Grazing Browser is the first third party iOS browser to have successfully held my attention for more than a day. I’ve already taken a look at other interesting iOS browsers (Portal for iPhone was pretty awesome), but I never made a more permanent switch because iOS 5 will not allow any app, aside from Mobile Safari, to act as your default browser. I am also well aware of jailbreak solutions like Browser Changer, but I just don’t feel like jailbreaking at this time.So for now this means that links in SMS, e-mails, as well as most of the “share with” shortcuts within apps will take me right to Safari, and not a third party browser.
Then again, I’ve lately found myself growing just a little impatient with Safari. I’m grateful for the tabbed interface on the iPad in iOS 5, but I’m frustrated with certain portions of the UI. There isn’t any Safari shortcut for copying the current URL to my clipboard, so I have to tap on the address bar, two-finger tap on the URL, and then copy it. I also wish there was an easier way to scroll through long web pages.
Grazing Browser handily addresses these shortcomings, and it can even auto-select the URL when I tap on the address bar. This is, of course, aside from Grazing’s push features, awesome full screen support, and incredibly slick Slidepad.
So for the past week I’ve tried replacing Safari with Grazing Browser in the docks of both my iPhone and iPad, in order to find out if a third party browser is at all viable for me.
Pushed Links
Safari’s Reading List is comparable to Grazing’s Push feature, but I still like Grazing’s implementation more. Provided you have the iPhone, Mac, and iPad Grazing apps installed, any website you visit on one device can be “pushed” to any other. If you’ve been reading a 7-page Ars Technica article on the iPhone and want to continue reading on your desktop, it’s as simple as pushing the link to your Mac. Pushing links to iOS devices will result in pop-up notifications that you can then tap on to load the URL within Grazing.
These push notifications have worked for me most of the time, but there are also occasional inexplicable gaps in performance. Sometimes push links go through in four seconds, and sometimes they just never arrive. I’d criticize this further, but Safari’s Reading List is still pretty spotty with its own iCloud syncing, so I’m not too down on Grazing for this misstep.
Better Browsing
By default, Grazing provides a familiar interface that makes Mobile Safari users feel right at home. However, should you dare to hide the top address bar and the bottom toolbar, Grazing can make surfing the web feel even more natural, thanks to its multitude of gestures.
There are gestures for closing tabs, opening links in the background, or for sharing the current web page with Instapaper. These aren’t just a few gestures either: there are double taps, three-finger taps, and elaborate swipes that you can configure to your heart’s (and the web’s) content. Match these gestures to your favourite services and you’ll be able to close tabs, start searches, and access settings without ever touching a button.
However, there’s really only one gesture-based feature that you really need to know about in Grazing on the iPhone and iPad: the Slidepad. The Slidepad slides in from the left or right on the iPad, or from the bottom of the iPhone screen (while in full-screen mode), and functions like a quick dashboard of frequently-used controls. It ends up making up for the lack of the top and bottom toolbars in fullscreen mode by making navigating the web faster and more fun. The Slidepad organizes all the controls so that they’re easily reachable with one thumb (especially true on the iPad), and the accompanying fade-in and fade-out animations make this pop-up control panel a joy to use.
The Best Case for Third Party Browsers
Grazing is absurdly cool; it’s the first browser to really make me consider changing up my iOS habits just so I can accommodate it into my everyday workflow. After having played with Grazing for a week, I’ve decided to give it more time in the dock.
The one major thing I have to get used to is copying links instead of simply tapping on them. This means that my new default action for links in e-mails and texts is a tap-and-hold-then-copy instead of just a tap. I then have to head to Grazing, summon the address bar with a gesture, and paste the URL in. Whether I’ll have to do this often enough that it becomes an annoyance is something I’ll find out soon enough, but the fact that I’m even willing to consider this workaround is a testament to how much fun Grazing Browser is to use. It really does feel futuristic swiping and tapping my way through web pages, and it feels so much more natural to use a hybrid system of gestures and buttons, instead of the vanilla toolbars and buttons in Mobile Safari. If you’ve been looking for a different way to surf on your iPad and iPhone, Grazing Browser ($2) is absolutely the app to try. You will have to get used to some workarounds here and there, but I dare say that the UI is delightful enough to make the attempt worth your while.
Grazing Browser was purchased by the author for review on iSource. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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