Dolphin update deals final blow!

[jcardona1]

I agree all the way with first poster. I love dolphin browser and the new update is fantastic. Whoever thinks the latest update is bad should rethink their idea. Dolphin is a free app that lots of people use and has been updated and updated until we are happy. Not being happy now would insult them

rethink what idea? that Dolphin sucks and makes internet browing a painful experience? just because it's a free app doesnt mean i should automatically praise and love it. the scrolling and zooming SUCKS, end of story. and that is a deal breaker for me. i dumped it once before and i dumped again after this so-called "update"

 

[LrdElderon]

xScope does! It even does a one handed pin-zoom which is sweet. Heck I never understood what people see in Dolphin. The zoom on it was always so choppy and almost unbearable. I tried xScope one time and knew that was the browser for me. Heck the developer updates it about 2 times a week!.

Different strokes for different folks. There really isn't any "best" that works for everyone and while it's nice that xscope dev updates regularly it also has a lot of garbage that shouldn't be in a browser to begin with... sooo just use what you like. Even stock hehe

And this "garbage" affects the browser how? It doesn't. Sluggish Choppy laggy Zoom that is what I would consider garbage. So I guess your right. To each his own.

Try it for yourself and you will see it this extra "garbage" you speak off doesn't have anything to do with the browsers performance loading pages and zooming in/out/and making tabs. I see it as a plus that it can do more than be a browser. you don't need an additional file manager program app or a task killer, and if you don't want to use those features then don't.

But your right about one thing Different Strokes as some people do like choppy zooming as long as it's free.

little bit of hostility there it seems. I do not see how adding something to a browser that for one thing the os either doesn't need or there are superior apps that are free that do a better job, especially when you consider they add to the file size. which for some could be a rare resource.

laggy choppy zoom? funny dolphin works faster zooming in and out and much smoother than the newest xscope does for me. it even renders faster than xscope for me. Perhaps it depends on what apps or what rom version or whatever you are running or the sites you frequent.

"But your right about one thing Different Strokes as some people do like choppy zooming as long as it's free"

Not a huge fan of that sentence.... seems a little bit personal.

I never criticized performance of your precious xscope. I merely offered my criticism that I do not like how things unrelated to web browsing are being added in. I wouldn't want IE or Firefox to have a task manager capable of killing processes on my desktop browser either.

and as I said before some people like different things, based on configuration, rom, apps installed...etc people can experience different performance. Theres no need to bash on dolphin or people that like it because for you personally it's been choppy. For quite a few others judging by it's popularity it works just fine and fast for us. But competition is a good thing, they will all just get better as it goes.

edit: please note im not saying all praise to dolphin. I'm merely saying that dolphin works the fastest for me currently and that this fanaticism people are having over any browser is a bad thing. besides criticism that is at least constructive is how the browser people know what directions to take or how to move forward.

 

[Kobra]

Different strokes for different folks. There really isn't any "best" that works for everyone and while it's nice that xscope dev updates regularly it also has a lot of garbage that shouldn't be in a browser to begin with... sooo just use what you like. Even stock hehe

And this "garbage" affects the browser how? It doesn't. Sluggish Choppy laggy Zoom that is what I would consider garbage. So I guess your right. To each his own.

Try it for yourself and you will see it this extra "garbage" you speak off doesn't have anything to do with the browsers performance loading pages and zooming in/out/and making tabs. I see it as a plus that it can do more than be a browser. you don't need an additional file manager program app or a task killer, and if you don't want to use those features then don't.

But your right about one thing Different Strokes as some people do like choppy zooming as long as it's free.

little bit of hostility there it seems. I do not see how adding something to a browser that for one thing the os either doesn't need or there are superior apps that are free that do a better job, especially when you consider they add to the file size. which for some could be a rare resource.

laggy choppy zoom? funny dolphin works faster zooming in and out and much smoother than the newest xscope does for me. it even renders faster than xscope for me. Perhaps it depends on what apps or what rom version or whatever you are running or the sites you frequent.

"But your right about one thing Different Strokes as some people do like choppy zooming as long as it's free"

Not a huge fan of that sentence.... seems a little bit personal.

I never criticized performance of your precious xscope. I merely offered my criticism that I do not like how things unrelated to web browsing are being added in. I wouldn't want IE or Firefox to have a task manager capable of killing processes on my desktop browser either.

and as I said before some people like different things, based on configuration, rom, apps installed...etc people can experience different performance. Theres no need to bash on dolphin or people that like it because for you personally it's been choppy. For quite a few others judging by it's popularity it works just fine and fast for us. But competition is a good thing, they will all just get better as it goes.

edit: please note im not saying all praise to dolphin. I'm merely saying that dolphin works the fastest for me currently and that this fanaticism people are having over any browser is a bad thing. besides criticism that is at least constructive is how the browser people know what directions to take or how to move forward.

No was just trying to make a point. The point is people will put up with the faults more because it is free, and yet they still complain. I just find it odd when people complain about any thing they received for free wanting it to be more. I actually agree with you. It works great for free.

 

[dayfornight99]

ok guys help me out here with the new dolphin. so I'm on a webpage in dolphin and want to go to the menu to get to my bookmarks to change sites. how do I do that? and when I do, does it always have to open up in a new tab everytime? I'd just like to surf the web without every new page I check out opening up in a new tab.

Ive tried a number of different menu combinations and cant figure this out. I'm sure I have to be missing something. any help is appreciated.

 

[HwnDroid]

I too dumped Dolphin for XScope. Like others said it doesn't have the "near me now" feature and it was a bit laggy. I'll have to try it again and see if the update justifies it.

 

[Palmyra]

ok guys help me out here with the new dolphin. so I'm on a webpage in dolphin and want to go to the menu to get to my bookmarks to change sites. how do I do that? and when I do, does it always have to open up in a new tab everytime? I'd just like to surf the web without every new page I check out opening up in a new tab.

Ive tried a number of different menu combinations and cant figure this out. I'm sure I have to be missing something. any help is appreciated.

Menu > Home icon that is on THE SCREEN not on the Droid itself. > Star. That should do it/does for me

 

[mjs31]

I just wish Dolphin would have an easier double tap to zoom like the standard browser. I dont care for pinch zoom since I prefer one handed surfing.

 

[Benjamin Crist]

What they all are missing is a stop button.

Dolphin had a stop button, but last update you need to do a gesture.

 

[Benjamin Crist]

So it's stock vs xscope vs dolphin

Is Steel dead? I haven't heard anyone say steel was even an option.

Also, am I the only one who liked Dolphin better before the update?

 

[DigiK]

After supporting the Dev for his previous hardwork and paying the $5, I really wanted to like 2.00; but unfortunately the Dev turned Dolphin into a great example of how NOT to design a mobile browser--even for super phones like Moto Droid and Nexus. There are innumerable NASTY coherency issues with respect to the UI and additional bugs that have made the program generally unstable, even leading to system instability. At this point, I'm even considering uninstalling it and reverting to 1.X.

I now consider this browser the epitome of bloatware and a resource hog. For instance, the Dev went through all that trouble to add a tab expose utility, and the implementation doesn't even show all six tab previews on one screen? Why do I want to SCROLL through the previews one-by-one? This is jsut a waste of time, as it replicates the same effect as scrolling through tabs one-by-one

It's quite obvious MGeek had his head in the sand ignoring user requests for simple improvements/bug fixes. Instead the dev ran off to completely revamp a UI that wasn't broken to begin with. Ironically, dolphin 2.0 is now less user-friendly than the old version. I guess this is just the greatest thing ever, though, if you like to spend more of your time dealing with a contorted, buggy user interface and less time actually using the internet....


Just some comments I sent the Dev below:

• User input now laggy and susceptible to 'ghost' inputs
• Notification bar is no-longer displayed on tab expose. It's nice to be able to quickly view notifications without having to go out to the homescreen.
• Preferred the slim expose bar signifying hidden menu at the top previously; the shadow is less elegant. New hidden menu bar at the bottom is redundant since it's quite obvious that pressing [MENU] will reveal that menu.
• Some people seemed to have liked the volume pg up/down function. Maybe bring this back as a settings option. It's nice to be able to control musicvolume though, since alot of people usually listen to music and read simulataneously.
• Appreciate the added pop-up url bar on menu-press, but as soon as you click it, it changes to the system default url entry which creates a big loss of continuity. Why not make this url bar active with voice search--the same as on the Dolphin Home Screen? The bookmark and share icons can be moved to the lower menu.
• My biggest UI issue is the organization of the two-level pop-up menus which generally bury functions in places that takes too long access them:
  • First level pop-up menu:
    • I would consider extending this menu to two rows of 5 icons to include the essentials, so you don't need to go to second level menu as often:
      • Top row NAV: [BACK][STOP][HOME URL][RELOAD][FORWARD]
      • Bottom row page Utilities: [BOOKMARK][SHARE][TAB PREVIEW][DOLPHIN HOME][LEVEL 2 MENU]
    • Currently, the [HOME] icon takes you to the Dolphin Homescreen or 'Stage' as I'll call it. This icon should be used instead for User Home URL, as the home icon is the universal symbol is pretty much universally accepted for this shortcut.
    • Likewise, the icon you are using in Row1, Column 2 of second-level menu would be better used to signify the Dolphin Homescreen/Stage
    • Make the gesture overaly full screen width & connect visually to the bottom menu--don't float it. Remove the 'M' in gesture window, as it is distracting.
  • Second level pop-up menu:
    • TOO MANY icons and once again occupies too much screen real estate. You could easily decrease the size for each icon/hit-box to make things tidier. Would prefer to see some of the current webpage not occluded above the menu. Once again, visually connect to the bottom menu--don't float it.
    • Remove the following to compact the menu if you reorganize the first-level menu as suggested:
      • Share page, Home Page, Gestures (redundant since already 1st-level)
      • Downloads; can also potentially be moved to the Dolphin Homescreen (Stage), since it's not necessary as a page tool
      • Exit...are people really that dense that they can't figure out how to long-press the back button?
    • Doing this, you'll get a compact, two-row second-level menu.
    • You could also consider just removing the second-level menu icon from first-level menu and make this accessible via hitting the [Menu] hardware key twice. Users would quickly find this on their own.
• Other fixes
  • As I mentioned previously, you should fix pinch zoom to not zoom out greater than page extents. Instead as user zooms back out toward 100%, you should begin to translate the page so that the full width and no more is displayed when at 100%. The current behavior is sloppy.
  • See if you can fix the Facebook full site tool bar floating/disappearance problem. A lot of people use the full site, since the current official FB app is pretty lacking.
  • Icons look muddy/low resolution. Consider not using outer-glow/shadows for your icons or toning it down.
  • Consider updating the help page to show the most basic operations/shortcuts of using the browser FIRST.

The developer hasn't yet responded to my email. He's either swamped in complaints & too busy fixing the mess he created or just apathetic to user imput at this point-- quite a divergence from just a while ago when he was very vocal about responding to user input.

I'm about done though. Just give me 2.1 so I can root and enable pinch zoom on the native browser. This is the kind of mindless crap that's going to stunt Android's growth as a platform and forever keep it in the shadow of iPhone.

 

[The Miz]

I just wish Dolphin would have an easier double tap to zoom like the standard browser. I dont care for pinch zoom since I prefer one handed surfing.

you can use the press and zoom function to zoom in and out. I find I am using that more than the pinch ans zoom function. So far I haven't had any issues with the browser...then again I am only on day two of using it.

 

[sstrool]

I like dolphin, i would like to understand more of the features. Is there a manual or how-to?

 

[christim]

For instance, the Dev went through all that trouble to add a tab expose utility, and the implementation doesn't even show all six tab previews on one screen? Why do I want to SCROLL through the previews one-by-one? This is jsut a waste of time, as it replicates the same effect as scrolling through tabs one-by-one

I've found 3 ways to get through the tabs on Dolphin. The first is by using the tabs at the top of the screen. The second is the shrunk down pages view (the preview mode?) and the last, which I tend to use is while on a webpage you can drag the whole page to the side and expose the contents of the next page. I had put up updating for a while due to the comments about ads everywhere but if the comments indicated they are only on the homepage, which is changeable. I'm not sure about the UI I've got now. Seems like extra clicks to get to my bookmarks, history, etc. I do like the forward back arrows vs the gestures I used before.

 

[dayfornight99]

So it's stock vs xscope vs dolphin

Is Steel dead? I haven't heard anyone say steel was even an option.

Also, am I the only one who liked Dolphin better before the update?

I liked dolphin much better before the update. the new update locks up and the browser stopped working. I had to uninstall and reinstall to get it to work. plus the new menu is less than intuitative. thumbs down on the new dolphin.

 

[dayfornight99]

ok guys help me out here with the new dolphin. so I'm on a webpage in dolphin and want to go to the menu to get to my bookmarks to change sites. how do I do that? and when I do, does it always have to open up in a new tab everytime? I'd just like to surf the web without every new page I check out opening up in a new tab.

Ive tried a number of different menu combinations and cant figure this out. I'm sure I have to be missing something. any help is appreciated.

Menu > Home icon that is on THE SCREEN not on the Droid itself. > Star. That should do it/does for me

each new webpage still opens in a new tab. I dont need a tab per web page I visit and dont need extra clicks to leave those web pages.

gonna give xscope a try.