This quick tip is for those who do not have OS6, and wish to improve their browser. Most current devices won’t be eligible for an OS6 upgrade because of the 512MB requirement of RAM, while most current models max out at 256MB. The WebKit browser comes with OS6, so many of us might be out of luck. We’re hoping for a WebKit build for OS5, but we’re not sure how long that is going to take. What we’re going to do is make the best of the current BlackBerry browser. Exited much?
The first step is to turn off JavaScript. This will allow you to see faster load times on pages. The more the page utilizes JavaScript, noticeably, the bigger difference you’ll see. To do this go to the browser, click menu, go into Options, then Browser Configuration. There you can uncheck the JavaScript box. You can opt to have the browser prompt you upon loading JavaScript, which seems like the ideal solution for users. Next, go back to Browser Options and select General Properties. Under the setting Image Quality, select Low (faster). This will drastically speed up certain sites. This is no problem for a cable modem connection, but on a 3G — or worse yet, EDGE — connection can be a bit slower. If you visit sites that have multiple images, I bet you’ll see a noticeable difference here.
Finally, still in General Properties, you’ll want to change the Repeat Animations setting. It defaults at 100, but you can lower it to 10, or even 1, without a noticeable difference. How much this affects your browsing speed depends much on your browsing habits. If you tend to visit a lot of sites with repeating animations, most likely you’ll see a difference.
Hopefully we won’t have to be using these tips for long, because if RIM ships out the WebKit for 5.0 users, that will be great. Any other tips you use to improve browser speed? Let us know!