<strong>the best web Browsers for iPhone and iPad

With the arrival of Chrome on iPhone and iPad, the browser wars for iOS have become a little more interesting. Here’s a rundown of our favorites.

Before we get into the best features of each browser, we have to address the factor of speed. mobile Safari will almost always be faster than Other browsers because it uses a special Javascript engine called Nitro (you find a full explanation of it over on Daring Fireball). Other apps, browsers included, are not allowed to use this built-in function. Therefore, by most accounts, Safari will always be faster, so we’re not going to take that into consideration here.

Speed isn’t everything, and the other top browsers bring more than enough to the table to make them relevant. We took a look Safari, Chrome, Dolphin, and Atomic Browser.

Safari

Safari is your default browser and it’s easily the most used browser on the iPhone. Safari is the easiest to use and since it’s built into every function of iOS, it’s also the most convenient.

The Good: easy to Use, Ready Out of the box, Speedy

Safari’s strengths are pretty obvious. It’s your default browser, so it’s integrated well into every other app straight out of the box. As we mentioned above, it’s also probably the fastest of all your options.

If you’re a Safari desktop user you can sync bookmarks between the devices (and across your iPhone and iPad). It doesn’t transfer your history or anything else, but it keeps everything in line on all of your devices.

Safari is also integrated into everything you do. If you want to open a link in an email, on Twitter, or anywhere else, the default place for that to happen is Safari. As a functioning web browser, Safari does just fine even though it doesn’t have a lot of special features.

The Bad: It’s a Little Boring and Doesn’t Have a Lot of Options

Safari is fine for most things and you won’t find anything terribly wrong with it. That said, the syncing features are a moot point since Safari isn’t that popular of a browser on desktop. It also has a lot of limitations on the amount of tabs you can use, and the fact it forces you into the mobile version of websites is a bit annoying.

More than anything, it’s just a simple, somewhat boring browser. It doesn’t have many features for power users and you can’t add any functionality or change how it works. It also stuffs a lot of it’s most useful features, like Private Browsing, cache clearing, and password info, all the way back in the Settings app instead of inside Safari. This means you have to make a few extra and unnecessary steps just to change up simple settings. For most people, this is fine, but if you’re looking for a bit more from your web browser, Safari is a bit bland.

Who It’s Good For: Most Everyone Who Doesn’t Want to Play Around with Settings

If you’re a Safari user on desktop than Mobile Safari is great because of the bookmark syncing. It’s also the easiest and most accessible one to use. If you open up a lot of links in other apps, or you just don’t want to futz around with settings, Safari is the go-to browser.

Chrome

Chrome is the newest player on the field, but the fact the desktop version is the number one browser means the iOS versions have a leg up on the competition. I’ve been using the mobile version of Chrome since it was released and have been mostly happy with the results.

The Good: Syncing, Incognito Mode, Speed Dial, and More

Chrome on iOS isn’t as fast as Safari, but it’s not slow by any means. That said, the best feature of mobile Chrome it is the fact it syncs across all your computers. Bookmarks, open tabs, and recently opened tabs on your computer can all be pulled up on the mobile version in an instant. You also get an Incognito mode for browsing privately, and an unlimited amount of tabs.

Chrome has a few subtle, but handy features as well. You get a speed dial page when you create a new tab, and you can open up the desktop version of any mobile site by selecting “Request Desktop Site” from the options menu. You even get some simple gesture browsing with the ability to swipe to the right to change out tabs. If you’d like to use it as to open URLs without jailbreaking, you can do so with a simple bookmarklet.

The Bad: Interface Takes Some Getting Used To, Crashes

The iPhone version of Chrome is smooth and responsive, but it takes a little while to get used to how the tabs and everything else works. Once you do it works like a charm, but unlike Safari you might not be able to hand it to a friend with the expectation they’ll know how to use it. It also has some issues with crashing when you load up more complicated sites. This only happened to me with the iPad version with consistency, but it was still annoying.

Chrome has its share of annoyances as well. For instance, the swipe gesture to change tabs (pull to the right) is easy to trigger on accident. The tabs work great on iPad, but they’re easy to lose track on the iPhone’s smaller screen and the card-stack layout of the tabsis a bit tricky to get the hang of.

Who It’s Good For: Desktop Chrome Browser Users

If you use Chrome as your primary desktop browser and you’re synced up with your Google account, then Chrome for iOS is a fantastic option. It’s fast enough, has lots of great features (seriously, the Desktop View is fantastic), and syncs everything across all of your devices immediately.

Dolphin

As the name suggests, Dolphin is the most playful of the bunch. Its core principle is gesture based control and it offers a very different way to browse the web. It’s our pick for the best web browser on Android, and the iPhone version is just as strong.

The Good: Sidebars, fun Browsing Experience, Webzine Feature

Dolphin is easily the odd-man-out amongst browsers and it’s the only one trying to do something new. For the most part, this comes in the form of using gestures to quickly load up web pages (draw a “T” to go to Twitter, for instance), and browse the app. While that’s Dolphin’s main selling point, it still has a lot of other great features.

One of the the best is the webzine format that works similar to Flipboard and makes browsing your favorite sites a little more fun. It also has a great sidebar function where you can quickly glance at your bookmarks and history without fumbling around.

The Bad: No add-ons, a Little Confusing At first

One of the great things about the Android version of Dolphin is the add-ons. These mini-extensions can do the same sorts of things you do with extensions on your desktop, but on your mobile browser. The iPhone version doesn’t get these.

Dolphin is also a different looking browser that takes a little getting used to. Hand your phone over to a friend and they’ll probably be a bit confused if you give them Dolphin instead of Safari. Still, it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it and once you do it’s a fun way to browse the web.

Who It’s Good For: Anyone Looking for a Different Way to Browse

Dolphin has a lot of fun features and the gestures make it an enjoyable browser to use for pretty much anybody. That said, it doesn’t have a lot of really powerful features or options. It can do a lot of the things the other browsers can, and it’s certainly the most original on this list. If you want a new way to browse the web and interact with your web browser, Dolphin is for you.

Atomic Web Browser

Atomic Web Browser has been our pick for the best web browser on iPhone for a while. It’s easily the most feature-rich browser on the iPhone, although it doesn’t come with a lot of design flare.

The Good: Tons of Options, Settings, Browsing Modes

Atomic has a ton of options and settings that we’re not going to list off here. Our favorites include ad block, Dropbox support, and the ability to download files. You can customize Atomic in a lot of ways as well. You can set up themes, turn features on or off, and even configure your own gestures.

It’s also a less weighty browser that doesn’t keep junk around you don’t want. You can automatically delete cookies, clear history, and clear out autofill directly from the app itself. Basically, you can make Atomic into your favorite browser if you’re willing to play around with the settings a bit.

The Bad: It’s a Little Ugly

We didn’t have a lot of complaints when we picked Atomic for our favorite iPhone browser and we still don’t now. It certainly isn’t the prettiest to look at of all the options, but the interface is functional and works well. It’s a little overwhelming to use at first because of all the various settings, but once you get used to Atomic it’s a terrific browser. You can grab a free version, but the full-featured Atomic Browser is $1, making it the only browser on this list you have to pay for.

Who It’s Good For: Power Users Who Like Options

Atomic is all about options. You can easily change nearly any setting, drop into private browsing, run in full screen, and even block ads. If you don’t care about syncing to your desktop browser, Atomic is a good bet.

One last thing we should note is if you’re jailbroken, you can set any of the above browsers as your default browser with the Browser Changer tweak available in the ModMyI repository. Once you set it up, every link you open from any app will be your browser of choice.

We couldn’t cover every single browser on the iPhone, so if you have an opinion about one we didn’t cover, tell us what you love (and hate) about it.

Buying a wi-fi router these days is no easy task. Long gone are the days where one model rose above the rest: now there are routers with different features, some that focus on range, others that focus on speed, and still others with advanced features like NAS support and traffic shaping options. This week we’re going to take a look at five of the best Home wi-fi routers, based on your nominations.

Earlier in the week, we asked you which wireless routers you thought were the bestfor customization, range, signal strength, and features. You responded with more nominees than we could feature here, but a few models really rose out of the pack and were your clear favorites. Here they are:

The polls are closed and the votes are counted! To see which of your top five picks took the prize, head over to our weekly hive five followup post to see and discuss the winner!

Linksys WRT54G Series

The venerable Linksys WRT54G has long been one of the most hackable wireless routers on the market, and while they’re a little trickier to come by these days, they’re still widely available and if you can get your hands on one, you won’t find another router that supports both the DD-WRT and Tomatoalternate router firmwares better and more smoothly. Even though it’s an 802.11g model and lacks 802.11n, and the range and speed of some of its more modern rivals, it’s a rock solid router with a well earned fan base. It may be end-of-life from Linksys’ perspective, but they do keep a well-updated support pagededicated to it. There’s a reason this model has its own entry here.

Apple Airport Extreme/Express

A number of you nominated the Apple Airport Extreme and Airport Express for their simple configuration, minimal design, and remarkably low price point for what you get. It’s not terribly hackable, and you’re not going to buy an Airport model and go home planning to install custom firmware, but you will be able to slip an Airport Express in your pocket or suitcase and be able to set up or extend a wireless network anywhere you go (or plug it into any set of speakers to make them Airplay compatible), and you will be able to set up an Airport Extreme in a matter of minutes and have a cozy dual band 802.11n blanket over your whole house. The Express sports a pair of 10/100 Ethernet ports on the back, and the Extreme boasts four gigabit Ethernet ports for other devices. Both offer USB ports for connected devices like printers or (in the case of the Extreme) NAS devices. If you want a truly fire-and-forget router, the Airport Extreme is a good choice.

Netgear n Series (WNDR Models)

Netgear has come a long way, and its N-series (also known by their model numbers, WNDRXXXX) wireless routers are proof. PC Mag issued the N750/WNDR4000 an Editor’s Choice award (and I’m a happy owner of one!) and the N900/WNDR4500 is one of the most powerful and speedy dual-band 802.11n home routers on the market today. Many of Netgear’s N-series routers are compatible with DD-WRT, but even if you’re not the type to flash your router’s firmware, Netgear’s own firmware offers quality-of-service controls, advanced access and parental controls, support for dynamic DNS, advanced wireless security options, and offer support for NAS devices and printers connected via USB. They range in price, and many of the better ones are definitely on the high-end, but in this case you get what you pay for.

ASUS RT Series

You may not think of ASUS when you think of wireless routers, especially if you haven’t purchased a router in several years, but the ASUS RT series, specifically the ASUS RT-N56 and RT-N66 models, combine great features and sharp looks into a networking package that offers dual-band 802.11n, support for connected devices like printers and NAS devices via USB, and some of the strongest signal strength and range available. Plus, most of ASUS’s models support builds of DD-WRT or Tomato, so if you want even more control over the router’s features, it’s readily available to you. The RT-N66 even has detachable antennae that you can swap out for higher-powered versions that you can either buy (like the Mohu Bounce) or build yourself.

Linksys E Series

When Linksys started to phase out the WRT54G series, they started to direct customers to the E Series—their easy-to-configure (and sharp-looking) replacement models. Every member of the E Series is an 802.11n router, and many of you praised them—specifically the E4200—for their blend of features, simple setup, range and signal strength, and the fact that many of the E-series routers are compatible with DD-WRT, so you can flash the firmware and get even more features once the router is set up the way you like. Linksys’ price point is attractive as well, and even if you opt not to flash the firmware, you can very affordably buy a router that takes moments to set up and needs little maintenance after the fact. It doesn’t hurt that many of Cisco’s routers specifically support household features like VoIP and traffic shaping for things like torrents, putting some relatively advanced features in the hands of people who may have been intimidated by them before.

Now that you’ve seen the top five, it’s time to put them to an all out vote to decide the winner!

No honorable mentions this week, as the next one down the line had fewer than half the nominations of the least nominated member of the top five, but if you think your favorite model got shortchanged, let us know why in the comments below! Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it’s not because we hate it—it’s because it didn’t get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it’s a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email attips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!

Photo by nrkbeta.