Since its launch, Apple's iPhone has occupied the imaginations of adult producers and developers, who see it as a next-generation platform for content delivery. Outside adult, the device enjoys widespread popularity, though it has its detractors.
One of the primary criticisms levied against the device is its inability to switch between programs. Users must close out one program and open another, although the iPhone does save the users' last activities in most apps. By contrast, Google's Android mobile operating system offers program switching.
Also at issue with the iPhone is its limited web browsing capabilities. Up until January, Apple prevented any iPhone developers from building competing web browsing applications for the device. That meant that the vast majority of iPhone users had to rely on Apple's Safari browser, which comes bundled with the device and offers no tabbed browsing functionality.
But a new iPhone web browser called NightGlow offers tabbed browsing and a host of other features. NightGlow users can open up multiple web pages and toggle through them by tapping simple icons at the top of the display screen. Users can open a maximum of four windows.
The browser also lets users adjust the brightness of the screen without closing the browser. In addition, users can scroll through a web page even while the iPhone's keyboard is activated.
But here's the problem: NightGlow uses a lot of juice.
"But with this speed there’s a downside: Overall system speed," wrote tech critic MG Siegler for TechCrunch.com. "Nightglow is a resource hog."
Siegler said that while testing NightGlow, he's encountered warning messages from the iPhone's OS. The only other apps that have triggered such warnings have been elaborate games SimCity, he said.
NightGlow will cost 99 cents during an introductory period, after which the price will jump to $2.99.