[APP][4.0+] Lightning Browser: Open-Source Web Browser

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anthonycr

Senior Member
Mar 14, 2012
617
819
Albany, NY
Lightning Browser
acrdevelopment.org
beauty.png

Download Here​


Join the Google+ Community for Access to the latest beta for Lightning and Thunder​


View the source code​


Download the APK​


Read xda's review


Features:
● Open Source
● Lightweight
● Follows Android design guidelines
● Well-designed
● Respects your privacy
● Fast

Lightning Browser is a lightweight Android web browser dedicated to delivering a high-quality experience. I'm a full-time student, so updates are not every week, but I am always working on the browser despite what it might seem like. The purpose of this browser is to gain me experience in programming and reaching as many people as possible, not make me money like so many others, and that is what makes me different from other developers.

Navigation:
● Long-press a tab to delete it
● Long-press the back button to exit the browser

Enjoy :)

Permissions Explanation
● permission.INTERNET - Obviously needed to access the internet :p
● permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE - Needed for downloading files
● permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE - Needed for downloading files
● permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION - Needed for sites that want your location (access is denied by default)
 

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PenguinxEnjoi

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
433
141
Carbondale
Re: [APP][2.2+] The Lightning Browser v1.2.5 - the fastest browser around

Nice app, recently reset my phone and this could become one of my main browsers. It loads mobile websites really fast on my sort of low end phone (such as the mobile versions of facebook, google, youtube...etc) Also, I noticed that pages don't actually show it loading, but rather just load. Don't know if out is a bug or helps performance, just putting it out there.
A problem I had was;
Whenever I press the menu button, nothing happens.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
 
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anthonycr

Senior Member
Mar 14, 2012
617
819
Albany, NY
Re: [APP][2.2+] The Lightning Browser v1.2.5 - the fastest browser around

Nice app, recently reset my phone and this could become one of my main browsers. It loads mobile websites really fast on my sort of low end phone (such as the mobile versions of facebook, google, youtube...etc) Also, I noticed that pages don't actually show it loading, but rather just load. Don't know if out is a bug or helps performance, just putting it out there.
A problem I had was;
Whenever I press the menu button, nothing happens.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

First off, if you're on ICS or above, there is a loading animation but due to problems with backward compatibility it doesn't show up on devices running gingerbread or older. Or are you saying the pages load abruptly?

Second, the menu button does nothing because there are no settings yet, the buttons you see are the buttons you get right now. I'll be adding a menu with settings options in the next update but for right now there's nothing.

Glad you like it :)
 

lostnuke

Senior Member
Jun 19, 2011
458
131
Re: [APP][2.2+] The Lightning Browser v1.2.5 - the fastest browser around

Nice work!

Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
 

IsolatedAbyss

Senior Member
Jan 9, 2013
103
25
Gave it a try and it does seem to load very fast on based my first impressions. Will have to test it out a bit more but this looks like it has potential.
 

melib

Member
Nov 14, 2008
18
4
Re: [APP][2.2+] The Lightning Browser v1.2.5 - the fastest browser around

Could you add an apk file?
Because I can not install from Google Play.

Sent from my BNTV600 using xda app-developers app
 

UtkarshAgrawal

Senior Member
Dec 1, 2012
62
12
Re: [APP][2.2+] The Lightning Browser v1.2.5 - the fastest browser around

Works well bur i still prefer naked browser for speed


Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk HD
 

anthonycr

Senior Member
Mar 14, 2012
617
819
Albany, NY
Re: [APP][2.2+] The Lightning Browser v1.2.5 - the fastest browser around

Not fond of putting up two similar software for a fight in ones thread, but what does your browser offer/will offer over Naked Browser?

It offers a better UI. I haven't thoroughly tested out the speed of Naked Browser but both browsers seem pretty similar in speed, the advantage of naked browser being the start time because it doesn't load a page. However, (and I know some like it that way), naked browser's UI is just something I can't tolerate. Sure it's meant to save space and load time, but it's not very intuitive for a simple minded user. I'm careful with aesthetics because I think they're important, and while naked browser and lightning browser offer the same thing (insane browsing speeds), I think we target different audiences.

Naked browser is for those who could care less about UI and are 100% focused on speed and power (most geeks :p).

Lightning browser is for those that want the speed but don't want to sacrifice the look and feel of other browsers (the people that don't like naked browser)

@polobunny, that was an excellent question, hope I answered satisfactorily. And I don't wish to start a mini-browser war, hopefully we can keep from fighting :cool:
 

anthonycr

Senior Member
Mar 14, 2012
617
819
Albany, NY
Re: [APP][2.2+] The Lightning Browser v1.2.5 - the fastest browser around

I also like it very much but 1 feature is missing imo: private browsing ;)

Sent from my MB526 using xda premium

I will try to add that in the next update (next update will have lots of settings)





2 questions

does it support flash?
can i switch to desktop mode?

EDIT: Yes it supports flash
Not yet, user agent changes will be out next update.
 
Last edited:

polobunny

Senior Member
Oct 25, 2011
6,223
2,312
Montreal
It offers a better UI. I haven't thoroughly tested out the speed of Naked Browser but both browsers seem pretty similar in speed, the advantage of naked browser being the start time because it doesn't load a page. However, (and I know some like it that way), naked browser's UI is just something I can't tolerate. Sure it's meant to save space and load time, but it's not very intuitive for a simple minded user. I'm careful with aesthetics because I think they're important, and while naked browser and lightning browser offer the same thing (insane browsing speeds), I think we target different audiences.

Naked browser is for those who could care less about UI and are 100% focused on speed and power (most geeks :p).

Lightning browser is for those that want the speed but don't want to sacrifice the look and feel of other browsers (the people that don't like naked browser)

@polobunny, that was an excellent question, hope I answered satisfactorily. And I don't wish to start a mini-browser war, hopefully we can keep from fighting :cool:

Alright, thanks for taking the time to answer, and good luck to you.
 

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  • 232
    Lightning Browser
    acrdevelopment.org
    beauty.png

    Download Here​


    Join the Google+ Community for Access to the latest beta for Lightning and Thunder​


    View the source code​


    Download the APK​


    Read xda's review


    Features:
    ● Open Source
    ● Lightweight
    ● Follows Android design guidelines
    ● Well-designed
    ● Respects your privacy
    ● Fast

    Lightning Browser is a lightweight Android web browser dedicated to delivering a high-quality experience. I'm a full-time student, so updates are not every week, but I am always working on the browser despite what it might seem like. The purpose of this browser is to gain me experience in programming and reaching as many people as possible, not make me money like so many others, and that is what makes me different from other developers.

    Navigation:
    ● Long-press a tab to delete it
    ● Long-press the back button to exit the browser

    Enjoy :)

    Permissions Explanation
    ● permission.INTERNET - Obviously needed to access the internet :p
    ● permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE - Needed for downloading files
    ● permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE - Needed for downloading files
    ● permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION - Needed for sites that want your location (access is denied by default)
    8
    Here we go folks. The betas are now live.

    Join the Google+ Community in order to be able to access the Betas on Google Play.

    The links to the betas are below. Note: You can't just search for the beta in the Play Store and instead to get to it you need a direct link.

    Google Play​
    Lightning Beta (Play Store)​


    Lightning Plus Beta (Play Store)​


    Thunder Beta​




    If you don't want to join the Google+ Community, below you can get the latest APK from Github

    Github​
    Lightning APK​


    Thunder APK​


    I will be making a separate thread for Thunder Browser sometime in the future as it is different enough from Lightning that I don't want things getting mixed up between them. The Google+ Community is open to everyone, so feel free to tell others that might benefit from the beta about it, I'm not restricting it to people in this forum or anything. Also, if you wish to use the community to post bugs and other things feel free to, but please keep posts relevant (no spam, memes, or generally stupid posts).

    Please note that all the above links I posted are present in the Google+ Community if you forget where to find them.​
    8
    Hey everyone, there's a new beta out on the Play Store, go get it! If it's not showing up for you, either you haven't joined the G+ community necessary, or else it's still propagating. I'll try to get a version up on Github for download tomorrow. If you want the latest code, it can be obtained from the Dev branch of the repository (it's not ready to be pushed to master just yet). Enjoy, and feedback welcome.

    Change log:
    * updated for lollipop
    * fixed orbot problems on lollipop
    * material design (on all supported android versions, thank you support libraries)
    * added text reflow for KitKat and up
    * improved inverted rendering for KitKat and up (hopefully a solution will be found for everyone)
    * color mode - colors the browser to match the website - will be made optional in the future for those that don't like it
    * fullscreen mode works better
    * search suggestions slightly sped up
    * long press on tab for option to close browser or close tab
    * of course other improvements as well

    Community added features
    * new/updated translations
    * revamped settings (sorted for easier use)
    * better "find in page option"

    Browse safely and have fun!
    7
    Hey everyone,

    Due to recent changes in the Google Play Developer policy, I'm going to have to make Lightning Browser+ free. Google has imposed restrictions requiring me to publicly disclose my address (which isn't that bad) as well as respond to every support email within a 24 hour period. As a student, I often don't even have enough time to eat every meal or sleep enough so it's likely that as an indie Dev with no marketing team I would end up violating the rules and probably getting my account banned. In light of these recent developments, I need to make Lightning+ free. The problem with this is that now there wouldn't be any reason to download the normal Lightning.... Ideally I'd like to merge the apps into a single free app, but getting rid of either version will be a nuisance for a number of users... Tens of thousands of free users on the one hand and a bunch of people who have been kind enough to support me on the other.

    I'm looking for ideas on how to merge both versions without causing problems for users. NOTE: the latest beta has a feature that allows you to import and export bookmark backups so that's not a problem.

    If anyone has any ideas that'd be great. Basically, I want to make the browser completely free... Maybe if I just make lightning+ free eventually all the users will migrate to it and eventually I'll be able to decommission the free version?

    I'll loose my playstore ranking by removing the free version but ultimately present users not future users are the biggest priority.

    Thanks for understanding, everyone :)

    P.S. if I do make Lightning+ free and you purchased it within the last couple months and feel the need for a refund once it's free I'll gladly oblige.
    6
    Update is rolling out soon for Lightning Browser+ (Free version still needs a little more work)

    Change log

    ADDED:
    - Google search suggestions (optional)
    - Auto-sort bookmarks alphabetically
    - AdBlocker (plus version only)

    FIXED
    - Magent links load correctly
    - Google Maps can load from search results
    - Long click on images fixed (hopefully)
    - Added start page desktop and mobile versions of search engine
    - show toast when URL is copied from text bar
    - history page displays better and loads quicker
    - better bookmark UI (if you set bookmarks as your homepage)
    - search suggestions from history and bookmarks are better
    - speed/battery improvements due to keeping browser Alive between multiple launches
    - handle IP addresses correctly
    - fixed popups being blocked that weren't supposed to be blocked
    - no longer asks user if they want to download an image they requested to download
    - other small bug fixes.

    Hopefully I'll be able to get the free version up soon and the code repo updated.

    Enjoy

    Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk