Frequently Asked Questions

Skyfire, a free downloadable browser, is the industry's only mobile browser that delivers both the speed and media-rich experience similar to the PC browser. It breaks through the consumer pain points that stifle internet consumption on mobile phones by providing access to any web site built with any web technology at speeds comparable to a typical PC. To learn more click here.

Skyfire was founded in April 2006 by Nitin Bhandari and Erik Swenson, who serve as CEO and CTO respectively. Skyfire is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Trinity Ventures and has raised $17.8 million in total funding. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif. Previously, the company was in stealth mode as DVC Labs.

It's not about the browser, it's about the browsing. The web on your PC is not just static HTML anymore. Unlike many other popular mobile browsers, Skyfire supports all the modern web technologies so users can watch any web video, listen to any web music, stay connected on any social network, and browse anything they want without delays, missing content or error messages. Skyfire provides predictable access, speed, and a user experience designed to delight mobile users.

Skyfire supports the same web technologies that PC browsers support, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, Ajax, QuickTime, Java, Windows Media, and more.

Skyfire supports embedded Flash, QuickTime, Windows Media and more. With each new release we are expanding the pool of video applications that Skyfire supports.

Currently, we have no plans of charging for Skyfire. It's a free-to-download-and-use browser for our beta users.

Skyfire's proprietary technology enables us to support the real web both now and in the future as new web technologies are implemented. We have created a brand new architecture that's server assisted. It's an asymmetric distributed approach where the server does the heavy lifting so the client is high performing.

The only way we can tell you this is if you join our team. We're hiring bright, passionate folks who want to completely change the way the Internet works on mobile phones. Click here to look up our open positions.

Blackberry: We are currently investigating support for Blackberry, but it's not on our immediate roadmap.

Apple iPhone: Waiting for a call from Steve...

Palm OS phones like Treo: Palm OS phones aren't supported, but Windows Mobile phones offered by Palm, like certain Treo models, are fully supported.

PDAs with Wi-Fi: Currently, we only support mobile phones. PDAs without a phone number associated to them will not work with Skyfire for now.

Yes, Windows Mobile phones with Wi-Fi are fully supported.

Phones with VGA displays (640 x 480 resolution), will not work with the current beta. We support a maximum resolution of 320 x 320 pixels.

Currently we are limiting Skyfire beta to mobile users in United States. If you reside outside the U.S., please sign-up for the beta and we'll notify you as soon as we support international carriers.

Please sign up for our private beta program on our website. You can now sign up for Windows Mobile Beta 2 or the S60 3^rd Edition (Nokia N-Series and E-series phones) Beta We will notify you by email and SMS as soon as the beta programs begin later this year. If you have a phone other than a windows Mobile or S60 phone, or live outside the U.S., please do sign up and we will notify you when your phone is supported in your area.

We appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm for Skyfire and we are working hard to get everyone into our beta programs as quickly as possible. To be fair to all of our registered users, we can not allow any additional people into Beta 1. We are inviting people to download Skyfire on a first signed up, first invited basis. There has been a lot of demand for Skyfire and we want to make sure that we are fair to everyone.

To change your phone: If your new phone still has the Windows operating system then no action is necessary.

To change your phone number: Please email Skyfire at info@skyfire.com and list your previous phone number as well as your new phone number and we will update your registration.

Neither of these instances has any effect on where you are in line to get the invite to download Skyfire.

Your email address is linked to the date and time that you registered for our Beta programs. We are unable to change your email address without erasing the initial email address that you registered with and that would effectively move your registration to the bottom of the list.

If you are using a spam blocker program, please add info or feedback@skyfire.com into your white list. We are responding to all your inquiries as quickly as we can, however, we need your assistance so our messages will reach you.

The purpose of the initial SMS is to verify that your phone can receive an SMS from Skyfire. This SMS has no impact on your registration. You are in the beta queue based on the date and time you registered on our website. Even if you did not receive this initial SMS, you will still receive both an email and an SMS when space has become available and you are invited to download the beta.

We tackled some of your most requested features and bug fixes. Here are the highlights:

• Multi-line text entry (2,000 character limit)
• Auto-complete text entry
• Paste into URL or search
• Ability to delete bookmarks
• Multiple zoom modes for touch screen phones
• Double tap to Zoom In and Zoom Out
• Support for custom virtual keyboards (SIP)
• Web search shortcut in softkey menu
• Access to the Windows Mobile Taskbar in softkey menu
• Persistent settings for SmartFit, Mute and Zoom size
• Support for 12-key and ½ QWERTY devices
• Password masking
• Backlight usage based on system settings
• OK button sends Skyfire to the background

During our beta phase as we continue to build and improve our infrastructure, this could happen once in awhile. If you wait and try to connect again, you should be able to get back on Skyfire.

1. Confirm that you are using the current beta release of Skyfire. You want to be on Skyfire Version: 0.60.4503. If you were using Skyfire 0.5 or 0.55 and didn’t upgrade to Skyfire 0.6, you will need upgrade. To install the 0.6 upgrade after the older release expired, please follow the directions described in this FAQ.

   If you can launch Skyfire, you can find the release by going to Menu and select “Actions.” From Actions, you can select “About” and it will display the version of Skyfire installed on your phone. You want to be on Skyfire Version: 0.60.4503.

2. Confirm that the proxy settings in your data connection are turned off. To find out how to do this, please read the QA below.

If your proxy settings are on, they are blocking the port for Skyfire to connect to the internet.

Here are instructions on how to turn off the proxy:

• Go to Settings, then to the Connections tab
• Connections > Advanced > Select Networks
• Under "Programs that automatically connect to the Internet, should connect using"
• Select
• • MediaNet for AT&T users
  • T-Mobile Data for T-Mobile users
  • Sprint – MyISP – PowerVision
  • Verizon – MyISP – Broadband Access

In Proxy Settings, make sure to UNCHECK: "This network connects to the internet" and "This network uses a proxy server to connect to the internet" If you are a Sprint or Verizon customer who is using “My Work Network,” make sure to UNCHECK usage of the Proxy server. If you are an AT&T customer, you may want to refer to AT&T support to configure your connection settings so they bypass the AT&T proxy.

T-Mobile customers, please note that several people using T-Mobile’s limited t-zones data plans have reported issues connecting to the network. Based on the forums, the limited t-zones plans only allow WAP web access, and only allow connections through port 80. Since Skyfire renders full websites and uses additional ports, you cannot connect using this limited plan. (Sometimes this limited T-Mobile plan is referred to as the “$5.99 plan”.) You may use your wifi connection to connect Skyfire to the internet. With the unlimited T-Mobile Total Internet plan, you can access the internet through Skyfire.

If you didn’t upgrade before May 7, when you launch Skyfire, you will get a “lost network connection” error message. You will need to download the Skyfire 0.6 release from our website. You can login to your Skyfire account and select “Download” to either “Send SMS with Link” or “Download to My PC.”

Any cookies and bookmarks in your Skyfire application on April 29th will migrate to your 0.6 Skyfire upgrade. Any bookmarks or cookies created between April 30th and the time that you upgrade to Skyfire 0.6 will be lost, we apologize for the inconvenience.

The issue that caused Skyfire 0.6 to randomly crash has been resolved in Skyfire 0.6 Build 4503. Please download this new release to replace your current Skyfire Beta 0.6 Build 4489. You can login into your account and send an SMS with the download link, or download it via your PC. Either way, you will get Build 4503 and it will resolve the problem.

Within Skyfire, you can go to the Menu and select “Actions”.From Actions, you can select “About” and it will display the version of Skyfire installed on your phone. You want to be on Skyfire Version: 0.60.4503.