The Puffin Wicked Fast iPad Browser

There's a new tablet & smart phone browser in town, it's for both Apple & Android, it's wicked fast, and it's FREE! (But honestly, I paid for it, keep reading to find out why!)  Puffin is a Beta cloud accelerated web browser for mobile devices.  With the free version you get the FLASH cloud enabled player for 14 days only....UNLESS you use this link and you gotta enter this secret code jembifpahhkka then you get DOUBLE! Or you could scan this QR code!

It's Worth the Money, Honey!
But I went ahead and splurged and bought the $2.99 version (search the App store for Puffin Browser) so I'll have cloud enabled FLASH  all the time and Nom nom is it ever SWEET! If you don't believe me, download the FREE version first, use my secret code to get double the days of FLASH, and try it for yourself. Then let me know what you think via Twitter or comments below: I think you'll like it, too!

How Fast is Wicked Fast?
The promotional verbage for this App says "Wicked Fast" and yes darlings...they ain't a lyin! I knew this iPad/iPhone browser was different than any other I've tried when it loaded my blog page in mere seconds! Because yes, I know my blog is a SLOW LOADING site due to all my graphics & embedded widgets, what? Is that wrong? Because it feels *so right!* LOL  I'm pretty cheap when it comes to Apps - I've really only paid for a handfull, but this one was really worth it. I decided that in only an hour playing with the FREE version. They won me over fast. Cause see? Look at the screenshot to the left, it loaded my graphically intense webpage AND it played my embedded Harlem Shake video INSIDE the webpage WITH sound! What the what!??

Customizable!
One of the things that got me right away was the ability to customize my start up page with one of my graphics on both the FREE and the paid version. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know how graphically addicted I am & how I LOVE that! So I uploaded a screenshot of my Daring Librarian Steampunk Greenhouse and Zeppelin in Second Life. It's my computer background for every Apple I touch and I change it seasonally! You can also go full screen with any webpage with a touch and there's a mapping toolbar to be accessed & customized, too!

Feature this! 
According to an article about this epic new browser:
"Puffin is a cloud accelerated internet browser that brings a desktop-like web surfing experience to tablets and smartphones. It renders the full versions of web pages quickly and reliably. It also supports Flash with excellent performance.
· Renders desktop version websites extremely fast - Like CRAZY FAST!
· Runs modern web applications with 100% compatibility
· Works very well on smartphones and performs even better on tablets
· Displays Flash contents (click to enable)
· Streams Flash videos (YouTube only)
· Play Flash games (not optimized and no sound)
· Multi-tab UI to switch tabs between web pages with a single tap -- smooth!
· Bookmarks
· Search suggestions
· Popup blocker
· Top sites
Puffin is a cloud accelerated internet browser that brings a desktop-like web surfing experience to tablets and smartphones. It renders the full versions of web pages quickly and reliably. It also supports Flash with excellent performance." -from  Softpedia

Mouse Me!
Another super cool feature is the pop-up  “MousePad.”  Just tap the little mouse icon in the lower left corner of the browser window, and a translucent virtual touchpad appears on screen, which allows you to navigate and click with an arrow-shaped cursor icon.  Great for accurate highlighting and copy and pasting! Is this a gimmick? Sort of, but I like! There's also a pop-up keyboard! See? When you touch in any area that could be typed in - it pops up! But unlike Safari or Axis, you can make it pop up anytime! I like that!

Important Notes: 
1. The FREE version is for 17+ only (there are tiny banner adds that occur infrequently which might have grownup content - not ADULT R-rated content but like PG13 crude humour & gaming content) So this is NOT a free browser to put on your school iPads.

2. This is the BETA version (heck, as Joyce would say, I'm still beta!) and it's likely to change, work out and through some bugs, be updated, and tweaked. They'll giveth and they'll taketh away features and functionalities. That happens with Beta, you can handle that right? I can!
Happy Ending:
So yeah....final Flash me, baby! An iPad browser that shows flash webpages, loads wicked fast, and is easy customizable with your own graphics & artwork?! Yes, please!

What is YOUR favourite tablet browser? What do you consider important in a tablet browser? 
Here's a slideshow of all the screenshots on Flickr
Related links & articles: 
Puffin Browser official site
Puffin Web Browser Free for iPhone/iPad 2.3.8
 Puffin Web Browser Free 2.2.3 for iOS review

Comments

  1. Wendy LiskaMarch 10, 2013 at 2:38 PM

    Gwenyth,
    One thing for educators to note before they hop on the Puffin Browser is that is totally unfiltered. It bypasses filtering any content that your district is currently filtering. We have contacted the company and they indicated that they may work on offering a version to work with some of the major filtering companies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @GwynethJones - The Daring LibrarianMarch 10, 2013 at 3:38 PM

      Hey Wendy, thanks for the comment! Good to know! That now & the fact that the FREE download is rated 17+ (as stated in my Important notes) is why I said I didn't recommend it for school iPads. But it's awesome that you're in contact with the designers - maybe they'll see that there's a great POTENTIAL market for this in schools. Also, my name is actually Gwyneth ;-) No worries, all my life! LOL
      Cheers!

      Delete
  2. @educatoralMarch 10, 2013 at 4:20 PM

    Too bad about the filtering, glad to know though, because it's an awesome app! Just played with a little and it's incredible! I've been using Photon, which is blocked in my district, but Photon is limited. I can't really edit a Glog or a Prezi too well using Photon. I just tried to edit a Glog with Puffin and I could do a lot! And waaaay faster than with Photon. They are really onto something there with Puffin. I'm going to pay the $2.99!

    Thanks for sharing this, Gwyneth!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary Reilley ClarkMarch 12, 2013 at 11:30 AM

    Oooh, just bought an iPad Mini for vacation! This will be our first purchased app for it! Thanks, Your Awesomeness!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 25, 2013 at 8:22 PM

    hi there me too ipad mini ipad and iphone 4 have puffin browser and i payed full $2.99 price worth every chanel

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 28, 2014 at 4:00 PM

    The newly released Puffin Academy is a customized Puffin for K-12 education. It is a free app supporting Adobe Flash on "educational only" web sites.

    ReplyDelete

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