Until iPhone 4.0 reaches the iPad later this fall, iPad users will have to bide time by continuing to use apps one at a time or find apps that can give a faux multitasking experience like Desktop. The aptly titled
Multitasking Browser for iPad is one such new app that promises to give your web browsing experience a little more richness by allowing access to two browsers simultaneously.
Multitasking Browser does what you would imagine a multi browsing app would do: offer up two windows to surf the web. What the developers have done with this app, however, is present a solution in which your secondary window is only visible when your iPad is held in landscape mode. And while that second browser is fully functional, it has been specifically sized and optimized to run the mobile version of websites.
This arrangement makes it convenient to run mobile apps like email clients, Twitter or just to check Facebook status updates while you do your internet browsing on the main screen. Instant Messaging is especially nice since you won't have to close out your web browser to respond to your messages in a dedicated IM app. If you don't feel the need to be distracted by having the additional window, placing your iPad back to portrait will minimize the second browser and have it run in the background. You can still access it by having it overlay on your main browser window.
The developers have included instant bookmarks for 30 of the most popular mobile web apps and you can customize to include some of your own favorites for easy access. The primary browser also offers all of the same features as Safari with bookmarks and the ability to open multiple tabbed windows. Unfortunately there is no option to import your bookmark settings from Safari.
While the idea of limiting the size of your secondary browser may be off putting at first, employing it to use simple apps like Instant Messaging and Twitter makes a lot of sense. These types of programs don't require having a full window to display its information so a smaller window in this case works well, especially for IM.
Until Apple brings the multitasking goodness this fall, apps like this will help to bridge the gap.
Multitasking Browser is available for $2.99 on the App Store.
