Price: $2.99 Score: 9/10 Category: Productivity
The Safari web browser on the iPad works well for a clean and simple internet experience, but when it comes down to how we really use the internet A1 Perfect Browser does a much better job of recognizing our multitasking, info snacking selves.
The most obvious need that the Perfect Browser addresses is tabs. With a basic Firefox sort of aesthetic, it’s much easier to toggle between multiple pages in A1 Perfect Browser than it is in Safari, and perhaps most important, tabs never reload when you switch back and forth. I spent about five minutes opening tabs to see if there was a cap to the number that could be opened and found that the tabs keep stacking next to each other. When the tabs exceed the screen width, you can flick through them like a side scroll and easily navigate tab overload in that way.
In addition to the option of enabling or disabling history, opening a page in Safari, bookmarking, emailing a link, and all the other features you would expect from a paid browser, A1 Perfect Browser features in page search and the ability to keep or remove the hyper-scroll arrows that overlay on the right hand side of the browser. It’s also faster (A1 claims up to 15 x faster) and if you’re concerned about speed it’s easy to turn off image loading.
A1 Perfect Browser delivers a much better customized web experience than Safari. Multitouch gestures make switching tabs simple, and you can allow yourself more space to browse by pressing a button to hide the toolbar and tabs. It’s also possible to change the font size of pages in order to maximize readability, but I do have one beef with the app. When the toolbar is visible, the About A1 Perfect Browser button sits right above the back button, which can be almost as annoying as trying to navigate close together links on the iPad or iPhone. I must have hit that About and User Guide globe a dozen or so times, and while I desperately wish it were somewhere else, this Browser is still excellent.
Bottom Line: A1 Perfect Browser packs all the elegant features you need with a few extras. This app brings the iPad a step closer to truly blurring the line between the tablet and netbook. 9/10
