If you want something more than the bare-bones mobile browsing experience from the default browser on your Android phone, iPad or other mobile device, look no further than Dolphin Browser, the most downloaded browser on the Android Market and one of the highest rated mobile apps by CNET. This browser includes traditional features such as tabbed browsing and zooming but it's the advanced gestures and zine mode that will make you a fan for life.

Advanced Gestures for Easier Browsing

Who doesn't want to save time and effort? Dolphin Browser lets you do just that with a handful or predefined gestures. Tap the hand icon on the bottom corner of the screen and draw a gesture to perform common tasks. For example, draw a lowercase letter “e” to exit the browser or a greater-than sign instead of touching the forward button. Drawing the letter “G” loads the Google home page while a dot, followed by a circle refreshes the current page.

Maybe you don't use Google, though. Simply hit the “New Gesture” button, type in a custom URL or choose a navigation, tab or bookmarks action from the list and enter your own gesture. Dolphin Browser will recommend an unique and unused action by default but you can draw your own. Maybe the letter “B” should take you directly to your own blog!

De-clutter with Webzine

You can view your favorite websites, news venues and blogs in zine mode with Dolphin Browser, to remove all the clutter that can make articles and posts difficult to read on smaller screens. Optimized screen space makes it easier to read even long blocks of text and lets you get straight to the content, without images or varying styles. Of course, Dolphin allows you to navigate to the full post or page with a handy link in a standard position. You might even find webzine handy enough to replace your favorite RSS reader!

By default, Dolphin incldues websites like TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal in webzine mode but you can touch the “Featured” banner to view other suggested websites, including handmade shopping marketplace Etsy, satirical news website The Onion and entertainment website Jezebel. Simply tap to open any of the available websites in webzine and touch the icon of a house and “+” sign to save a website to webzine. If you've decided you no longer want to read Wired in webzine or don't find the format suitable for Facebook, long-touch on the icon to remove it from your home page.

Better Bookmarks

If you drag any page to the left or right, you'll notice additional toolbars that help to customize your browsing experience with Dolphin. Pull to the right and you'll see the bookmarks, history and recently visited bar emerge on the left side of your screen. Each section expands to allow you to see the appropriate lists. You can organize your bookmarks into multiple folders and long-press on any bookmark or history item to delete it from the list.

Dolphin Browser goes one step further, however; you can press the star icon to enable Dolphin Connect, a syncing feature that shares your history, tabs and bookmarks the same no matter where you access the Internet. You don't even have to create a new account because Dolphin Connect allows you to sign in with your existing Google or Facebook profiles.

Extensions for the Experience

Dolphin Browser truly allows you to customize your experience with add-ons and extensions. Pull the browser to the left to view the sidebar, which allows you to quickly view all opened tabs and switch to full-screen mode. The puzzle piece will bring you to a list of currently installed themes and add-ons or allow you to download more from the Dolphin website.

These add-ons serve a variety of functions, from preserving battery life to managing passwords to saving websites as a PDF. You can even download widgets for displaying your Dolphin bookmarks on the home screen of your device. If you simply want to liven up the experience, choose the purple, red or orange theme from the app market. Add the Shiny Shake add-on and, with a flick or your wrist, you can change the current color theme for your browser.

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