Skip to content

Browser

Browser opens web pages as a computer's browser does: it runs their JavaScript, so it shows the sites Web Lite cannot, such as maps and web apps. It is slower to start than Web Lite and uses more memory. The phone needs internet (Wi-Fi or mobile data).

Browser is not part of the firmware: it is installed separately with its web engine, about 165 MB, and then shows up in the menu under Internet & media.

Opening a page

Browser opens on its start page, Start, with links to a few sites (Wikipedia, Hacker News, OpenStreetMap, GitHub, DuckDuckGo, and Speedometer to measure how fast it is). Under them, JavaScript works: says that scripts run.

To go somewhere else:

  1. Tap the Address or search field at the bottom. The keyboard opens.
  2. Type an address, such as en.wikipedia.org, or words to search for.
  3. Press Enter.

An address without https:// gets it added. Words, or anything that is not an address, are searched for on DuckDuckGo. To leave the field without going anywhere, hide the keyboard with its key: the field shows the page's address again.

While a page loads, the title says Loading... and the button at the right of the field stops it. Once loaded, the title is the page's, and the button loads it again.

Reading and moving around

Scroll with your finger, and tap links to follow them. Pages get their mobile version, as on a phone's browser. A link that would open a new tab or window opens in the same view.

To go back to the previous page, tap the back button at the left of the field. On the first page, it closes Browser, as the back arrow at the top does.

Browser keeps cookies and what sites store (their settings, a consent you gave), also after you close it.

When a page cannot load (no internet, a wrong address), the web engine shows why in the page.

Typing in a page

Tap a text field of a page (a login, a site's search box, a form) and the keyboard opens under the page, which makes room for it. Type as in any other field; Enter sends the form, or starts a new line in a box of several lines. A field for numbers gets the number pad, a phone number field the dial pad. In fields where the page has the spelling checked, the keyboard offers corrections as in Notes; never in passwords, addresses or numbers.

To stop typing, hide the keyboard with its key, or tap elsewhere in the page. Tap the field again to go on.

Limitations

  • No videos or sound.
  • No zooming with two fingers, no tabs, bookmarks, history list or downloads.
  • When a page uses too much memory, it loads again from the start without a word.