I actually quite like Safari on the iPad, but was intrigued by what the new Google Chrome App had to offer.
I generally use Chrome more than Safari when using my desktop Mac, but until now there wasn’t that choice on the iPad.
After installing Chrome and starting the app you have the option of signing in with your Google account.
This to be honest is the only real reason for using Google Chrome so that you can sync with your desktop browser.
Trying out some of my usual sites I found it worked fine.
Of course there is no Flash support, but a lot more sites realise that and are offering their content in alternative formats. A lot more of the video on BBC News for example now works on the iPad, regardless whether you use Chrome or Safari.
Despite the fact that this is Google Chrome, it relies on the Safari WebKit as a result the performance is similar to mobile Safari. As a result I was disappointed when I tried Google+ on Chrome. I got the same “mobile” browser default that I do on Safari. I prefer the desktop browser version of Google+ over the Google+ App and really don’t like the mobile browser version of Google+.
If you really do like Chrome, alas you can’t using iOS change the default browser, clicking links in Twitter apps or Mail will result in Safari opening.
On the desktop I use multiple browsers, so for me it makes sense to have a similar capability on the iPad. So far I like the synchronisation with the desktop version of Chrome and I think that will be the key reason I will use it.
Yep, I tried it today too and reached the same conclusion. The live sync with not only the desktop but also any other devices as to what tabs you have open so you can take a page from one device and “move it” to another and the integrated bookmarks across all platforms are the key discriminator. A couple of the other iOS browsers offer some degree of cross device sync but Im not aware of any as seamless and simple as this. (eg the bookmark sync with iCloud for safari on ios is nice, but it doesn’t include live sync of current open tabs – yet)