The internet has taken over our lives completely. All one needs to access the internet is a smartphone and a stable internet connection. And voila! The world is at your fingertips. From sports to entertainment, from Miles Davis to Sachin Tendulkar, from Karl Marx to Shah Rukh Khan, the internet presents the greatest archive of information in the world.
The various platforms that help you to surf the web are known as browsers. There are lots and lots of browsers in the world, but there are a few that completely dominate the market. Not only are they compatible with a variety of devices, but also they come with features that make them highly suitable for smartphones. This article closely examines the best smartphone platforms to surf the web.
What is a Browser?
The word should not come across as new to any of the users. Browsers are the various application software used to open the desired websites and web pages. The world’s most commonly used web browser is Google Chrome, followed by Safari. Other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, UC Browser, Opera, Opera Mini, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge are also quite popular.
Web browsers retrieve the required files for a particular webpage or website from a specific server. It must be noted that a search engine is only a search tool that provides references and links to other websites or pages. On the other hand, a web browser is an entire software application that helps one open desired web pages.
How Does a Web Browser Work?
A web browser retrieves files or information from different parts of the web and displays it to the user. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is used to transfer information. There are five main components of a web browser, and they are as follows:
- Browser Engine – The user interface and the all-important browser Engine are connected by a bridge. The browser engine manipulates the various inputs from multiple user interfaces and supervises the rendition engine.
- The user interface is the most critical aspect of the browser, and a user-friendly interface is always appreciated. The interface lets the users use the various features of the application.
- JavaScript Interpreter – The Interpreter interprets the JavaScript code and executes it. Then, it displays the results to the user in their preferred language.
- Data Storage – The cookies store information about the user obtained from the search terms and patterns. This information is later used to appeal to the user with suitable recommendations. Some of the popularly used processes are IndexedDB, WebSQL, and localStorage.
- Networking – Another essential aspect of a web browser, networking looks over all the safety, privacy and communication of the web browser.
Best smartphone platforms to surf the internet
Now, we shall look at the best smartphone platforms to surf the internet.
Google Chrome
The most commonly used web browser, Google Chrome was released in 2008 and has achieved tremendous success. It is compatible with numerous Operating Systems and is the default web browser for Android. It is written in a number of languages, such as Java, JavaScript, C, C++, HTML and Python.
Chrome is widely acknowledged as the fastest web browser and also the most user-friendly. It makes the best use of V8, a JavaScript engine that helps it function with lightning speed and presents the search results to you as soon as possible. It also uses the WebKit open-source rendering engine for loading web pages faster than other browsers.
Opera
Opera is one of the oldest web browsers and is still very much in use. It is compatible with multiple operating systems and is based on another popular browser called Chromium. Written in C++ and available in 42 different languages, Opera has other versions, such as Opera Mini and Opera Mobile, which are also quite popular.
Opera has a sleek and user-friendly design, and the operations are pretty easy on this browser. Opera offers users a built-in VPN and ad-blocking features that make web surfing smooth, easy and fun. Opera also has a crypto wallet and integrated messengers.
Mozilla Firefox
Introduced in 2004, Mozilla Firefox has become one of the most popular web browsers worldwide. It is written in C, C++, CSS, HTML, JavaScript and Assembly. Like the previous entries, it is compatible with several Operating Systems but only with their later versions. It is compatible with iOS 13 and later, and for Android users, it is compatible with Android Lollipop or later.
Available in 97 different languages, Mozilla Firefox also comes with a feature called Enhanced Tracking Protection. This feature protects the user from various tracking features such as crypto miners, cross-site tracking cookies and fingerprints.
Safari
Safari was developed and released by Apple in 2003 and is compatible with macOS, iOS, iPad and Windows. Written in C++, Objective C and Swift, Safari is the world’s second-most-used web browser. Apple claimed that the Safari version released in 2020 was 50% faster than Google Chrome. The current version, released in July 2021, has a completely redesigned interface.
For Apple users, Safari is definitely the best choice for web browsers. Safari offers airtight cybersecurity, and the Handoff feature is among the best in the business. It is also a very lightweight browser that can handle multiple tabs quite expertly.
DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser
DuckDuckGo was launched in 2008 and served users all over the world. The feature that makes DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser so special is that it offers the users complete anonymity. Thus, it is impossible to get a figure of how many uses there actually are.
It is written in Perl, JavaScript and Python and has a user-friendly interface, making it a favourite browser of many netizens. DuckDuckGo does not track the user’s activities online and does not use data, thus offering its users a lot of privacy.
Brave Browser
Brave is another web browser that is hugely popular and is used by a lot of netizens all over the world. Written in JavaScript, Swift and C++, Brave was launched only in 2019. The search engines associated with Brave are Blink and V8. It is compatible with Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. It is one of the safest web browsers, with ad blocking and third-party blocking.
It is available in more than 47 languages and is especially known for not maintaining users’ search history. It also protects against fingerprinting techniques and is, thus, highly secure.
Microsoft Edge
Another newly released web browser, Edge, by Microsoft, was launched only in 2015 and is written in C++. It is the spiritual successor of the iconic Internet Explorer and is compatible with both iOS and Android. Edge ranks among the most used web browsers in the world and has been acclaimed for its user-friendly design.
It comes with several in-built features such as Collections, Vertical Tabs, and Immersive. These features help the user keep their information organised while surfing the internet or streaming content. Edge is also known to take up less memory on multiple tabs than Chrome and is thus regarded by many as faster than Chrome.
Vivaldi
Available in 53 languages, Vivaldi was launched in 2016 and is compatible with both iOS and Android. It is written in C++ and currently has more than 2 million active users worldwide. It has been praised for its tab handling. Vivaldi offers users a lot of options for customisation and is particularly known for the security that it provides to its users. It does not need extensions and does not sell its data to third parties.
Vivaldi is also very lightweight and requires very little space. It is the most suited for power users. A user can also hibernate the inactive tabs to reduce the consumption of memory.
Dolphin
Explicitly made for iOS and Android users, Dolphin was launched only recently. The iOS version was launched only a couple of years ago, and the Android version a few months after that. It uses WebKit as an engine and also another engine named Dolphin Jetpack. Dolphin is also quite safe as it does not leave any history, cookies or cache. It also has a feature called the Jetpack mode which can give it a significant boost and make it faster than other browsers.
The Dolphin browser also comes with a few unique features, such as tabbed browsing and gesture controls. These features make browsing the internet with Dolphin both fun and secure. It is proprietary software and is thus distributed free.
Conclusion
Thus, these are some of the best smartphone platforms to surf the web, making the internet fun and secure. They guarantee the user’s security and are compatible with an extensive range of devices.
