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The version of Chrome is superb and it's a pleasure to surf I have to strongly disagree with all of the lauding about Chrome on Android. Chrome on Android was

The version of Chrome is superb and it's a pleasure to surf I have to strongly disagree with all of the lauding about Chrome on Android. Chrome on Android was terrible on my Galaxy S2. Chrome on Android was terrible on my Galaxy S3. In both cases perhaps because Samsung heavily optimized the basic, unbranded browser (full hardware acceleration, etc), but also because Chrome has some bizarre rendering behaviors (for instance it separately sizes text on sites like HN or Reddit). So I got a Nexus 7. Pretty powerful device, and I was used to browsing full sites like The Verge and The Toronto Star with no issue. Load Chrome -- they removed the unbranded browser -- and it is atrocious. Huge, multisecond pauses on either of those sites (http://www.theverge.com http://www.theverge.com and http://www.thestar.com http://www.thestar.com - be sure to go to the full sites and not the gimped mobile version). Scrolling is a hilariously bad affair. Note these observations online and am given the standard "oh no must be your unit, etc. etc." Only my second Nexus 7 was just arriving (from Google Play, while the former came from Staples, fwtw) -- exactly the same behavior. I do not understand the expressions of love for Chrome on Android. Perhaps it's the chrome of the browser -- bookmark management, etc? I don't generally use that but instead simply punch in auto-completed URLs and browse sites, and there it is profoundly, catastrophically deficient.

adestefan 14y ago
Mainly because those websites run like trash even on my desktop.
- huggyface 14y ago
  They run beautifully in Safari on the iPad. Indeed, they run quite well in Firefox (beta) on the Nexus 7. They ran quite well in the stock browser pre-JB. Those are only a couple of sample sites, but there is an endemic inefficiency of Chrome on Android that makes it unusable as a primary browser. Metacritic -- forget about it. I could go on and on. I have to think that people who like Chrome on Android must actually stay within the ghetto of mobile sites, where its inefficiency is less pronounced and things like the bookmark manager stand out more. The massive delays and largely non-functional scrolling on richer sites just makes it hard to believe that people are praising that browser.
  - incision 14y ago
    Get over yourself. You're a web browsing snob of discerning and demanding tastes, we get it. It's plainly evident by your own admission that the browser is widely lauded in the first post that Chrome on Android is not unusable. Your self-aggrandizing generalization about "people who like Chrome" and the "ghetto of mobile" sites is ridiculous. Honestly, you should be happy. If your favorite places on the web keep rendering poorly in Chrome it will surely keep your requests from mingling with those of undesirables in the cache.
    - huggyface 14y ago
      Out of morbid curiosity, are you always this obnoxious?
incision 14y ago
"I don't understand how anyone on earth can like this because it doesn't work well for my personal use cases!!!" Personally, I'm in line with the parent and find Chrome to be a pleasure to surf with. I've found the theverge.com to be a horrible mobile experience regardless of the browser.
cpleppert 14y ago
The chrome(!) of the Chrome browser is one of the worst aspects. The buttons and tabs are way too small on the top. They are big enough to steal valuable screen space from the page itself but are simply too small to click reliably. Miscellaneous issues that are shared with chrome on ios also abound. On page open, the focus doesn't manually switch to the address/search bar and requires a separate click. What a disaster. The last closed tabs are buried under the top sites that manage to be insanely hard to customize. The bookmarks cut off text and don't have any way to switch to a list view.The only redeeming feature is the ability to swipe across the screen to switch tabs. On large pages the browser performs slowly and crawls along while Firefox beta scrolls admirably and doesn't deliver blank white spots. This way fine back in 2007 on the iphone but in 2012 it is a little ridiculous. Firefox Beta is pretty good although I would like a new tab button and some way to swipe across the screen to switch between tabs. Flash also works fine and hq video isn't painless at all.
omaranto 14y ago
I second your observation about Chrome randomly choosing text sizes for each paragraph on HN and Reddit, it is horrible enough I decided to get apps for those two on the Nexus 7 while on my android phone I preferred visiting the websites in the stock browser (for reddit, I used the mobile version of the website, which is great).

adestefan 14y ago

Mainly because those websites run like trash even on my desktop.

huggyface 14y ago
They run beautifully in Safari on the iPad. Indeed, they run quite well in Firefox (beta) on the Nexus 7. They ran quite well in the stock browser pre-JB. Those are only a couple of sample sites, but there is an endemic inefficiency of Chrome on Android that makes it unusable as a primary browser. Metacritic -- forget about it. I could go on and on. I have to think that people who like Chrome on Android must actually stay within the ghetto of mobile sites, where its inefficiency is less pronounced and things like the bookmark manager stand out more. The massive delays and largely non-functional scrolling on richer sites just makes it hard to believe that people are praising that browser.
- incision 14y ago
  Get over yourself. You're a web browsing snob of discerning and demanding tastes, we get it. It's plainly evident by your own admission that the browser is widely lauded in the first post that Chrome on Android is not unusable. Your self-aggrandizing generalization about "people who like Chrome" and the "ghetto of mobile" sites is ridiculous. Honestly, you should be happy. If your favorite places on the web keep rendering poorly in Chrome it will surely keep your requests from mingling with those of undesirables in the cache.
  - huggyface 14y ago
    Out of morbid curiosity, are you always this obnoxious?

incision 14y ago

"I don't understand how anyone on earth can like this because it doesn't work well for my personal use cases!!!" Personally, I'm in line with the parent and find Chrome to be a pleasure to surf with. I've found the theverge.com to be a horrible mobile experience regardless of the browser.

cpleppert 14y ago

The chrome(!) of the Chrome browser is one of the worst aspects. The buttons and tabs are way too small on the top. They are big enough to steal valuable screen space from the page itself but are simply too small to click reliably. Miscellaneous issues that are shared with chrome on ios also abound. On page open, the focus doesn't manually switch to the address/search bar and requires a separate click. What a disaster. The last closed tabs are buried under the top sites that manage to be insanely hard to customize. The bookmarks cut off text and don't have any way to switch to a list view.The only redeeming feature is the ability to swipe across the screen to switch tabs. On large pages the browser performs slowly and crawls along while Firefox beta scrolls admirably and doesn't deliver blank white spots. This way fine back in 2007 on the iphone but in 2012 it is a little ridiculous. Firefox Beta is pretty good although I would like a new tab button and some way to swipe across the screen to switch between tabs. Flash also works fine and hq video isn't painless at all.

omaranto 14y ago

I second your observation about Chrome randomly choosing text sizes for each paragraph on HN and Reddit, it is horrible enough I decided to get apps for those two on the Nexus 7 while on my android phone I preferred visiting the websites in the stock browser (for reddit, I used the mobile version of the website, which is great).