Some of you may be perfectly happy using Safari as your default browser on the iPad for all your internet browsing needs, but did you know that there are other browsers available in the App Store you can use as well? Like with most software, there’s always a favorite you prefer and the same goes for browsers, whether it be Chrome, Safari, or Firefox on your computer. On the iPad, there are tons of choices and the newest one comes from Opera. Yes, Opera has had a browser on the App Store for ages (Opera Mini), but this new one called Coast is a completely new browser that rethinks how a browser should look and function.

For starters, one of the main things you will notice about Coast when you first fire it up is that there is no chrome. The app makes full use of the iPad’s screen real estate allowing full web browsing from corner to corner. There is only a tiny bar at the bottom with two buttons. One takes you back to the home screen while the other brings up “tabs” that are arranged as cards. Each new site you visit is added as a new card. Cards can be swiped left and right with a full thumbnail of the last page you were viewing on that site. Tap on a card to go back to the site or swipe the card upwards to completely close that page.

There are no bookmarks present on Coast either. Instead, your homescreen serves as the launchpad to your favorite sites with the ability to add or remove sites. If you visit a new site that isn’t listed in your favorites, it will be shown at the bottom of the screen as an icon. You can then take this icon and drag it to one of the favorites screen or you can drag it up to the top of the screen to delete it. The bottom tray also acts as a history of new sites visited.

There is only one search bar present and that is on the homesreen. No search bar is visible when on an actual site. The search bar on the homescreen allows you to search via Google while also recommending 3 possible sites you may be trying to visit. I guess you could call this an omnibar as it works for both searches and typing in full website addresses.

Coast by Opera is a very good looking browser with some very good ideas. I really appreciate the full screen viewing and it seems to display all sites accurately. The only downside is that it seems a bit slow when bringing up a site but once you’re on it, it speeds up a bit. Hopefully future updates will optimize the speeds a bit. Overall, I really like Coast. I’ll still use Safari I think as my main browser but I think Coast is a terrific backup browser. It’s free so why not try it out? You may find it perfect for your needs.

App Store Link: Coast by Opera
Version: 1.02
Developer: Opera
Price: Free
Compatible Devices: iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPad.