Puffin Browser Pro [for Android]

Description

Puffin Browser with a cute penguin on the label was originally an Internet browser for the iPhone. Later, however, they made a version for Android. The developers calmed down on this, deciding to make their brainchild a browser only for mobile applications.

However, who and when did this stop? Without thinking twice, advanced users tinkered and tinkered with the codes and came up with a pretty decent version for the computer. So now anyone who doesn’t have one can download the Puffin browser on Windows 10, 8, 7 and get acquainted with this browser.

What was the outcome? A fast browser with a fairly convenient, albeit somewhat unusual interface. However, the majority of Puffin’s audience for Windows are users who have already enjoyed the mobile version of the browser. So there will be no surprises for them.

Despite the fact that many note the rather small variety of functionality of Puffins compared to other browsers, its tools, in fact, are more than enough for comfortable and confident work on the Internet.

Let's sum it up!

Downloading Puffin Web Browser to your computer is a worthy choice for users with a variety of system equipment. Outwardly, it is similar to other applications, but when using this browser, you will immediately feel the simplicity and comfort of work. The presence of “cloud” resources also introduces a significant innovation. Puffin servers make the work of gadgets easier by taking over the load.

Work with applications is simplified due to the virtual mouse and joystick. What should have been added was synchronization with the browser installed before it. But this is not so significant. Because of its advantages. The truth is that the lack of round-the-clock use of the Flash player is a disadvantage.

But overall, this application for surfing the Internet is very good, and is still at least among the leaders.

Functional

So, what will the application delight its users with? First of all, fast work. Most information is hosted on cloud servers. As a result, pages load, if not instantly, then as quickly as possible. The exception would be sites “decorated” with a large number of pictures. Here, no matter how hard the browser tries, everything depends on the speed of the Internet.

Increased security. All information located in the cloud (and this is precisely the fact that confuses users) is securely encrypted. So you can work safely in the browser, even when connecting to unsecured Wi-fi hotspots. No one will have access to your personal data.

And the Flash player updates itself, you can work in the browser even without a mouse due to the built-in vertical panel and virtual joystick, pages are automatically translated into the “default language” (in our case Russian), an “incognito” mode is available, as well as the ability to change Toolbar color to your favorite.

Puffin for Windows

Selecting a browser for Android devices: Puffin Web Browser

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Cloud Computing: Puffin Web Browser
• Interface
• Job
• Testing
• Functions

Introduction

Recently, the laboratory of the Overclockers website has examined almost all popular browsers for mobile gadgets.
Previously, you could read reviews of not only Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Dolphin Browser, but also less relevant applications, for example, Next Browser and others. At first glance, we got acquainted with everything that was worth even the slightest interest. But no, there is still one more web browser left - Puffin Web Browser. What is it and why does it deserve attention? The fact is that the hero of the review is equipped with its own engine, developed and optimized specifically for mobile gadgets.

Let's see how Puffin Web Browser works and what other advantages are hidden in it.

Cloud Computing: Puffin Web Browser

It's no secret that after the release of Apple's first tablet, the iPad, many users were perplexed - How can they watch online videos on it? After all, HTML5, towards which the guys from Cupertino took a step, was not yet so developed, and even now it is not well popularized. What to do?

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This is where skillful programmers came to the rescue, creating Puffin Web Browser. And he already knew how to work with Adobe Flash, albeit with the help of cloud computing, but he still knew how.

But all this applies only to Apple gadgets, and what is the connection between Puffin Web Browser and Android? Expected question. Everything is simple here: this browser has become so functional and popular that it was released for the Android system and became really interesting. Moreover, starting with OS Android 4.1, Flash Player is not officially supported, but we are conscious citizens - we immediately understood everything.

It's worth taking a look at the main browser features noted by the developers:

• Blazing fast: Puffin speeds up web browsing by shifting the load from resource-constrained devices to cloud servers, and resource-hungry web pages can run super fast on your phones or tablets.
• Protection of “cloud” information storage: all traffic from the Puffin application to the Puffin server is encrypted, this is protection from hackers who are nearby. You can safely use insecure public Wi-Fi hotspots using Puffin, which may not be secure for other browsers.
• Latest version of Flash: We continue to improve our cloud servers and provide you with access to the latest (14.0) version of Flash player via the cloud.
• Maintain bandwidth speed: Puffin uses a proprietary compression algorithm to transfer web data to your device, you can save up to 90% of the processing speed of normal web browsing (please note that viewing streaming Flash content or video requires faster processing speed than during normal use).
• Incredible download speed.
• Free full Adobe Flash support during the day.
• Uploading files to the cloud (files up to 20 MB).
• Theater mode for Flash videos and games.
• Virtual touchpad (mouse simulation).
• Virtual joystick.
• Add-on functions (Pocket, Evernote, Facebook, Translator and others).
• Color schemes for the toolbar and dropdown panel.
• The fastest Java Script engine.
• Incognito mode: Automatically clears your app activity.

Differences in the PRO version:

• 24/7 Adobe Flash support.
• Support for additional functions.

Interface

The browser looks utilitarian, there is no special style in it. Dark gray windows, the menu has one type of font, and in the settings everything is generally chaotic and illogical. As a result, there is no special style or individuality in this application.

The main menu is presented in the form of a list with the most popular sites. They are implemented in the form of translucent panels with names and a characteristic icon.

By the way, the indicator of this menu is located in the lower left corner. There is also an icon with a heart, a circle and an image.

Everything is clear from the heart, this is a list of our bookmarks. It looks like the menu with the most visited sites. The same panels, the same icons, and so on. You can get to this menu not only by clicking on the corresponding icon, but also by swiping your finger to the left.

Much more interesting is the icon with a circle, the so-called “Puffin World”. New web applications are hosted there, in most cases games. The icons are animated, move beautifully, shimmer, and so on.

There is also a library of online games specially optimized for this browser. We'll look at the games a little later.

Well, the very last one is the fourth icon, which is responsible for the background image. The function is useful, no doubt. But is it really so important to place its button on the main panel!? Why burden an already awkward-looking menu? There are eight pictures themselves, there is also a white background and the ability to set your own image as the background.

The status line is designed by analogy with a standard Internet browser. It supports “live input”, but its functions do not end there.

Let's say we entered some kind of query, but the resulting search result did not satisfy us. And in order not to open another search engine and enter the query again, you can select one of the available search engines at the top of the window. The search engine is automatically loaded with the corresponding request, which is convenient. We have encountered similar solutions in other applications.

Next to the status panel there are elements of the corresponding type. The only thing is that the arrow responsible for going to the “future page” has been removed. As for me, this is an absolutely unnecessary function, so its absence is a very logical solution.

But the panel with tabs was not abandoned; it is located higher. When viewing the site, the panel is hidden, which is convenient and saves space. There is a full screen mode, be careful, here it is known as “Theater” mode.

The menu with open tabs is designed conveniently; it accommodates several windows, in my case there are four. You can close them with one click or open new tabs directly from this menu.

A panel with access to quick settings opens by swiping to the left. There's nothing particularly interesting there. You can switch to full-screen mode, bookmark a site, share a page, view your browsing history, and look into the depths of the application.

With this, in principle, we examined all the interface elements of this application.

Job

Puffin Web Browser, unlike few web browsers, uses its own engine, which has the same name as the browser itself.

It was created with the sole purpose of providing native Adobe Flash support to mobile devices. We can immediately say that the authors of the program did it very well, and from this moment we will begin.

The browser supports any Flash elements, and you do not need to install Flash Player on your device. And one more thing - Flash will work even on gadgets with outdated processor architecture, such as ARM6 and MIPS. We won’t focus on watching the video; everything is clear there. This happens incredibly smoothly and clearly, there are no twitches or artifacts.

But what about online games? There are few games and educational applications in Puffin World, but there are thousands of online games on the Internet. So there shouldn't be any problems with the content. It is for them that this browser is positioned secondary.

Let’s just say that you can launch “simple” games in one go, I’d especially like to note the speed of loading game files – it happens quickly. But some “heavy” games, for example, Dead Trigger 2 from the social network Facebook will not work, since it requires Unity Web Player.

Games are controlled using the built-in gamepad emulator, keyboard or even mouse. I can’t say that it’s very convenient to play, but it’s possible.

But for entertainment, a five- to six-inch smartphone or tablet is desirable, since the controls (and the games themselves) look very small.

We figured out how Adobe Flash works in Puffin Web Browser, but is that really what browsers are for?

When loading a typical site, for example, our Overclockers.ru, we notice a lot of unusual things. The site itself takes a long time to load – from 3 to 5 seconds. Why? Unknown. Testing was carried out over a fast Wi-Fi connection, and Xiaomi Redmi Note and Samsung Galaxy Tab were used as test devices. Okay, that's not so bad, let's move on.

When scrolling the page, the scroll is jerky; Although scaling occurs smoothly, page redrawing takes some time. Website elements are displayed quite correctly, even pop-up advertising banners look correct. There are no problems with fonts, except in the application menu itself.

Once installed, Puffin Web Browser will take about 25 MB. But in operating mode, the browser consumes from 50 MB of RAM, but as soon as you open two or three tabs (even without Flash or other content), 200 or even 400 MB of RAM will be occupied.

This is due to the constant exchange of data between the server and the gadget, so you can’t really use Puffin via the mobile Internet.

Testing

This browser has no equal in benchmarks and synthetic tests. After all, all calculations take place not on the device, but on servers in the cloud, and then transferred to mobile solutions.

All this is reminiscent of the technology of the turbo mode in the Opera browser, where data passes through servers and is compressed, but the meaning and algorithm are different. It's not fair, but let's take a look at the results.

HTML5 Test rated the browser at 452 points, and the maximum possible result in this benchmark is 555 points. Let's move on.

Peacekeeper gave the browser 4,060 points, which is simply an incredible result. Thus, the maximum result among mobile devices is achieved by the Safari browser on the Apple iPad Air – 1,900 points. Among Android models, these are gadgets with Nvidia K1 processors, the Chrome browser and a score of 1,500 points. By the way, my work laptop scores only 2,000, but here it’s 4,000 points.

Working with Java Script is also amazing, literally and figuratively. If in Google Chrome, Firefox and other browsers the fastest result is a second, then here it is only 200 milliseconds. The Sun Spider 1.0.2 test was used.

You can draw your own conclusions about the performance of the Puffin browser. Even though it uses not the resources of the smartphone, but the capabilities of the server, it shows simply incredible results.

Functions

Puffin Web Browser is not particularly rich in settings, but, as they say, “The rich are the happy.” By tradition, we will not consider basic functions such as incognito mode and the ability to bookmark a site.

When we get into the settings through a panel that opens by swiping to the left, we are simply lost in the possibilities. It’s not that there are so many of them, it’s just that the lists are built incorrectly, one item has one font size, another a little larger, and the third is generally written in italics.

Yes, there are a lot of points, but they are of no use. We can choose a color theme, visual effects when touching the screen, the ability to save website passwords, automatic cleaning of browsing history, and so on.

What is unusual is the quality of Flash elements; there are five parameters to choose from, we select them depending on the power of our device.

Of course, Puffin Web Browser, like any self-respecting browser, has support for add-ons. There aren’t that many of them—at least two dozen—but they are there.

Including Google translator, email client-message indicator Gmail and various “sharers” on social networks. ADBlocker is missing, which is a pity.

There is also another interesting feature related to file uploading – “Upload to the Cloud”. They can be downloaded not only directly to our smartphone, but also directly to our Dropbox or Google Drive account. Since the action will take place between “clouds,” as described in the application, it will happen almost instantly.

In practice, a 15 MB file was uploaded to Dropbox in a second, without wasting a single megabyte of its traffic. Definitely a useful feature.

You can upload files up to 20 MB for free, the download limit is 100 MB. If you need more, say 1 GB, you will have to shell out $1 per month.

Conclusions on Puffin Web Browser

Puffin Web Browser turned out to be a very good browser, although at first glance you couldn’t tell. On the one hand, there is a typical and unremarkable interface, moreover, overloaded with various details. At first it is difficult to get along with the observer and understand what, where and how. And a redesign wouldn't hurt.

On the other hand, it has plenty of functions. Puffin Web Browser has everything you can, it even provides virtual joysticks for controlling online games, background uploading of files to the browser server and many other features. There was also support for add-ons. Unfortunately, there is no synchronization with any desktop browser, and this is a rather important point.

Another interesting point relates to performance and display of elements. The thing is that the data passes through a special server, thanks to which Puffin scores incredible results in synthetic tests (for example, running Sun Spider 1.0.2 took only 200 milliseconds) and supports Adobe Flash without installing the appropriate player. In this case, the pages are displayed correctly, but with slowdowns and lags. Then, the question arises, what is the use of this feature?!

There is another drawback associated with servers: Puffin Web Browser is a paid program. You installed the application, use it for seven days, but on the eighth day the browser turns into a pumpkin and asks for money. Maybe not so much – $3, but still. In addition, Flash elements will only work from 8:00 to 16:00. If you need Flash at any time of the day, you will have to purchase the Full Flash service – $2 per year.

So what's the result? As a browser, Puffin Web Browser is only suitable for viewing Flash videos, launching Flash applications and everything related to Adobe technology. For other technologies, even JavaScript, which shows incredible results, it is not suitable. You should not use the browser to view ordinary sites, for example, news ones, since they will slow down even on top devices.

Denis Melnik

Pros and cons of the program

Pros of Puffin Browser on PC:

• Using Flash.
• Filters pop-ups.
• Availability of Multi-Tab interface.

Minuses:

• Lack of optimization for Flash games.
• Work through the use of third-party servers.
• High requirements for hardware capabilities.
• Inability to access geo-protected resources.
• To use it around the clock, you need to pay for the PRO version (at night, the browser does not work without it).

How to install Puffin Browser without an emulator on Windows 7, 8, 10

The company has released a Beta version of the Puffin browser for Windows. Download the installation file at the bottom of the page. Start the installation.

Select the installation path.

Browser installation folder.

Create a shortcut to launch the browser on your desktop.

You complete the installation of the Puffin browser on Windows.

Complete installation. Launch the browser - if you leave the checkbox.

How to install Puffin Browser on Windows 10, 8, 7 via Bluestacks

If you have Windows 7, consider yourself lucky. The Penguin has already been perfectly adjusted to this version. Therefore, just download the file, install and enjoy life. If your machine has an “eight” or “ten” installed, you will have to dance a little with a tambourine. But not much, so don't be alarmed.

First, download the emulator. Bluestacks (https://www.bluestacks.com/ru/index.html) is best - it has been tested by time and thousands of users. Please note that you must log in using your Google account. So if you don't have one, register.

Now about the installation.

1. The beginning is more than banal - download the installation file.
2. Launch it.
3. Windows will certainly ask: “Allow the following program to make changes on this computer.” Of course yes".
4. After the installation is complete, an initialization window will appear where game data will be loaded. Here, too, everything happens automatically, you just need to wait (below are screenshots of the complete installation process).
5. As soon as the process is completed and a window with a tablet interface opens, you can begin work.

After that, go to the Play Market, find the application through the search engine. Select Install. Accept the terms of use. Wait for the installation to complete. You can start working.

How to remove a browser

The easiest and fastest way to remove Puffin: through the same Bluestacks (if it was installed through it).

• Launch Bluestacks.
• Go to the Play Market.
• Find the program you need and go to its page.
• Select delete.

If you installed the beta version for Windows, then use Remove programs from the system.

How to remove Puffin browser Windows 10