Apple users looking to dispense with the native Safari web browser have seen a few worthy options in recent months (Opera Mini Web browser and Firefox Home, for example) but for my money — 99 cents to be exact — the new Atomic Web Browser is the new hotness in mobile surfing. In a word, wow.
The first major draw of Atomic Web Browser is its tabbed browsing. I don’t know why mobile Safari still doesn’t have this feature, but I sorely miss tabs when using my iPhone. In Atomic, the tabs open in a scrolling bar across the top of the screen, but can be hidden using the numbered icon at the bottom. By tapping and holding a link you’ll be able to open the page in a new tab or open in a background tab. Yes, I said background tab, as in you can stay on your current page and load a link in the background. Awesome.
I spent most of my time using Atomic over the 3G network and I was truly impressed with the speed of the app, which will load tabs in the background. Atomic also offers a huge amount of customization in its settings panel, from things like color to how pages open, to what search engine is the default, to multi-touch options such as two-finger swiping. If you’re a privacy freak, the app also offers private browsing that can be toggled under the gear icon or set as a default option. There’s an in-app lock for portrait or landscape viewing, and you can easily pop in to full-screen mode and still have access to all your open tabs.
Atomic Web Browser is so rich in features that they can’t all be described in this review, but I highly urge anyone who is unhappy with Safari to give Atomic a look. With other browsers out there, Atomic’s small price might be too risky, but luckily, there’s a free version of Atomic Web Browser available.
