Yandex is the popular Russian competitor to Google and offers many of the same services but specifically tailored for Russian users. They’ve now added their own dedicated browser for Android, Yandex.Browser, to the list of services they provide. The browser is what you’d expect from a mobile browsing app but has a few noteworthy features. One difference is a single search bar for URLs and searches that is located on the bottom of the screen instead of the top as in most other current browsers. This is meant to make it easier for users of Android devices with larger screens to access the search bar quickly. Those seconds of having to move your finger all the way to the top of the screen just to start a search can add up. There is also a feature called Tablo that displays a table of your most visited sites for quick access. You can of course customize which sites are in Tablo. The browser also sports a very convenient data compression feature to help pages load faster even on a slow connection. Yandex handles some of the processing ahead of time and only loads what is necessary to give you the fastest browsing experience possible.
In an interesting move, the non-Russian versions of Yandex actually use the dominant search engines for their region instead of Yandex’s own engine. For example in the English version, Yandex uses Google as the default search though you can choose to use Bing or Yahoo if you choose. This is meant to make the results more familiar to each region’s users.
Yandex.Browser is a good move for the still-growing Yandex. If you want to try a light and capable browser, check it out for free on Google Play.
Source: Yandex.Browser for Android
[Image Credit: Google Play Store]