One of the hands down biggest differences between iOS and Android for me is Dolphin Browser – not browsers in general, and despite the fact that Dolphin is on iOS too. The reason is very simple: Plugins. Dolphin browser on Android supports plugins, and more specifically, there’s a LastPass plugin for it. LastPass is a password management service that allows you to access a secure vault of passwords from anywhere, and also auto-login to sites using a master password if the browser has a direct plugin.
On iOS, LastPass is only available as a standalone app, and to use it with Safari you have to go back and forth and copy passwords. All my passwords are unique and randomly generated strings of letters and numbers, so there’s no way I can visit the sites I use on my computer unless LastPass is there to log me in. As such, the browser on my iPad is practically useless, since I can’t do anything I normally do without lots of extra hassle. With Dolphin HD, it logs me in just like on my PC browser, which in turn actually allows me to use the browser like I would on my computer.
Truth be told though, I wouldn’t be using Dolphin browser if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s the only browser out there with a Lastpass plugin. If/when such a plugin comes to Chrome for Android, I’m out of there. Dolphin has a lot of issues if you ask me, many of which have to do with it trying to be more than a browser – which some people like, but I don’t. Things like gesture control being enabled by default, poor placement of bookmarks and plugin access, “ads” in the form of “click to install plugin X” entries in the plugin list, and way too frequent updates for a browser are among the reasons why LastPass is the only reason I use it now. To elaborate on that last one, since Android resets default app actions when you update an app, something as dependent on being the default choice for links and such becomes very annoying when it loses those settings due to updates. Barely a day goes by when it’s not asking me to put it as the default browser.
Still, Dolphin HD is free, and like I said, it’s the only browser I know of that has a LastPass plugin. That single point is just so alpha and omega for me that a world of other features can’t make up for it on other browsers.
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Lastpass has a browser buitin to the app. All you have to do is tap your website and hit launch and it will take you to the site plus autologin for you. Now granted it is a very basic browser, but it does work.
Also if I remember correctly (I’m at work without my Android tablet right now) I think from the LastPass app for Android you can specify a default browser to open up. So you just need to open LastPass and click your site and it will open up in Chrome or whatever other browser you want and autofill the info. I know it might be an extra step over a plugin, but it beats using a crappy browser or copying over every password every time you need it.
The problem with the built in browser is that despite the fact that lastpass and xmarks are owned by the same company, xmarks isn’t supported in the lastpass browser.
Also, I never click sites in lastpass, I use my own bookmarks and then expect it to log me in when needed. So Dolphin is still the best way for me at least