Is it just me or is mobile web browsing awful?
I've got an iPhone X. It's not the latest and greatest, but still runs fine and does basically everything I need it to do.
However, it seems like any time I need to visit an actual web site from my phone, the entire experience is just terrible. Nearly every web site fills the screen with resource-intensive ads, enormous newsletter sign up dialogs with tiny close buttons, and of course, the obligatory cookie notice.
I don't want to have an app for every single business I visit or service I subscribe to, but I also do what I can to avoid visiting their horrid web pages.
How do you tackle this? Or am I just making a big deal over nothing?
I use nextdns.io on my iphone for adblocking and it works well. Give it a go?
The web is nigh unusable without an ad/element blocking browser. And its a security risk too.
The web works better on Android.
At Google some PMs used to lament that Android users spend more time in the browser than in apps versus iPhone. In my experience using browsers on Android are much better than on iPhone and not everything really wants to be an app.
Id point the finger at Google actually allowing different web browser apps (Safari drives every browser on iPhone and lags in many areas) and just natural competition. (If ads really bothers you an ad blocker is an install away).
My only complaint really being cookie banners but they suck the fun out of desktop web too.
Note that Safari has native support for content blockers (or what most people call adblockers). I use AdGuard on my iPhone and it works great. The blocking is done by Safari, the app just tells Safari what rules to use. The paid version of AdGuard includes an optional extension that can execute more complex blocking rules, but the free version works very well in almost all cases. There are other apps available as well.
It is terrible indeed. I'm just starting to not browse the net anymore, if possible.
I start to not care for the news, someone I know will tell me the stuff I need anyway.
I started buying paper books, and reading those.
Firefox Focus comes with a good allround zero config content blocker that works for mobile Safari.
The issue also is that often when using the back button the page reloads ( I suspect due to memory issues on my iPhone 11) and I lose track of my reading position.
I use adguard on my phone, so ads and tracking practically don't exist. I turn on the reading mode if I want to focus on the content instead of being consistently blocked by ads (or in my case, the space previously occupied by ads). I have adblock in my mobile browser as an additional step. And often I send longer pages to pocket and read them later on kindle.
So it is awful, but if you are willing to spend some time you can still make it usable.
(Hope Google's outrageous "DRM for web" idea never gets traction.)
This is why I always come to the HN comments first before clicking on any link to a domain I don’t recognize. I want an indication that the content is worth running the mobile usability gauntlet.
This raises a good point that you have to use these apps for a good exp. Their apps usually do good caching, preloading and good display. Now in a browser you have some more controls over cookies and things. The apps can get around that more.
Yeah, in general, I find anything"mobile optimized" is TERRIBLE. I much prefer the desktop site where I can parse the page fully and zoom to where I want to go.
Speaking of. There is almost nothing that infuriates me more than some web developer overriding the behavior of zoom. Not cool.
This is something that Android would ostensibly do better at. You're able to get browsers with full ad-blocking capabilities there.
I've had luck with Orion (notably on YouTube videos) on iOS, though. DNS and other browsers might help, too.
Yes. I tackle this by doing most of my browsing on a desktop or laptop, where I have proper ad-blockers installed.
I have vision problems so I have just stopped using my phone browser, cause I can see better and type better while using the laptop browser.
It is indeed terrible. Between GDPR banners, modals asking you to subscribe or pay before you've read a single word of a site, and ads every other paragraph, the "content" web on mobile is in a bad state.
It's as bad on desktop, but ads, modals, and banners take up less of the available screen real estate, so perceptually it seems less annoying.
Install brave that has adblocking built into it. quit using safari.
Kiwi Browser supports WebExtensions. The 100% boring normal expected life-improving extensions like uBlock Origin for ads, Consent-o-matic for GDPR cookie setting, Dark Reader for dark-mode, and Form Vault for forms auto saving them make the web a much nicer place.
User agency rocks. I have zero idea why Chrome offers none on mobile. Malleability ought to be the web's killer feature that apps will never have anything to offer on, and the web is the most important place for adjusting out experiences to suit us, and it's wild that mobile form factor deprived most users of their agency.
I think it's pretty awful (at least on Android), so I rarely browse the web from mobile devices at all. If I need to interact with some service, rather than apps or mobile browsing, I wait until I'm at a desktop machine (unless it's an emergency or something).
Agreed.
the relentless nagging by some sites to install the mobile apps needs to die.
Just like the other popular post today lamenting the terrible state of scrollbars and other UI elements that has degraded the desktop UX in recent years....
Even the attention to mobile web experience seems to have degraded.
There was huge focus on optimizing the very limited bandwidth and resources on mobiles... there was WAP and XML ...people atleast tried. Now a 2 year old phone that is effectively a supercomputer struggles to load simple list pages and blogs.
Everyone's talking about content blocking software, which is probably how most of us tackle this to be fair.
But in response to your title question, yes! Not just mobile, IMO, but it's usually worse there. Web site experiences are generally terrible these days.
I wish we hadn't come to the point where we _need_ content blocking to browse the web sanely. I constantly feel like I'm using sites where the people deciding the user experience are not themselves users of the site. Or if they are, they just don't care about usability over bottom line and A/B metric testing results.
As iPhone X owner I can confirm that this is one of the worst combination for mobile browsing: small screen, safari and internet full of adds.
The best option for browsing internet is large screen Android Phone.
I personally have had great success with the following for Safari:
- 1Blocker as a general content blocker (as of this comment, it still blocks ads on YouTube videos as well!)
- Hush to remove cookie notices. I never see them anymore.
- For select sites that still insist on annoying pop-ups or aggressively hostile content layout, I tell safari to use reader mode by default. I do this for any substack sites I visit, for example, because of the ugly fonts, poor contrast, and obnoxious gradual fading of a pop-over asking you to subscribe every time you go to a page.
Yeah, it's awful. I use the Content Restrictions feature on iOS to hide Safari so that it's not accessible at all. I just don't have a reason or need to browse the web on my phone.
I too find the web unusuable on mobile without FF mobile with ublock origin. Hey maybe Mozilla could focus on that rather than "reclaiming our online digital creative spaces"
It would be nice if iOS Safari added support for the same browser extensions that are available on desktop browsers. Why have they not? Probably something about CPU usage and battery life, but boy-howdy the web is a shitshow without ad blockers, privacy enhancers, etc.
Every time I leave the house I realize how much my Pihole blocks. At some point I should put it online so I can use it for DNS everywhere.
At least on Android, Brave handles the ads, pop ups, cookie notices, etc very well for me.
I use nextDNS to block all ads on my iPhone X, works like a charm
>How do you tackle this?
Adguard Pro
It's still bad but more bearable with PiHole. I don't know how anyone without adblock can open a recipe website on mobile and not lose their mind.
One reason it's still bad is that now I see popups that say "Disable Your Adblocker"!
Sometimes I wish we only had one version of the web. I know I may be luddite when it comes to web browsing but I love web browsing on the desktop.
Progressive web app have made more optimization of ads than content.
By trying to optimize it for the mobile web they have made it into "baby internet" (I heard it first when Steve Jobs introduced iPhone). I miss how he was able to zoom on the New York Times website without optimized website for mobile.
People are focusing on ads and other annoyances. Don't get me wrong—those are far and away the most egregious. Get rid of them, though, and mobile web browsing still sucks. Many sites offer only a stripped-down version compared to the desktop or simply render strangely. And iOS at least is so aggressive about saving memory, even on my 14 Pro, that tabs will be unloaded despite my not doing much, forcing a refresh.
My experience is excellent: android, Firefox, uBlock origin with advanced user enabled.
If I can avoid having to use an app I do using the website instead.
I think your experience is a result of apples restrictive appstore policies.
It's not you, mobile everything is awful.
But firefox on android, though still not great, seems closer to a desktop experience.
I haven't used an iPhone since iPhone 3g so I can't comment on apple devices, but on android it sucks so horribly I simply don't browse "general Internet" on my mobile. It is 100% unusable.
I cannot understand why no one can release a clone of Firefox on android compatible with desktop extensions or make an extension that blocks these cookie popups that works.
I'm on an iphone X also. I have no issues consuming information on mobile devices. They are great for that, in fact. Ad blockers, reader mode, and instapaper solve most issues related to intrusive ads and bad formatting.
My problems arise when I need to actually do something (copy, paste, create, edit, move, etc.), then they are terrible and I very much prefer a desktop.
No it's not just you. I usually get to the point where I have to wait until I have computer access to view the site properly. Sad.
I've said it many times, but you hackers still can't see,
You should use Reader View like me
I navigate the web, I'm searchin' for the truth,
But these websites got me feelin' like I'm in a booth,
Ads poppin' up, distractions all around,
But Reader View's my savior, it's the holy ground.
I shed those tattoo tears, for a web so clear,
Reader View's the answer, no more fear,
Cluttered pages fade away, like the past years,
2Pac knew the struggle, in a different way,
But we're still fightin', we're makin' our own way,
Tattoo tears may be gone, but the pain remains,
With Reader View, we're breakin' all these chains.
People are suggesting mechanical fixes, but ignoring the real issue:
The people who write those cookie popups, serve the ads, prompt you to download the app on every page load? Those people are in these comments section, and should feel like shit.
If the contribution of your life is shitting up our greatest creation via cookie banners, popups, autoplaying videos etc? You should feel like shit. Go do something useful.
Firefox with uBlock Origin. I can't use any operating system that doesn't have it.
Get Firefox, install ublock for their mobile. Too bad you can't use most other firefox extensions. Firefox with limited extensions on mobile is way better than Chrome without any extensions, though. Turn on all the 'Annoyances' filters in uBlock Origin that are off by default, like Cookie notices, mobile app banners, pop-up overlays, etc.
I don't know about iPhone, but on Android you can make Firefox the default system browser, meaning anytime an app pops up a mobile browser inlay, it'll be a Firefox view that includes your extensions.
Other mobile browsers might be similar or better. Can't be worse than the built-in, though. There's a reason the default browser doesn't let you use extensions, and it's not to provide you with a better experience.
The thing is that other than e-commerce, grocery, or social apps, I don't spend too much time browsing anymore. Heck, I downloaded e-commerce and grocery apps just to check out prices, discounts, fees, etc., because their web solution is c@#p, to say the least. If it's something quick, some info regarding a specific subject, or a link someone sent me, I use brave and avoid all nonsense. I don't even bother with webviews, I go straight to the browser.
> How do you tackle this? Or am I just making a big deal over nothing?
I have limited my "pleasure browsing" to very few sites. I don't download apps unless I need to (eg chat).
Most importantly, I have Chrome with javascript disabled on all sites and whitelist the ones I need to access and require javascript (eg. Github, jira). To do that, just click on the lock icon on the address bar and click allow javascript. Simple.
Often, there's an article or something I'd like to read that requires javascript. Sometimes I just close the tab and move on with my life. Other times, I click on Chrome's share button and open the page in Firefox.
On Firefox, I have an adblocker that just makes things a bit better, just enough to get what I need.
It's fine on Android. Or at least, it's about as good as desktop. Cookie prompts are on everything. They're timewasters, and essentially train people to click accept without thinking, but it's the same on any platform.
My biggest complaint is the gestures. I hate pull to refresh and swipe to change tabs so much. But then again, on desktop we have the same crap, middle click to close tab.
On iPhone you can use Orion browser, it has ublock origin and it's free. It's amazing.
On Android there is mull or kiwi.
> How do you tackle this?
Disabling JS in Safari gets rid of a lot of annoyances whilst surfing. You could also try Brave or DuckDuckGo on iOS which block ADs by default.
But this is just a bandaid for the problem. What I would like to see is DNT (DoNotTrack) being honored and taken as a sign that you've opted out of tracking, instead of tracking happening even though the DNT flag is set to true.
I'd also like if all browsers inducing Safari on iOS shipped with a Consent-o-matic / 'I dont care about cookies' type of functionality which globally & automatically opts you out without having to press buttons or close a modal window / popover.
Additionally try Orion browser if it's supported.
Adblockers and better written mobile pages would solve most problems when browsing from a phone, the rest will remain unsolved; people should realize that mobile phones (and most tablets) aren't computers - for a non trivial definition of computers - and can't be used as such without a hell of compromises.
Instal some ad blockers and see if it makes any difference. Then install all of them and have an OK web experience.
It is terrible. Nearly unusable without an ad blocking solution. I've happily been using AdBlock (generic name, great app) on iOS for years as a local VPN and feeding it with the same filter lists I use on desktop like EasyList, Peter Lowe's List, etc. It works reasonably well, and I rarely need to disable it (but still have to sometimes).
Trying not to sound like an advert for it, I'm just a guy who uses it, likes it, and thinks the back and forth about "how much better android is" doesn't really help you solve the problem.
The only way I can cope with mobile internet is using Mull (android Firefox fork) with these extensions:
- uBlock origin with custom lists
- I still don't care about cookies
- Dark Reader
Use Firefox with ublock origin. Enable "cookie banner reduction" and block "notifications" and "location" in "Site permissions". These have got rid of maybe 99% of the annoyances for me, though the occasional cookie banner does still creep through.
You can install adblockers on the IPhone. iOS integrates well with then. I use Adblock Plus.
I also got a SE 2022 which is good performance per buck, sacrifices screen size and camera.
How to tackle:
step 1: Throw out iphone.
step 2: get a pixel and install grapheneos on it
step 3: use vanadium or brave to browse the web.
It sounds you haven't installed an adblocker yet. The web is basically unusable without one regardless of what device you use.