Advertisement

Article

8 Best Browser Apps of 2016

Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

  • Updated:

More of our online time is spent on mobile devices, whether smartphones, tablets or both. With this shifting approach to our connected lives, there’s an increasing demand for browsers that do the job well on smaller screens.

The tech industry has responded, creating new browsers with more functionality, more features, and more available add-ons and extensions. Below is a look at the top mobile browsers and what makes them stand out:

8 Best Browser Apps of 2016

Chrome

Available For: Android, iOS

chrome

The Google standard and still one of the most popular browsers on desktop, mobile Chrome offers most of the same features, including the search, address, and command omnibox and private browsing. There’s a smartphone-friendly voice search function too. Plus, Chrome has powerful syncing that coordinates bookmarks, tabs, and history across devices.

Dolphin

Available For: Android, iOS

This browser is all about customization, with extensive features, add-on, tabs, and tools to make the browsing experience your own. There’s voice-activated search and a nifty gesture function that lets you draw letters on a screen to load favorite sites.

Firefox

Available For: Android, iOS

Firefox 36 Android

The mobile version is popular with the smartphone and tablet set with good reason. Firefox offers desktop sync, multiple tabs, and the add-ons (Android version) that made Firefox famous. The iOS version offers predictive search and a tab management system. The add-on choices are not as rich on the iOS version, however.

Flynx

Available For: Android

This browser feels like a pop-up…the good kind. There’s an on-screen indicator that lets you keep using other apps while you’re waiting for a page to load. Flynx offers up to four tabs, an ad blocker, link sharing, and a double-tap function that saves pages for later offline viewing.

iCab

Available For: iOS

This browser has some functions that are not seen often in mobile, including a full-screen mode, user-agent spoofing, and a download manager. It also comes with familiar features such as gesture controls, page compression, and private browsing.

Mercury

Available For: Android, iOS

logo_mercurybrowser

Based on the well-proven WebKit engine, Mercury comes with an ad blocker, gesture controls, tabbed browsing, private browsing, and a fully customizable search bar. Plug-ins offer great options like a reader mode and easy syncing with various cloud storage systems.

Opera

Available For: Android, iOS

Opera is known for its data compression features, which shrink videos and images to speed up browsing. It also offers gesture controls and cross-device syncing. For iOS users, Opera Coast provides a gesture-focused experience.

Ghostery

Available For: Android, iOS

Ghostery-Android-Authority1

Ghostery started its life as a browser extension for desktops that gave users information on tracking tools that showed who knew what when browsing along with information on opting out of those trackers. Since leaping to mobile, Ghostery comes equipped with the same tracker-tracking tools, along with private browsing, ad blocking a pop-up blocker and form auto-complete.

Take browser apps further! Check out: Best Cloud Photo Storage: 5 Apps to Safely Back Up Your Photos!

Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

Editorial Guidelines