How-To Geek
How To Change the Default Web Browser in iOS
There are plenty of alternative web browsers on iOS – Opera Mini, Atomic, and Skyfire, to name a few. Without being able to change the default browser none of them feel “at home,” but there’s a fix if you’re jailbroken.
Browser Changer
Browser Changer is a great little utility available for jailbroken iOS devices. It’s simple and fills in the missing functionality you want: to be able to choose which browser is your default for opening links. You can find it from Cydia.
Once you have it installed, open up your Settings, and scroll down until you see Browser Changer.
It’s as easy as flipping the switch and choosing your selected browser.
There’s a pretty large list that covers most alternatives to Safari. The one downside is that the Browser Changer hasn’t been updated to work flawlessly with the new version of Opera Mini just yet, but all of the others – such as Skyfire, Atomic, Oceanus, and Portal – all work great.
What browser do you prefer when using iOS? Share in the comments!
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Comments (8)
Yatri Trivedi is a monk-like geek. When he's not overdosing on meditation and geek news of all kinds, he's hacking and tweaking something, often while mumbling in 4 or 5 other languages.
- Published 06/10/11
Nice article, but I don’t know why I have to switch from my default browser (Safari) to any other browser?
Safari is clean and simple, has tabs, is made for iOS and has a nice UI.
You cannot speed up the internet by using a different browser, thats an fact.
The only thing browsers do is hide pictures or javascript wich makes the page unreadable.
Please explain to me (or write another article) why I should change my browser to Opera or Skyfire :-).
Regards,
Jimmy
You have to be Jailbroken to simply change your default browser???
Wow.
I like Mercury
Would this work for wi-fi only iPad?
@Gordon
Yes, works for all devices
Cambo – Yes – its one of the reasons to jailbreak – pretty bad really.
Gordon – Of course it will. ffs.
I use Atomic as my alternate. Lots of flexibility without jailbreaking.
I use Atomic and love it. This package is so far one of my 3 favorite things about jailbreaking. (The others are the Grooveshark app and MyWi.)