As with any Apple lover and iOS user, I find the Mobile Safari to be one sufficiently capable browser in terms of speed and its ability to render content in its maximum glory. The browser scores pretty decent next to its competition and supports all the latest open web standards like HTML5, CSS, JS etc. Where it lacks however, is the ability to view Flash content (Apple’s everlasting battle with Adobe at work), limited syncing options and no real time downloads.
These shortcomings, and a lot more, are going to change with a new entrant in the App Store – 360 Web Browser. Available as a universal app (iPhone, iPod touch and iPad) in both a lite and full version, this iPhone browser brings a complete overhaul to the interface, making it a much more modern and futuristic look, as well as bringing real-time downloads, Firefox sync for open tabs and bookmarks, and even supports Flash transcoding on certain websites for watching Flash videos within the website!
The first thing about 360 Web Browser is the futuristic user interface. Everything about the browser speaks quality and careful thought put into its design. Abandoning Safari’s plain outlook, 360 Web Browser features glossy icons and a colorful interface with interchangeable themes. All other basics are also well covered.
On the main interface window, you get the tabs, address bar and search box (configured for Google), and a few basic icons featuring a back and a forward button, a refresh button, a 360 special arc icon, bookmarks and quick settings.
The Settings icon pulls up icons for plugins, history, saved pages, themes, in-depth preferences and options to handle downloads and Firefox sync ability.
Tapping the arc icon on any page brings up a multitude of useful options in a tidy and catchy wheel. You’ll want to play with all of them to get a true feel of this iPhone browser’s capabilities.
Looking deeper into 360 Web Browser brings to the light its differentiating features from Mobile Safari; the ability to handle real-time downloads. With a device as powerful as iPhone 4, iPad 2, etc, it’s natural to expect multiple simultaneous downloads. Apparently that was not the thinking at Cupertino, so Mobile Safari altogether lacks this feature. With 360 Web Browser, however, you get a dedicated Downloads section where you can see all in-progress downloads, completed ones, and even have the option of having all your downloaded files appear directly in your linked Dropbox account.
The goodies with Downloads don’t end here; you get a web-based file sharing protocol giving access to downloaded content from any PC on the same WiFi network, a basic file manager on the local drive, and a simple media player capable of playing downloaded music files (I didn’t try video with it). As I said earlier, everything about 360 Web Browser speaks quality and careful thought into designing.
360 Web Browser also offers great compatibility for Firefox users, as the browser has a Firefox sync ability which will keep in sync all you open tabs and bookmarks between the iPhone browser and desktop version of Firefox. Setting it up is easy and works perfectly.
The browser also offers strong tab management, and double tapping any open tab pulls down a menu filled with useful options. Tabs can be moved on the user’s leisure.
Finally, on the technical side, 360 Web Browser carries a strong plugin architecture that helps extend its functionality even further. These plugins can help bring functionality that would otherwise be unavailable, like Flash transcoding. Clip Converter, a 360 Web Browser plugin, for example, transcodes and plays video content from websites like YouTube, MySpace, Vimeo, Metacafe, DailyMotion, etc. right within the iPhone browser. While it’s not the most snazzy solution, it does the job pretty good.
There’s a lot more to 360 Web Browser than can be encompassed in a blog post. Try it out — the Lite version is free, but even the Pro version costs mere $0.99. Experience it, and let us know through your comments what you think of this alternative to Mobile Safari.
