Floating Browser Flux! is a web browser that will “float” on your Android home screen instead of acting as a full screen application. This application is great for those who like browsing the web without being completely immersed in the content. It is also great for people who primarily browse as a form of multitasking and need to bounce back and forth between applications.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

This application is designed to take advantage of Android’s ability to show application in a window instead of full screen. This feature can be useful to different people in a variety of different ways. Regardless, it serves as a unique way to view content without having to go out of your way to go in and out of it.

Pros

• Basic and essential web-browsing functions
• Wide range of supported resolutions
• Supports 2 windows at a time
• Synced bookmarks
• Easily search

Cons

• Trouble with Nexus devices
• Large number of general bugs
• Unresponsive at times
• Shaky flash support
• High memory usage

Discussion

Floating windows in Android are becoming increasingly popular as of late and seem to be popping up in all different forms. In fact, phone manufacturers like Samsung have actually begun including stock applications that feature the floating effect. Perhaps one of the most sought after floating application is a floating web browser. This is because web browsing can take as little as a couple seconds depending on what you need to see or look up. As a result, some people don’t like taking the time to jump into a full-screen experience only to have to jump out if it shortly after to go back to what they were doing previously. While Floating Browser Flux! isn’t perfectly executed, it is certainly headed in the right direction and possibly could be the best option out there so far.

Floating Browser Flux! will support all of the typical and expected features of a traditional mobile web browser. In addition to these, it supports a wide variety of screen resolutions which makes the application functional on most phones and tablets. You can have up to 2 windows open at a time on your home screen, which should be perfect for the type of multitasking that this application is designed for. The application will pull your bookmarks from your system, which means any bookmarks that you currently have saved from your stock browser will appear in this one. You also get easy search support, a feature that is much needed in most mobile browsers.

While that application functions alright most of the time, there are quite a bit of issues that need to be addressed. For starters, flash support on this browser is incredibly inconsistent, meaning that sometimes it will be fine, while other times it will crash, making certain videos unwatchable. Additionally, it uses an abnormally high amount of memory, making it difficult to use for people who are not using high end devices. On top of that, the application is generally very buggy in unstable all around. This occurs particularly with Nexus devices as it doesn’t seem to perform properly on both the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 7. However, you will find that the application fails to perform highly on most devices in a variety of situations

Conclusion and download link

Floating browser does additionally offer an optional professional version. Should you choose to upgrade, you will be given an independent history function in addition to being able to have multiple tabs open in each window with the ability to re-size them as you see fit. The professional version will also offer the ability to take webpage screenshots, which most phones nowadays have that function built in anyway. Generally speaking however, the browser is pretty functional and could possibly be a major hit if the developer spends some time ironing out the fluidity of it. Should the bugs and inconsistencies be resolved, then it could potentially serve as a daily driver for some Android users.

Price: Free, $1.99 (Professional Edition)

Version reviewed: 1.0.4

Requires: Android 1.5 and up

Download size: 1mb

Floating Browser Flux! on Play Store