iCab Mobile (Web Browser)

Name: iCab Mobile (Web Browser)
Price: 2.99 USD
Rating: 3.9 (450 reviews)
Author: Alexander Clauss

Utilities

$2.99 · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad

450 Ratings
Ages

16+
Years
Category

Utilities
Developer

Alexander Clauss
Language

EN
+ 4 More
Size

46.1
MB

iCab Mobile is a web browser for iOS. iCab Mobile is customizable in almost all areas and can thus be made into your very own personal browser. PRIVACY: In private mode, no private data is saved permanently. Special private tabs increase privacy even further, with only a small loss of comfort. PROFILES/USER ACCOUNTS: Any number of profiles/user accounts can be created, with each profile having its own settings, bookmarks, etc. Profiles are suitable for an iPad that is used by the whole family, but also for users who want to separate professional and private surfing. TABS, WINDOWS: iCab Mobile can open any number of websites simultaneously in tabs. Tabs can be saved and organized in groups so that they can easily be loaded together again later. Tabs can be protected against accidental closing or overwriting. On the iPad, multiple app instances can be opened as windows (Stage Manager, Split View), even with multiple profiles simultaneously (since iOS 18). FILTERS: Filters can be used to block advertising, trackers, etc. Popular filter lists can be used directly (Easylist, AdBlock Plus, uBlock & compatible), but you can also define your own. USER INTERFACE: The user interface is freely configurable. Action, context and text selection menus, toolbars and gestures can be adapted to your own needs. ACCESSIBLE: The user interface is barrier-free and adapts to the system font size and is compatible with VoiceOver. BOOKMARKS: Bookmarks can be organized in folders. “Smart folders” create special collections based on self-defined rules (e.g. the latest bookmarks from the last 2 weeks). Colored labels allow further categorization. DOWNLOADS: Download any files and manage the files in the download manager, including unpacking/creating ZIP archives, exporting/importing, etc. SEARCH: The app offers a large list of search engines (self-expandable) that you can use to search directly on the web. It is also possible to search on the current page. WEBSITES: You can define what websites can and cannot do. Highlight important content with a highlighter, hide unwanted elements, allow buttons to be clicked automatically (e.g. for cookie messages). Control permissions for camera, microphone and sensor usage. Pro users can even inject JavaScript and CSS code into websites to customize them to their liking. EXPORT/IMPORT: All data can be exported/imported (for creating backups, data synchronization with other devices/apps) WIDGETS: Widgets allow you to control the App and open bookmarks directly from the home screen. Websites can also be displayed directly there. APPLE WATCH: Open websites directly on the Apple Watch (albeit limited). Remotely control iCab Mobile on the iPhone from the Watch. FURTHER FEATURES: - Quick starter - Configurable browser ID (UserAgent) - Full support for international domain names - Simple built-in RSS reader - Kiosk mode - a more limited version of the full-screen mode for kiosk systems. The app includes a store where you can give us a tip via InApp purchase to additionally support the further development of the app. The development of the app takes a lot of time and is a lot of work, which the low purchase price cannot cover. Te sources of income used by the big popular browsers, such as advertising, deals with search engines, tracking etc. are not an option for iCab Mobile. Tipping is completely voluntary and you won't miss out on any important features if you don't tip. However, users who tip will be given the option to change the app icon as a thank you.

Ratings & Reviews

3.9

out of 5

450 Ratings

Love it but 12.3 problem
05/15/2019

OldVMSGuy
iOS 12.3 seems to have broken the URL / search input field. When text is entered to attempt to do a Google (or whatever) search, or when entering a URL, instead the current page is searched like a “find” command. A failed “search in page” message box pops up in either case which leaves you and the browser dead in the water. You can still select from your bookmarks but that’s about it. Can’t type in anything new, unless you manually add a bookmark for a search engine or something else. I have not been able to fix this by changing anything in settings, not even “combined URL+Search Field”. This is a real show stopper with the 12.3 update.The other problem I have always had is that on older style textual “bulletin board” type forums that involve lots of hyperlinks up and down the page, iCab usually doesn’t “Go to” the right place when you click a link; in other words it goes to the wrong message which is a bit annoying. It sometimes returns to a previously visited link and in other cases seems to go some fixed percentage of the way up or down the page. So I have to do a whole bunch of manual scrolling to get to the right place and this is constantly!Even given the above, iCab is still pretty much the only browser I’ll use on iOS (but the URL field problem has to be fixed pronto!)
Love it but 12.3 problem
05/15/2019

OldVMSGuy

iOS 12.3 seems to have broken the URL / search input field. When text is entered to attempt to do a Google (or whatever) search, or when entering a URL, instead the current page is searched like a “find” command. A failed “search in page” message box pops up in either case which leaves you and the browser dead in the water. You can still select from your bookmarks but that’s about it. Can’t type in anything new, unless you manually add a bookmark for a search engine or something else. I have not been able to fix this by changing anything in settings, not even “combined URL+Search Field”. This is a real show stopper with the 12.3 update.The other problem I have always had is that on older style textual “bulletin board” type forums that involve lots of hyperlinks up and down the page, iCab usually doesn’t “Go to” the right place when you click a link; in other words it goes to the wrong message which is a bit annoying. It sometimes returns to a previously visited link and in other cases seems to go some fixed percentage of the way up or down the page. So I have to do a whole bunch of manual scrolling to get to the right place and this is constantly!Even given the above, iCab is still pretty much the only browser I’ll use on iOS (but the URL field problem has to be fixed pronto!)
How have I gone so long without this?
07/06/2024

TontoGoldstein
I’m not a Mac user, but I’ve had an iPhone since the 2nd version. I’ve tried many browsers to deal with Safari’s issues and lack of features, and I never gave this shot. Apparently it’s been around since the early days. Probably as long as the App Store has been serving up irrelevant results. That’s another issue though.I was looking for a way to keep pages from reloading while I was reading them and found a forum post recommending this. The user seemed very knowledgeable and actually said it was his default for several years. That’s when I looked at the date and realized the post was nearly 12 years old and the answer was a repost even older!I checked it out anyway and as always in the App Store- I sorted reviews my positive, critical and recent to get a picture of the current state of things. I looked at the version history to make sure it’s actively supported. And I looked for subscription requirements. I was happy to see this developer still earning praise for good work after all this time. My guess is this tool is used and developed for personal use as well.After installing, I immediately noticed many more features than are in the listing.I’m very excited to see how this works out!
How have I gone so long without this?
07/06/2024

TontoGoldstein

I’m not a Mac user, but I’ve had an iPhone since the 2nd version. I’ve tried many browsers to deal with Safari’s issues and lack of features, and I never gave this shot. Apparently it’s been around since the early days. Probably as long as the App Store has been serving up irrelevant results. That’s another issue though.I was looking for a way to keep pages from reloading while I was reading them and found a forum post recommending this. The user seemed very knowledgeable and actually said it was his default for several years. That’s when I looked at the date and realized the post was nearly 12 years old and the answer was a repost even older!I checked it out anyway and as always in the App Store- I sorted reviews my positive, critical and recent to get a picture of the current state of things. I looked at the version history to make sure it’s actively supported. And I looked for subscription requirements. I was happy to see this developer still earning praise for good work after all this time. My guess is this tool is used and developed for personal use as well.After installing, I immediately noticed many more features than are in the listing.I’m very excited to see how this works out!
Version 11 is really broken
12/20/2024

EricSF
This was my go-to web browsing app for private browsing. The user experience was awesome. The tabs worked well. And most importantly, when I switched to another app, it would hide whatever I had on screen. With the “privacy” features fully enabled, it would completely clear my history, cache, and any open web pages for ultimate privacy. But all of that is now broken. It doesn’t work at all… there is no privacy, and these key features no longer work. They should work, but they just don’t. And, the new version has several UI changes that make it much harder to use. For example, tabs are smaller now, so tapping on them is difficult. Tap-and-hold on a link, so that I can open it in a background tab, only works some times now. And trying to get a video to play (one that you have to tap on to start playing), doesn’t work most of the time either. Scrolling the playback marker in a video, by tapping and scrubbing the place in the horizontal scroll bar doesn’t scrub the video any more. Instead, it is being interpreted as a screen swipe, which causes the window to move, or to switch to another tab (which I had to disable), or to simulate pressing the back button. All in all, this version is unusable.
Version 11 is really broken
12/20/2024

EricSF

This was my go-to web browsing app for private browsing. The user experience was awesome. The tabs worked well. And most importantly, when I switched to another app, it would hide whatever I had on screen. With the “privacy” features fully enabled, it would completely clear my history, cache, and any open web pages for ultimate privacy. But all of that is now broken. It doesn’t work at all… there is no privacy, and these key features no longer work. They should work, but they just don’t. And, the new version has several UI changes that make it much harder to use. For example, tabs are smaller now, so tapping on them is difficult. Tap-and-hold on a link, so that I can open it in a background tab, only works some times now. And trying to get a video to play (one that you have to tap on to start playing), doesn’t work most of the time either. Scrolling the playback marker in a video, by tapping and scrubbing the place in the horizontal scroll bar doesn’t scrub the video any more. Instead, it is being interpreted as a screen swipe, which causes the window to move, or to switch to another tab (which I had to disable), or to simulate pressing the back button. All in all, this version is unusable.
Horrible update ruined a once great browser
Feb 8

S K Y E F L U X
icab used to be intuitive, simple, and felt focused on usability. It was a lesson on how to make a modern browser that had just the right features and users enjoyed using. The latest update tosses all that. Everything takes extra taps, from switching profiles, tap tap tap, to attempting to view or browse downloaded images. The photo viewer / slideshow was a feature of perfection, now destroyed with tiny buttons in the center bottom (you must literally set down your device and obscure the screen with your hand to tap arrows to swap between photos, as opposed to the prior right / left side of the screen tap. Oh, and Animated gifs? No longer browsable in the viewer without 'tap tap tap' to open each individually. Deleting all of your tabs randomly also seems to be a new feature. Usability is now cumbersome & feels like "work". The only good thing left is the independent download management, but even that has been updated to take more taps and generally be more difficult. icab now genuinely causes frustration and grief to use, which is sad to experience after over a decade of it being near perfection. RIP private optimized workflows, and RIP icab. If you haven't updated to 11, just don't.
Horrible update ruined a once great browser
Feb 8

S K Y E F L U X

icab used to be intuitive, simple, and felt focused on usability. It was a lesson on how to make a modern browser that had just the right features and users enjoyed using. The latest update tosses all that. Everything takes extra taps, from switching profiles, tap tap tap, to attempting to view or browse downloaded images. The photo viewer / slideshow was a feature of perfection, now destroyed with tiny buttons in the center bottom (you must literally set down your device and obscure the screen with your hand to tap arrows to swap between photos, as opposed to the prior right / left side of the screen tap. Oh, and Animated gifs? No longer browsable in the viewer without 'tap tap tap' to open each individually. Deleting all of your tabs randomly also seems to be a new feature. Usability is now cumbersome & feels like "work". The only good thing left is the independent download management, but even that has been updated to take more taps and generally be more difficult. icab now genuinely causes frustration and grief to use, which is sad to experience after over a decade of it being near perfection. RIP private optimized workflows, and RIP icab. If you haven't updated to 11, just don't.

- Under iOS 26.1, there is a new option in the user interface settings to make the background of pop-up menus/windows opaque. iOS 26.1 now generally makes pop-up windows more transparent, which can lead to readability problems in unfavorable situations. The new switch can remedy this. - There is a new option for the admin to configure newly created user profiles. The admin can specify in the user interface settings whether these profiles should be in full-screen mode (e.g., to create profiles that are to be used exclusively in full-screen mode). - On iPhones with Touch ID, the status bar can now also be hidden in full-screen mode (on Face ID devices, the status bar is always visible in the area of the “notch” or “dynamic island”). - Improved URL rewrite rules and improved module for the YouTube embedded player. The embedded player should now work more reliably. - Due to a bug in the Mac version of Safari, Safari was no longer able to import bookmarks from iCab. The new version of iCab Mobile ensures that the Mac version of Safari accepts the exported bookmarks of iCab Mobile again. - Bug fix: The gestures for exiting kiosk mode no longer worked when the app was sent to the background and reactivated while in kiosk mode. - Bug fix: When cloning user profiles, the configured search engines were not transferred. - Bug fix: Downloading/saving images from pages with invalid (but explicitly accepted) certificates did not work. - Bug fix: Deleting shared tabs did not work from within the tabs window. - Bug fix: When saving images via the context menu, the wrong image might have been saved if several images were stacked on top of each other at the corresponding position.