1. HaTaX's Avatar
    This is the official thread for Simple Browser and Simple Browser Plus! I appreciated all the traffic in the user started thread, however a title of "Is it safe to use" isn't one I wanted to carry questions and support long term in.

    So ask your questions and add your comments here!

    Currently Simple Browser is at version 1.0.8 and Simple Browser Plus is at version 1.0.29.4 in App World. 1.0.29.4 is basically a lot of bug fixes and cleanup on previous versions. This version was really issued to nail down the tab sizing issues people had, as well as some serious problems 7111 users ran into. For now those issues are being worked around via some different routines for 7111, and hopefully RIM will resolve them in future builds. (Bug reports have been filed) Look below for features that have been added in italics.

    Simple Browser's Feature List:
    Full screen browsing with NO UI on the screen. (Menu bar can be completely hidden)
    Keep PlayBook awake while SimpleBrowser is on the screen or you are browsing.
    Adjust default font size from 1 point to 120 point font.
    Select your own homepage with the ability to resume from the last page you were on when you closed the app.
    Enable / Disable Cookies, Flash, JavaScript, and Geo-location(GPS) features.
    Clear Cookies & Cache on demand in the options menu.
    Integrated Google search in URL bar. (Just type what you want to search for and hit go in the address bar)
    Text Reflow makes it easy to zoom in on a page and just read the content. Many people will prefer this to making the font size bigger manually.
    Private Browsing keeps sites from accessing and storing cookies on your device. Additionally no information is cached when in private mode.


    Simple Browser Plus has all of the above features and adds:
    Tabbed browsing! You will have 4 tabs that are displayed in a window pane format and they will stay active until you decide to close them. There are only 4 as any more active at once and you would run into memory usage issues. (This is why the stock browser deactivates tabs that you don't currently have open) Tabs can be opened manually in the tab view window or you can open a link in an available tab with a long press on the link and selecting open in new tab. Settings and options are saved on a per-tab basis, so you can setup a particular tab with a specific user agent and homepage. Tabs will also be animated as they are minimized and restored, this also enabled me to keep the webpages from resizing when they were minimized, reducing the need to refresh the page after going full screen with it. Tab animations can be enabled and disabled in the options menu. Additionally you now have the option of making background tabs inactive to conserve memory use or to be able to switch between different media across tabs and not have them play over each other.
    Bookmarks! Bookmarks are shared across all tabs and can be completely edited, name, URL, and position can all be changed with ease. The bookmarks list will also now store favorite icons with the sites as they are added, make sure the site is fully loaded before saving to make sure the icon is captured! Bookmarks can also be backed up and restored easily to your Downloads folder, this will allow you to swap bookmarks between devices and keep a backup of your bookmarks in the event you need to reinstall the application.
    Ad-Blocking! Ad-Blocking defaults to weekly updates from an actively maintained list.Currently supports "Hosts" formatted and plain URL only lists in a text file format. It will be cached locally and updated weekly. You can use a stored file on your PlayBook as a block list source. Place your block list in the shared folder "misc" and name it "adblocklist.txt". Then use a custom URL of "file:///accounts/1000/shared/misc/adblocklist.txt" This file will be loaded every time the browser is started vs a weekly update.
    Coming in future releases
    Download Manager - Currently downloads work, but there is no way to manage or view them, they will be saved in your "Downloads" folder and you will receive notifications when they start and complete. This will be changed with a manager interface that will allow you to track and manage your active and complete downloads.
    History Manager - Browse through your recently visited sites for each tab session easily and quickly.

    If you would like to download and sideload the latest version of SimpleBrowser, you can download the latest version here: SimpleBrowser-LatestRelease (Currently 1.0.8 which is also in App World)

    You can find SimpleBrowser & SimpleBrowserPlus in App World here: Forward Thinking Apps - BlackBerry App World

    All questions and comments welcome!

    Screenshots (From both versions) -
    Last edited by HaTaX; 01-25-12 at 11:15 PM.
    12-27-11 03:50 PM
  2. DD1968's Avatar
    looking good... like the tabs.

    Will we be able to sort bookmarks in the new ver?

    Edit: oops, just seen the move bookmark position comment... sweet, thanks.
    Last edited by DD1968; 12-27-11 at 04:10 PM.
    12-27-11 04:05 PM
  3. ALToronto's Avatar
    Thank you for a detailed description. How much faster is it than the native browser?
    12-27-11 04:07 PM
  4. HaTaX's Avatar
    Sure can! The interface isn't what I wanted ideally for moving the position of tabs, but it works well enough. You just edit them as before, and there is a new button that says change position. That will bring up the list of bookmarks and you choose which one you want it to be placed BEFORE. Ideally I'd have a long press and drag type of interface, but that was a bit much to get wrapped into this release and I wanted to get the functionality out there to people. In the SDK I can't do a long press event on list items as easily as I can with buttons and such.

    I think tabs will be one of those things that you will REALLY like once you have a chance to play with it. My wife was my main beta tester and she thought that was very cool and she actually sat and did a few hours of browsing while switching between tabs and all. Said it was much quicker and easier then she expected.

    It's pretty cool to get 2 or 3 youtube videos playing with Pandora open in a different tab. Not practical at all as the audio is mixed from all tabs, but still pretty cool to see the PB running a few different videos at once in a little window-pane view.

    It's not light years ahead of the stock browser, but I think it IS faster. The UI and framework around it is considerably more lightweight then the stock browser. Also the default settings for the web browser window have been tweaked a bit for speed, not sure how the settings are on the stock browser, but I came up with settings that worked well and quickly in SimpleBrowser. I'll say this, load up engadget.com in the stock browser, and SimpleBrowser and see if there's a difference in scrolling or checker boarding, that should show you a difference. (Remember not to have them open at the same time if comparing speed!)

    Here's a screenshot of the bookmark order window -
    Last edited by HaTaX; 12-27-11 at 04:19 PM.
    12-27-11 04:11 PM
  5. kbz1960's Avatar
    Thanks for your work on this browser. I will be getting it as soon as it's on appworld updated.
    12-27-11 04:31 PM
  6. DD1968's Avatar
    bookmark order method will do just fine

    Does it still add the new bookmark to the top of the list?
    12-27-11 04:45 PM
  7. HaTaX's Avatar
    bookmark order method will do just fine

    Does it still add the new bookmark to the top of the list?
    Yes it does, I kind thought about if it was better to have it at the top or bottom, and if its on the top, you will see it right away when you add it, vs it appearing at the bottom of the list. I haven't given the placement much thought after I added re-ordering in, but if you all think it would be better at the bottom of the list......
    12-27-11 04:53 PM
  8. DD1968's Avatar
    Yes it does, I kind thought about if it was better to have it at the top or bottom, and if its on the top, you will see it right away when you add it, vs it appearing at the bottom of the list. I haven't given the placement much thought after I added re-ordering in, but if you all think it would be better at the bottom of the list......
    Dunno, I'll always have a few of my very favorites at the top of the list, so will end up having to move the newly added bookmarks every time I add one (so I thought bottomwas better), but you make a good point about it being visible when added (prob save you a few silly support emails ).
    12-27-11 05:00 PM
  9. HaTaX's Avatar
    ........ (prob save you a few silly support emails ).
    Those were my thoughts and hope with that.
    Last edited by HaTaX; 12-27-11 at 05:14 PM.
    12-27-11 05:12 PM
  10. dimm0k's Avatar
    subscribed... is this browser built from the ground up or is it using the stock browser underneath?
    12-27-11 06:57 PM
  11. HaTaX's Avatar
    The rendering engine is using the same OS engine the stock browser does, however beyond that, the entire framework around that "window" is completely different. Basically they provide an API to the web rendering engine and both SimpleBrowser and the stock browser use that same API.
    gailsher likes this.
    12-27-11 07:07 PM
  12. SunnyFL's Avatar
    Thank you for your hard work! I'm a new user of SimpleBrowser + and looking forward to the update.
    trsbbs likes this.
    12-27-11 08:03 PM
  13. Galaxysurfer's Avatar
    using the free version. How do i create bookmarks with it?

    galaxysurfer
    12-27-11 10:20 PM
  14. Galaxysurfer's Avatar
    using the free version. How do i create bookmarks with it? oops just saw i need the plus version. Want to test run it before i buy plus version.

    galaxysurfer
    12-27-11 10:23 PM
  15. Deathcommand's Avatar
    Hey Hatax, just wondering, will browser ident be able to be edited or did RIM shoot you for that? Lol.
    jfelen likes this.
    12-27-11 10:47 PM
  16. HaTaX's Avatar
    You might also want to wait for the new version to become available before judging it too heavily as well. The free versions codebase is 5 months old due to the delay in RIM approving it.

    And yes you will be able to change the useragent string in the free version when the update is approved. Currently only the paid version has it.
    12-27-11 10:48 PM
  17. Deathcommand's Avatar
    And so I use the last of my debit card money.

    Will this be updatable for free?
    12-27-11 10:58 PM
  18. HaTaX's Avatar
    Absolutely, I have no intentions of charging people for upgrades. I would expect App World to allow a price adjustment without affecting current owners, if not, then I wouldn't raise it at all.

    Hopefully you'll feel a bit better about the $$ spent in the next day or so as well. RIM's "approvers" must still be on vacation.
    12-28-11 12:10 AM
  19. DD1968's Avatar
    You do know that the Simple Browser Plus name under the on screen icon says Simplebrowse+ don't you (like the "r" is missing on the end of browser)?? Sent you a PM about it a while back but not sure if you saw it, then I forgot all about it
    12-28-11 12:32 AM
  20. HaTaX's Avatar
    I actually made it that way.... There is a font issue where it's either the "r" or the +, and some people keep both installed, so its easier to discern the difference that way on the title bar... Maybe I'll fix that in a future release again.

    Also, the description and screenshots were just recently approved so I'd guess they're looking at the apps now! Should be soon that you'll see the update, hopefully tomorrow morning.
    12-28-11 12:35 AM
  21. DD1968's Avatar
    I actually made it that way.... There is a font issue where it's either the "r" or the +, and some people keep both installed, so its easier to discern the difference that way on the title bar... Maybe I'll fix that in a future release again.

    Also, the description and screenshots were just recently approved so I'd guess they're looking at the apps now! Should be soon that you'll see the update, hopefully tomorrow morning.
    Cool, no worries... yeah I noticed the screenshots were added to appworld but no little red star yet...
    12-28-11 12:41 AM
  22. nimrodity's Avatar
    @Hatax
    the downlaid link of the latest release doesnt seem to be correct.
    I cant wait to test it and the 1.06 still isnt approved in appworld
    12-28-11 07:21 AM
  23. jamesharmeling's Avatar
    This is an awesome endeavor and I thank you for it. I do need this approved by this weekend though or I'm going to lose a lot of money gifting apps.
    12-28-11 07:46 AM
  24. FF22's Avatar
    Absolutely, I have no intentions of charging people for upgrades. I would expect App World to allow a price adjustment without affecting current owners, if not, then I wouldn't raise it at all.

    Hopefully you'll feel a bit better about the $$ spent in the next day or so as well. RIM's "approvers" must still be on vacation.
    They've joined the pb programmers on a full year long sabbatical!
    12-28-11 09:00 AM
  25. cracklan's Avatar
    i have simplebrowse+ but i am really want to see tabbed browsing like dolphin hd browser(pc style browser tabs). is it possible in future release? thanks
    12-28-11 09:09 AM
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