Is Cake, the Swiping Internet Browser for Your Phone, an Effective Tool?

If you’ve been on YouTube recently (and still watch commercials) then you may have run into Cake, the phone app that changes the way you use the internet.

It replaces the classic search result style you’ve begrudgingly grown accustomed to on your phone with fast-loading pages that you swipe left or right to navigate. Simply put, it changes the way you scroll from up-down, page 1, 2, 3, etc., to left-right. While that sounds too simple to do anything for you, a lot changes in your everyday phone use.

After a couple months of use, here’s what I think about Cake:

Pros

• Phone-oriented. You don’t have click on a result, read it, decide it’s not helpful and click back to the results list. That’s too many steps to do on a small phone screen with your finger. The majority of internet traffic is mobile; changing pages by clicking is not the world anymore. By allowing you to swipe through your results pre-loaded, you can work quicker to find the resource you needed.

• Customizable. You can pick your own browser base (e.g., Google, Bing, etc.), which selects a specific algorithm when loading which type of results first, such as by relevancy, popularity or webcrawling. After you get use to the functions, you can customize it further to what you want to see. Also, the classic results list is still there if you swipe left. If you need the list to find a certain website or if you can’t deal with the swiping, it’s still there and is fully functional.

• Time-saver. You don’t have to wait anymore for the pages to load. Cake has multiple pages load at once and brings the finished pages to you first, meaning you don’t have choose an option, then wait for it to load. It happens in the background.

Cons

• Limitations. There aren’t enough browser base choices. Yeah, it gives you the main ones, but most browsers have chosen algorithms. If you don’t use one of the ones listed, you may have to do some research on how the search results are shown. Since the results appear in order of loading speed, this can also affect the search results, meaning you’ll have some variations in that algorithm. While you can filter your results by date on the main search page, doing so doesn’t permit swiping through results for that particular search.

• Higher data use. If multiple pages are loading whether you need them or not, you can expect additional data use. Keep in mind if you don’t have access to wi-fi often, you may have to limit your use or up your data plan.

• You remember how annoying the world can be. If you use the internet all the time, you know that some sites are rampant with mid-scroll pop-ups and sudden URL redirects to pages try to trick you with fake prizes. Those of us who have become internet-savvy typically avoid 90% if these by skipping over the clickbait search results we recognize as culprits. With Cake, your once again subject to pop-ups and unexpected redirects, only you can’t side-step them so easily. Since the pages autoload in Cake and you swipe through them, you may find this side of the internet will appear more often. Eventually, however, you can pick-up modified avoidance habits with some practice (e.g., fast swiping).

Conclusion

While I use it on my breaks to swipe through pop culture topics and news, I haven’t made it my go-to internet source. I feel this is subjective, though, because I’m a heavy internet user and typically need specific sources and multiple browser types for research (which is generally time-filtered); I know enough about the internet to know Cake is fun and efficient, but not yet an “end all, be all” app, and not something that can use for professional projects. However, you’re more of a curious internet user just perusing topics, you will definitely enjoy this.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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