Three Thoughts: Chrome for iOS

By
About two weeks ago Google released Chrome for iOS (i.e., the operating system for the iPad, iPhone,and iPod Touch). For those that are not tech savy, know that Chrome is a web browser much like: Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. While Apple's Safari is a decent option to use as a web browser on my iPhone and iPad, I have always longed for Chrome. For almost three years Chrome has been my main web browser on my desktop.

Thought 1: Chrome for iOS is a much better option than Safari for iOS. You should definitely download it if you have an iOS device. Tabbing and opening up a new window is smoother and more efficient with Chrome. For example when you open a new window in Chrome, all your favorite sites show up as large icons, which allows you to get to the sites you like in the shortest possible time. Chrome also has incognito browsing, which allows you to browse the web without leaving any tracks. Do not abuse it! Lastly, Chrome for iOS has the unibar, which allows for the use of a single bar that functions as both a search bar and an address bar. Most other browsers, including Safari, have two bars, yuck. Who amongst us has not been frustrated trying to use address bar to perform a search, but are unable because we cannot use spaces?

Thought 2: Chrome for iOS is great, but... there is still the issue that all apps link to Safari. So, you will inevitably use Safari more times that you care. Google has recently given iOS app developers the "know how" on how to circumvent this issue. Will Apple ever give us the option to make Chrome the default web browser on our iOS devices? I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

Thought 3: How shameful is Google? The overwhelming majority of Android users (their own operating system) cannot use Chrome (their own web browser). When I tried to tell my Android using friend, Matt, about Chrome and to download it on his LG Nitro, he could not download it. The LG Nitro runs Android 2.3 (i.e., Gingerbread). Only Android devices running 4.0 (i.e., Ice Cream Sandwich) or greater can download Chrome. Here is the worst part, the LG Nitro was released a full month after the iPhone 4S. There is no reason for this travesty.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Outdated! Charter Cable Box UI

By
Image
When I was living with my old roommates, we used Direct TV and Time Warner Cable to satisfy our TV cravings. While I hated, hate, and will always hate Direct TV for their barbaric two year contracts, I give them credit for having a neat looking user interface (UI). But because of their two year contract and lies, we cancelled. We paid about $400 dollars to get Direct TV's grubby paws out of our living room. At that point, it wasn't about the money, it was about principles. And so a happier relationship was started with Time Warner Cable. Though a lot of things were better with Time Warner Cable, I couldn't help but notice their cable boxes' UI was "fugly". Little did I know... Recently, I've moved away from the parents  old roommates. The new area I'm in is serviced by Charter Cable. I was shocked by the UI of the Charter cable boxes.  See picture below: The UI of the Charter cable box made Time Warner Cable's UI look like it was from the year...
Read more

A Quick Reflection on My Change in View of Technology from 2008 to 2024

By
When I started this blog in 2008, I wanted to help others fall in love with technology. I figured the goal would not be difficult to attain, considering that in our human condition we thirst for technology. It is technology that makes our lives easier, more entertaining and live longer. It was very silly to think people needed convincing and that I could make a contribution to that human desire for technology.  That however was not my most important take away for this reflection. I made an assumption that technology was a net good thing. As of today, I am sure that technology is a net negative for our lives and society. This does not mean that I am against technology, only that we should not embrace all of it and we need training on how to use it.  How a person uses technology is what determines if it is good or bad. Unfortunately, we have used our tech to enslave us. I constantly see people walking outside looking at their phones. Or people looking at their phones while they ...
Read more

The Best Android Keyboard: Swiftkey

By
Image
There are many keyboards out there for Android. To name a few, they are: Android Stock HTC Sense Samsung TouchWiz Swipe Swiftkey None of these keyboards are the perfection that is the iPhone keyboard. Hence, if you have an Android phone like me, you are stuck with the second best keyboard experience. The second best experience is not automatically a bad thing. Insane example, would you not like to be world's second richest person? Swiftkey is the best Android keyboard option for the simple reason that it will give you the fastest and most accurate experience. The auto-correction is the best in the business and it only gets better over time as it learns from your past inputs. Here is a comparison of the the previous version of Swiftkey versus the Ice Cream Sandwich stock keyboard. The newest Swiftkey introduced "flow" which is essentially Swipe. But you are not obligated to "flow", since you will still have the best auto-correcting ex...
Read more