Is Safari just not making the cut for you? Luckily, there are several alternative web browsers for the iPad that are just plain awesome. Last week, I reviewed the popular, multi-platform Dolphin Browser HD which you may read about here. In my latest quest for the perfect browser, I was lucky to stumble upon another fabulous app called Grazing Web Browser. When I first heard of Grazing, I was skeptical to give it a shot because I assumed it'd be yet another browser offering a mediocre user experience. Fortunately, I was wrong. Grazing is just fabulous! Let me tell you why.
Like Dolphin Browser HD, the developers of Grazing have made tremendous use of gesture recognition. Gestures like panning back and forth enable you to navigate effectively between your various tabs. Additionally, you can pull down the toolbar to view the "tab strip" which enables you to view your tabs as small, unobtrusive thumbnails or regular browser tabs -- whichever you prefer. You can get rid of the tab view altogether and simply browse your page in a full-screen format to obtain the most captivating experience possible. Tabs can be sorted and viewed in a sidebar as well. To close a tab, simply draw an L-shaped gesture and watch the tab disappear promptly. Voila! Drawing an inverse L will enable you to reload a tab. Additionally, there are many other gestures that you may take advantage of (or create your own!). The feature guide provided upon launch or by accessing www.grazingbrowser.com.
If you press and hold on links, you'll get a snazzy little pop-up known as the "context menu". This menu enables you to open a link in the current window, in a new tab or in a background tab. You may also bookmark it, save it, and share it via Facebook and Twitter. Even more impressive is the Slidepad which gives you access to all your browser commands. How do you access it? You slide your thumb in from the right or left of the screen which launches a neat little toolbar that enables you to search, navigate, reload content, close and open tabs, and more. Sure, it's a bit awkward if you pull it out too high or two low on a page as all of its features may not be visible and it takes a bit of getting used to because it's strangely-shaped, but with a bit of practice, this feature can become tremendously helpful.
Two features I appreciate greatly are the app's ad blocking and private browsing features. These features provide an optimized browsing experience and also enable you to browse discretely so that other users with whom you may share the app do not gain access to your browsing history. Grazing has also enabled a Grazing Push service which enables you to send links between your devices (iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch) and your desktop running OS X. This is great for Mac users, but users with Android or Windows devices may feel neglected and prefer to use an app such as Dolphin Browser HD which provides support for all platforms.
The Universal Address bar enables you to get a unique search experience and provides you with suggestions incorporating your bookmarks, tabs, and regular searches. In addition to integrating with Facebook and Twitter for content sharing, I was impressed with the ability to share links with services such as Google Reader, Instapaper, Pinboard, ReadItLater, Tumblr, Evernote and much more. This is one area where Grazing outperforms when compared against Dolphin Browser HD, making it ideal for social-media and content-sharing enthusiasts.
Although there may be a bit of a learning curve associated with the use of Grazing browser since some of its gestures and controls require some getting used to, I was truly pleased with the overall user experience. While there are situations where users may prefer to use an app like Dolphin (such as the need to sync between non-Apple devices), I prefer the Grazing experience and would highly recommend it to most users. It is evident that the developers have put tremendous effort in creating this app and that they will to optimize and support it. Give it a shot. It’s truly a game changer.
