Web browsers are essential to any computer the iPad is no exception. Safari which is built into the iPad is great for many but not all. Those looking for a different browsing experience than with Safari may be pleasantly surprised at what is available in the AppStore.
Price: $0.99
The essential web browser that should be on every iPad is Atomic Web Browser. It has the best user interface, the best feature set, and the best speed of the browsers tested. Atomic does a great job at making sure the user has many options to suit their needs; some highlight features include passcode lock, color themes, privacy mode, ad blocker, customized multitouch controls, full screen mode, desktop web page rendering, turn images off to conserve data usage, and many more. The reason why Atomic Web wins over other third party solutions is the great feature set and the ability to easy access that feature set. (Reviewed at version 3.0)
Price: $2.99
A1 PERFECT Web Browser is the closest competition to Atomic Web Browser, many of the features overlap but execution of those features is where it doesn't compete. The best example of where A1 Perfect does not execute is in the multitouch gesture support. Atomic Web offers the ability to customize those gestures to eighteen different settings per gesture, but A1 Perfect has only two options and two gestures versus the five different gestures available on Atomic Web. The even bigger problem with feature execution is only by reading the description in the AppStore is the user aware of this feature. A1 Perfect is a notable web browser but feature execution is where this app fails to be essential. (Reviewed at version 1.0)
Price: $1.99
Wanting to browse the web with two pages open at the same time? BrowserDuo is a great choice, either browse the web with one page or in two pages orientated horizontal or vertical mode. Use one page to watch video which the other to take part in a chat room. Bring an iPad to a sporting event to have both teams rosters up at the same time. A great app that brings a new type of functionality to the iPad. Being a specialized browser this app fails to be essential because of the limited feature set. (Reviewed at version 1.0.1)
Price: $1.99
Journey has been a great app for the iPhone however its upgrade to the iPad version has been less than stellar. The features are limited and badly executed. Tabbed browsing is a feature but the interface for this is one of the poorest reviewed today. The biggest reason why this app fails is the lack of features. (Reviewed at version 1.4.1)
Price: $0.99
Desired by many business professionals is the ability to share webpages off the iPad using the VGA output. Expedition is designed especially for this use case. Taking a design cue from Keynote for iPad comes the ability to use "laser pointer mode" making highlighting key areas of the website to colleagues easy. A very simple app that is good at what it does. (Reviewed at version 1.0.1)
Price: $4.99
Parents that want to share iPads with their children comes this app. The main use case of this app is to protect anyone using the iPad from coming across explicit material on the web. To keep a child safe on the web an iPad user can disable Safari through the Settings app thereby forcing a child to use Safe Browser to browse the web. Testing this app discovered the filters work well and most would feel comfortable handing an iPad to a young child by installing this app. (Reviewed at version 2.5.1)
Price: Free
An iPhone app that has not been updated for the iPad deserves mention in this guide for iPad web browsers. The experience on the iPad is much better than using this app on the iPhone. Many will crave this app to access flash websites. CloudBrowse works by remoting into another machine which does all of the web page rendering. Using this method an iPad can actually load flash web sites without eating up the battery or crashing. Do not expect to watch videos with this app, but for emergencies it is great to visit flash based websites. The interface is wonderful and will put any Android flash browser to shame because of the offsite rendering. (Reviewed at version 1.1.4)
$1.99
Released: about 1 year ago
$1.99
Released: 3 months ago
$1.99
Released: 5 months ago
$1.99
Released: 5 months ago
$0.99
Released: 2 months ago
$1.99
Released: 3 months ago