Many browser errors and issues

[dianehelen]

Is there any browser for this tablet that doesnt have one issue or another? Its very frustrating that on about every browser I have tried, I have isssues. On Chrome, I get fairly frequently, a not responding error, and give the choice to wait, or close. Also on Chrome, when trying to type into a text field (usually facebook), the cursor randomly jumps to the beginning of the post, making it almost impossible to navigate and correct. I have similar, (but with some variations) issues with the native browser, firefox, opera, and xscope. And while Im at it, is there ANY way to see flash content on ANY browser other than Xscope?

Then there is the occasional issue, when on facebook, mostly with Chrome, clicking on a link in a post, and the whole tablet freezes up causing me to reboot.

Then the less frequent but equally annoying occasional, tap something, and the whole damn tablet just shuts down?

I have really come to love using a tablet in lieu of a big bulky laptop, and love the availability of great and functional apps, but these random browswer issues really bug the crap outta me

Any idea/input/suggestions?

TIA
Diane

 

[leeshor]

Any idea/input/suggestions?

I just raised my hand What you are describing is a classic example of a potential issue with the router rather than with the browser{s}

I have a link below with some suggestions and possible fixes.

 

[Mrhelper]

Is there any browser for this tablet that doesnt have one issue or another? Its very frustrating that on about every browser I have isssues. On Chrome, I get fairly frequently, a not responding error, and give the choice to wait, or close. Also on Chrome, when trying to type into a text field (usually facebook), the cursor randomly jumps to the beginning of the post, making it almost impossible to navigate and correct. I have similar, (but with some variations) issues with the native browser, firefox, opera, and xscope. And while Im at it, is there ANY way to see flash content on ANY browser other than Xscope?

Then there is the occasional issue, when on facebook, mostly with Chrome, clicking on a link in a post, and the whole tablet freezes up causing me to reboot.

Then the less frequent but equally annoying occasional, tap something, and the whole damn tablet just shuts down?

I have really come to love using a tablet in lieu of a big bulky laptop, and love the availability of great and functional apps, but these random browswer issues really bug the crap outta me

Any idea/input/suggestions?

TIA
Diane

I tried several versions of the Chrome browser on my a500 and finally gave up on it entirely. Enough was enough. Opera Mobile is better, but Dolphin seems to be the best overall. I did learn that few if any of the browsers operate well with multiple tabs open. Too many open tabs tend to cause performance problems and related quirks. I find all of the browsers that I use to be more stable if I keep open tabs down to fewer than 3, and ideally just 1. I'll also note that browser problems of all kinds tend to be much more pronounced on my a500 than on my Nexus 7.

The annoying text box edit behavior is a general problem with all browsers that I have used. I find that it happens mostly when the window scrolls around, and I try to move text into view. It also happens when you attempt to edit and paste within larger messages such as this one. I encountered equivalent problems several times while editing this message. To mitigate this, you can either avoid touching the screen outside of the keyboard, just letting it flow automatically, or you can use an external USB keyboard.

You can still use Flash with the Dolphin browser if you have Adobe Flash Player installed. Support for Flash is waning though, and you have to download it from here:
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html?PID=5141650

Scroll down to the Android archives and download the newest apk for your Android version (probably 4.0, which also works with 4.2).

 

[dianehelen]

I just raised my hand What you are describing is a classic example of a potential issue with the router rather than with the browser{s}

I have a link below with some suggestions and possible fixes.

hmm I really cant see it being a router issue, because my samsung phone, my sons ipad, and my husbands android phone dont have these issues. Also even when I have the tablet at a public wifi location, the behaviors are the same.

Im glad Im not the only one with the text box issues.. I have resorted to typing long posts in a note app, then copy/paste into where ever I wanted to do the input.

As for Dolphin, I liked that, until it started doing freaky things, thats when I switched to Chrome, but if Dolphin can use the flash apk I may give it another try, There was some issue with it, tho that I cant recall. As for the flash, just install that apk, and Dolphin should pick it up?

Thanks, I'll give it a try..

Guess nothing is easy huh?

 

[leeshor]

@Diane

I've heard that same story before and it STILL turned out to be a router problem. It is possible that something else is going on but just because 9 devices work fine doesn't mean the 10th will. You're looking at different chipsets in the devices, different versions of the operating system, different drivers and more. As a test you could takle your tablet to a couple WiFi hotspots to see if you have all the same issues. The public hotpots are so plain jane in their configuration that's the best test.

 

[edap]

As for Dolphin, I liked that, until it started doing freaky things, thats when I switched to Chrome, but if Dolphin can use the flash apk I may give it another try, There was some issue with it, tho that I cant recall. As for the flash, just install that apk, and Dolphin should pick it up?

Thanks, I'll give it a try..

Guess nothing is easy huh?

If everything was easy, there wouldn't be any need for forums like ours.
By the way, Diane, have you tried Boat Browser - it's also got Flash video support.

Ed

 

[Mrhelper]

hmm I really cant see it being a router issue, because my samsung phone, my sons ipad, and my husbands android phone dont have these issues. Also even when I have the tablet at a public wifi location, the behaviors are the same.

Im glad Im not the only one with the text box issues.. I have resorted to typing long posts in a note app, then copy/paste into where ever I wanted to do the input.

As for Dolphin, I liked that, until it started doing freaky things, thats when I switched to Chrome, but if Dolphin can use the flash apk I may give it another try, There was some issue with it, tho that I cant recall. As for the flash, just install that apk, and Dolphin should pick it up?

Thanks, I'll give it a try..

Guess nothing is easy huh?

Install the Flash APK, and when you run Dolphin you have to activate it in the settings. I configure it so that it only runs Flash content when I select the given content on a page. I advise that you do this because letting it run all Flash content can be another source of problems and crashes. Remember that Adobe is not providing support for Flash on Android anymore, and they are only providing builds for security fixes.

I agree that this particular case is not likely a router issue. Leeshor is correct in suggesting it as a possible cause though because many similar problems where browsers seem to hang are caused by network issues. It is well worth keeping that in mind because you could sometimes be seeing network caused browser problems exacerbating other symptoms that you see. It's hard to tell the difference between causes if you don't know what to look for or what other tests to run. All the browsers I've used were less stable on my a500, where I have seen all of the exact same problems that you described on perfectly good networks.

Again,the text box edit issues seem to be typical and I also encounter those with both my Acer tablets (a500, a100) and my Asus Nexus 7 tablet.

To answer your original question, none of the browsers are perfect and there are tradeoffs for using each.

One more thing... check the automatic screen rotation on your a500. If you find that it is not working, you may have the sensor problem that was introduced with ICS. In that case, you should keep the screen rotation lock switch slid away from the volume control rocker -- i.e., locked. If your device is affected by that problem, tablet stability and performance is affected also.

 

[dianehelen]

Well as I said before I have had the tablet at various public wifi locations and the behaviors are the same.

Ok I did d/l and install the flash apk but for the life of me cant get it to work. i have tried both options in dolphin settings to activate it. i bring up something with flash, get the arrow to start, but then just see ablack screen. should prob just give up.
Screen rotation is fine

I have not tried Boat I can take a look at that too. For now tho Xscope seems to manage flash ok
Thanks for the help people

 

[leeshor]

Evidently I missed the part about failing in all the other locations. Use your file manager to check the downloads folder for the APK.

 

[Douvie]

Try going to settings, Apps Manager.
Browse to the desired browser app. Select.
Then clear CACHE and CLEAR DATA.
Reboot tablet.

Just make sure that you got a listing of all your required passwords. I had issue with KB and this action cleared it up.

 

[frapshake]

@Diane & All
I recommend that you give the new Next Browser a try. The speed of this browser just blows me away. It runs rings around any other browser I ever tried, and I tried them all. My favorite before this was Dolphin, but I have more than the occasional glitch with it and sometimes it just doesn't work right away. Flash works great with Next Browser and you don't have to set Flash in settings to get it to work. There is no setting for it as a matter of fact, but it just works. I am more than impressed with it. I can't believe how fast it is. When I say fast, I mean FAST! Compared to all the others, that is. I haven't had any problems with text boxes either. Whenever someone lets the devs know there is a glitch, they seem to fix it right away. It works great on my 7 inch Galaxy and my A500. Give it a try. If you don't like it, uninstalling only takes a sec. It's free in the Play Store and getting popular fast.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jiubang.browser

 

[edap]

@Diane & All
I recommend that you give the new Next Browser a try. The speed of this browser just blows me away. It runs rings around any other browser I ever tried, and I tried them all. My favorite before this was Dolphin, but I have more than the occasional glitch with it and sometimes it just doesn't work right away. Flash works great with Next Browser and you don't have to set Flash in settings to get it to work. There is no setting for it as a matter of fact, but it just works. I am more than impressed with it. I can't believe how fast it is. When I say fast, I mean FAST! Compared to all the others, that is. I haven't had any problems with text boxes either. Whenever someone lets the devs know there is a glitch, they seem to fix it right away. It works great on my 7 inch Galaxy and my A500. Give it a try. If you don't like it, uninstalling only takes a sec. It's free in the Play Store and getting popular fast.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jiubang.browser

I installed Next when it was first released and totally agree with everything you say. The browser is great, no lag, no scroll issues... But, in a side note, it takes up 86 MB of RAM.

 

[frapshake]

I installed Next when it was first released and totally agree with everything you say. The browser is great, no lag, no scroll issues... But, in a side note, it takes up 86 MB of RAM.

Maybe Next Browser it took up that amount of RAM when it was first released, but I'm not finding that at all now edap. I checked with more than one utility app and comparing it to the default browser, Dolphin, and Firefox, it uses just slightly more MB's than the default browser, and a heck of a lot less than Dolphin and Firefox and Firefox is the very worse. I have them all running now and Firefox is using 127.1 MB, Dolphin is using 41.4 MB, Next Browser is using 18.9 MB and the default Browser is using 17.7 MB. Think I'll be uninstalling Firefox.

 

[Douvie]

I'm using the stock browser and Firefox and really have no problems. Some websites have not solved the flash/html5 causing many browsers to hang - even ie on win does this. Get another browser really doesn't solve the issue. Corruption in the browser cache and in the data cache can be caused by poor translation by website sending the wrong codes.

 

[edap]

Maybe Next Browser it took up that amount of RAM when it was first released, but I'm not finding that at all now edap. I checked with more than one utility app and comparing it to the default browser, Dolphin, and Firefox, it uses just slightly more MB's than the default browser, and a heck of a lot less than Dolphin and Firefox and Firefox is the very worse. I have them all running now and Firefox is using 127.1 MB, Dolphin is using 41.4 MB, Next Browser is using 18.9 MB and the default Browser is using 17.7 MB. Think I'll be uninstalling Firefox.

Glad to hear the GO Launcher Dev Team fixed the RAM problem. I pointed it out to them in a review after installing their browser and they put it on their to do list. Next will definitely be competing strongly vs Firefox, chrome, dolphin, opera...

Ed