca.com/18885; iOS www.snipca.com/18886). A ghostly blue character sits at the top-right of the window and reveals how many trackers are loaded on each page. Click the character and you can select which trackers to block (see screenshot below). On poorly programmed sites, this could make browsing a little quicker too, because these sites sometimes download adverts (which track you) before legitimate page content.
If you’ve been using the privacy-focused search app DuckDuckGo (Android www.snipca.com/18887; iOS www.snipca.com/18888), you can make it your default search engine in the Android version of Ghostery. Open Ghostery, tap the three dots to the right of the ghost, then tap the cog icon and you’ll see the option for DuckDuckGo.
Slash data costs with Opera Mini
Opera Mini (Android www.snipca.com/18893; iOS www.snipca.com/18894) is a special treat for Android tablet users. Its tiny 3.3MB download size is reflected in its nimble speed. On your Android tablet or phone, tap the red ‘O’ logo, then Settings. Here, you’ll find a ‘Data savings’ option that can save both time and money by reducing image quality and compressing videos - ideal when you’re travelling.
Opera Mini isn’t quite so impressive in iOS. For one thing, it’s much less mini; once installed it weighs in at over 30MB. In our speed tests over Wi-Fi, its results were almost identical to Safari and Chrome.
There are other time-saving features in Opera Mini, in both Android and iOS. Recent history links pop up by default when you create a new tab. There’s also a handy ‘Discover’ option that picks out interesting stories from sites such as the BBC, Metro and The Telegraph.
Fly to the US and back with Puffin
Puffin (Android www.snipca.com/18889; iOS www.snipca.com/18890) takes a completely different approach to most browsers. Rather than rendering pages on your tablet and phone, it does so on a US-based server and then streams images and videos to your device. In our SunSpider test. Puffin blitzed the opposition with a score 10 times faster than Firefox and almost 50 times faster than Safari.
The downside is that UK sites load much slower than US sites. When we tried viewing UK sites like BBC News, Puffin was no quicker than Safari. When we tried a US site such as TV channel CNN (http://cnn.com), whose type of content is similar to the BBC’s, Puffin loaded it several seconds faster. This makes Puffin a fine choice if you use VPN tools to pretend you have a US IP address - so you can watch US Netflix - but less so if you’re a fan of BBC iPlayer, for example.
Puffin’s other selling point is that it supports Plash. The mere mention of the word “Flash” makes any sensible PC user nervous, thanks to the plug-in’s history of security problems. But Puffin’s Flash files don’t go anywhere near your device - all the video rendering takes place on Puffin’s servers. It stays up to date with the latest versions so you don’t have to. At the very worst, any potential threats would hit Puffin’s machines, not yours.
PC winner Maxthon can't keep up on tablets
Maxthon (www.maxthon.com) and its even faster little cousin Maxthon Nitro (www.maxthon.com/nitro) are unbeatable for speed when used on your computer, but the story is quite different on your tablet and phone.
Maxthon’s apps (Android www.snipca.com/18949; iOS www.snipca.com/18950) struggled to compete with all the other browsers we tested, including the defaults. It lagged a few seconds behind Chrome in Android and Safari in iOS, even when loading quite basic pages.
Don’t write it off, though. If you’re more of a PC user than a tablet and phone person, and you love Maxthon’s speed on your computer, install it on your other devices so you can sync your bookmarks and even your open tabs.