10 alternative browsers for iPad

What was supposed to be a simple search for a simple browser for iPad that would allow for HTML inspection turned into something pretty interesting due to all the capabilities these browsers for iPad have, from Dropbox saving to tabs to collaboration and of course, source code inspection. So here’s a quick round up of ten alternatives to Safari on your iPad.

Atomic

http://atomicwebbrowser.com/

Atomic is offered both in a pro and a lite version but the latter doesn’t includes source code inpection. Some features of Atomic browser for iPad:

• Dropbox file tranferring
• navigation by gestures
• source code inspector
• tabbed navigation
• ad blocking
• identify as IE, Firefox or Safari

Perfect

http://www.perfectbrowser.com/

Some features of Perfect browser for iPad:

• tabs
• font size adjustment
• web compression
• identifies as Chrome, Opera, Firefox or IE
• navigation by gestures

Superstash

http://superstashapp.com/

This is a browser with a strong focus in collaboration, annotation and collecting. Some features of Superstash browser for iPad:

• tools for annotation by hand
• type tool
• image library for saved pages
• fullscreen image capture

Mercury

http://www.ilegendsoft.com/software/mercurybrowser/

Some features of Mercury browser for iPad:

• file sharing
• identify as Firefox, IE and Safari
• in-app file manager
• tabs
• fullscreen browsing
• navigation by gestures

Grazing

http://www.grazingbrowser.com/

Some features of Grazing browser for iPad:

• sidebar or drop down for pages (instead of tabs, looks interesting)
• navigation by getures
• ad blocking
• menu for social sharing

Geek the Navigator

http://pautex.fr/sourcenav/index_iPad_en.php

Some features of Geek the Navigator browser for iPad:

• Source code inspection
• Search in source code

Browser Duo

http://mcleanmobile.com/products/ipad-apps/browser-duo/

The main feature of this browser is its dual panel for web browsing: you can have two pages opened side by side (or top/bottom).

iLunascape

http://www.lunascape.tv/iLunascape/foriPad.aspx

The commands in iLunascape browser are located at the bottom so you can easily reach them with your fingers. Other features include:

• tabbed navigation (up to 6 tabs)
• online bookmarks for sync between desktop and mobile editions of iLunascape
• history
• screen capture (saved in iPad’s Photos)

iCab

http://www.icab.de/mobile.html

Some features of iCab browser for iPad include:

• download manager (can share saved files with other apps and save them to desktop computers)
• tabbed navigation
• support Dropbox for file sharing
• RSS reader
• saves full web pages
• navigation by gestures

Skyfire

http://www.skyfire.com/product/ipad

This browser became popular for its (partial) Flash support. Some other features include:

• page sharing for Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader and others
• tabbed navigation
• identify as a “desktop” browser to load full versions of some sites
• private browsing

Conclusion

In the end, the only browsers featuring code inspection were Atomic and Geek, but Atomic looks like a more complete browser. If you’re looking for a browser just to browse as a power user, maybe iCab or Mercury will be better suited for you.