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TUAW review: Smoother iPhone browsing with VanillaSurf
While most iPhone and iPod touch users make do with the built-in Mobile Safari web browser, there are a number of alternative browsers that offer features that didn't make it into Safari. All of these alternative browsers have one thing in common -- they are all based on MobileSafari as a result of Apple's policies. What the other browsers bring to the table are features like full-screen browsing, different ways of organizing tabs, and ad blocking. Many of the alternative browsers have passed by my iPhone home screen at least once before being summarily dismissed, but there is one that has actually been getting some use lately; bitStorm's VanillaSurf. The free browser, which is now at version 2.1, offers features that seem more at home on a laptop or desktop machine than on a smartphone. Launching VanillaSurf for the first time brings up a blank screen with the familiar address bar at the top and an unfamiliar toolbar at the bottom. The toolbar sports eight icons -- back, forward, settings, downloads, actions, bookmarks, tabs, and full-screen. The back and forward (or previous and next) icons provide their usual functionality, while the settings icon is a portal into some more useful items.
