Amobile browser is aweb browser designed for use on amobile device such as amobile phone,PDA,smartphone, ortablet. Mobile browsers are optimized to display web content most effectively on small screens on portable devices. Some mobile browsers, especially older versions, are designed to be small and efficient to accommodate the low memory capacity and low bandwidth of certain wireless handheld devices. Traditional smallerfeature phones use stripped-down mobile web browsers; however, most current smartphones have full-fledged browsers that can handle the latest web technologies, such asCSS 3,JavaScript, andAjax.
Websites designed to be usable in mobile browsers may be collectively referred to as themobile web. Today, over 75% of websites are "mobile friendly",[citation needed] by detecting when a request comes from a mobile device and automatically creating a "mobile" version of the page, designed to fit the device's screen and be usable with a touch interface.
The mobile browser usually connects via thecellular network, or increasingly viaWireless LAN, using standardHTTP overTCP/IP and displays web pages written inHTML. Historically, early feature phones were restricted to only displaying pages specifically designed for mobile use, written inXHTML Mobile Profile (WAP 2.0), orWML (which evolved fromHDML). WML and HDML are stripped-down formats suitable for transmission across limited bandwidth, and wireless data connection calledWAP. In Japan, DoCoMo defined thei-mode service based on i-mode HTML, which is an extension of Compact HTML (C-HTML), a simple subset of HTML.
WAP 2.0 specifies XHTML Mobile Profile plus WAP CSS, subsets of the W3C's standard XHTML and CSS with minor mobile extensions.
Smartphone mobile browsers are full-featured Web browsers capable of HTML,CSS,ECMAScript, as well as mobile technologies such as WML, i-mode HTML, or cHTML.To accommodate small screens, they usePost-WIMP interfaces.
The first mobile browser for a PDA was PocketWeb[1][2] for theApple Newton created atTecO in 1994, followed by the first commercial product NetHopper released in August 1996.[3]
The so-called "microbrowser" technologies such as WAP, NTTDocomo's i-mode platform andOpenwave's HDML platform fueled the first wave of interest in wireless data services.
The first deployment of a mobile browser on a mobile phone was probably in 1997 when Unwired Planet (later to become Openwave) put their "UP.Browser" onAT&T handsets to give users access to HDML content.[4][5]
A British company,STNC Ltd., developed a mobile browser (HitchHiker) in 1997 that was intended to present the entire device UI. The demonstration platform for this mobile browser (Webwalker) had 1MIPS total processing power. This was a single core platform, running the GSM stack on the same processor as the application stack. In 1999 STNC was acquired byMicrosoft[6] and HitchHiker became Microsoft Mobile Explorer 2.0,[7] not related to the primitive Microsoft Mobile Explorer 1.0. HitchHiker is believed to be the first mobile browser with a unified rendering model, handling HTML and WAP along with ECMAScript,WMLScript,POP3 andIMAP mail in a single client. Although it was not used, it was possible to combine HTML and WAP in the same pages although this would render the pages invalid for any other device. Mobile Explorer 2.0 was available on the Benefon Q, Sony CMD-Z5, CMD-J5, CMD-MZ5, CMD-J6, CMD-Z7, CMD-J7 and CMD-J70. With the addition of a messaging kernel and a driver model, this was powerful enough to be the operating system for certain embedded devices. One such device was the Amstrade-m@iler[8] and e-m@iler 2. This code formed the basis for MME3.
Multiple companies offered browsers for the Palm OS platform. The first HTML browser for Palm OS 1.0 was HandWeb by Smartcode software, released in 1997. HandWeb included its own TCP/IP stack, and Smartcode was acquired byPalm in 1999. Mobile browsers for the Palm OS platform multiplied after the release of Palm OS 2.0, which included a TCP/IP stack. A freeware (although later shareware) browser for the Palm OS was Palmscape, written in 1998 by Kazuho Oku in Japan, who went on to foundIlinx. It was still in limited use as late as 2003.Qualcomm also developed the Eudora Web browser, and launched it with the Palm OS based QCP smartphone. ProxiWeb[9] was a proxy-based Web browsing solution, developed byIan Goldberg and others[10] at the University of California, Berkeley and later acquired by PumaTech.
Released in 2001, Mobile Explorer 3.0 added iMode compatibility (cHTML) plus numerous proprietary schemes.[11] By imaginatively combining these proprietary schemes with WAP protocols, MME3.0 implemented OTA database synchronisation,push email, push information clients (not unlike a 'Today Screen') and PIM functionality. The cancelled Sony Ericsson CMD-Z700 was to feature heavy integration with MME3.0. Although Mobile Explorer was ahead of its time in the mobile phone space, development was stopped in 2002.
Also in 2002, Palm, Inc. offered Web Pro on Tungsten PDAs based upon aNovarra browser. PalmSource offered a competing Web browser based onAccessNetFront.
Opera software pioneered with itsSmall Screen Rendering and Medium Screen Rendering technology. TheOpera web browser is able to reformat regular web pages for optimal fit on small screens and medium-sized (PDA) screens. It was also the first widely available mobile browser to supportAjax and the first mobile browser to pass theAcid2 test.
Distinct from a mobile browser is a web-based emulator, which uses a "Virtual Handset" to display WAP pages on a computer screen, implemented either in Java or as an HTML transcoder.
The following are some of the more popular mobile browsers. Some mobile browsers are really miniaturized web browsers, so some mobile device providers also provide browsers fordesktop andlaptop computers.
| Source | Date | Android Browser | Chrome | Internet Explorer | Safari | Opera Mini | UC Browser | Samsung Internet | Huawei Browser |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| StatCounter[12] | May 2022 | 1.14% | 64.23% | -- | 25.24% | 1.68% | 1.21% | 4.65% | -- |
| StatCounter[13] | June 2017 | 4.24% | 47.26% | 0.59% | 21.17% | 5.01% | 14.16% | 6.03% | 1.09% |
| StatCounter[14] | June 2015 | 15.81% | 30.67% | 1.76% | 24.64% | 10.37% | 12.95% | -- | 3.79% |
| NetApplications[15] | June 2014 | 22.77% | 16.67% | 2.01% | 47.06% | 7.82% | -- | -- | 4.69% |
| Browser | Creator | FOSS | Currentbrowser engine | Software license | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Silk | Amazon | Some | Blink | Proprietary andLGPL | Uses split architecture whereby all processing is performed on Amazon's servers |
| Huawei browser | Huawei | Some | WebKit | Proprietary andLGPL | Browser included with EMUI version 10.0 to version 14.2 and Harmony OS version 2.0 to version 4.2. |
| Android browser | Yes | WebKit | BSD andLGPL | Browser included with Android version 1.5 to version 4.1[16] | |
| BlackBerry Browser | BlackBerry | Some | Mango (ver 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 5.0) WebKit (ver 6.0+) | Proprietary andLGPL | - |
| Blazer | Palm | No | NetFront[17] | Proprietary | Installed on all newerPalm Treos and PDAs |
| Chrome | Some | WebKit,Blink (versions 28+) | Freeware under Google Chrome Terms of Service, but uses components from theChromium (web browser) project.[18] | Installed as default on Google devices shipping withAndroid versions 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or higher | |
| Clipper | Palm | No | Custom | Proprietary | Installed onPalm VII series devices, or via Palm's Mobile Internet Kit |
| Dolphin Browser | MoboTap | No | WebKit | Proprietary | Installed on allBada |
| Firefox for Mobile | Mozilla | Yes | Gecko,WebKit (iOS version only) | MPL | Currently released for Android and iOS, but default browser forFirefox OS devices (now discontinued) |
| Internet Explorer Mobile | Microsoft | No | MSHTML | Proprietary | OnWindows Phone andWindows Mobile only |
| Iris Browser | Torch Mobile | Some | WebKit | Proprietary andLGPL | Acquired byResearch in Motion - No longer supportsWindows Mobile orLinux |
| Kindle web browser | Amazon | No | NetFront | Proprietary | Labeled "experimental" |
| Microsoft Edge [Legacy] | Microsoft | No | EdgeHTML | Proprietary | OnWindows 10 Mobile |
| Myriad Browser | Myriad Group | Some | Magellan (ver. 6.x) Fugu (ver 7.x) WebKit (ver 9)[19] | Proprietary andLGPL | Acquired fromOpenwave in 2008 |
| NetFront | ACCESS | Yes | NetFront | Proprietary | - |
| Nokia Series 40 Browser | Nokia | Some | WebKit[20] | Proprietary andLGPL | |
| Openwave | Unwired Planet | No | Proprietary | Proprietary | HDML,WAP,WML |
| Opera Mini | Opera | No | Presto | Proprietary | Capable of pre-processing web pages and formatting for small screens |
| Opera Mobile | Opera | No | Presto,Blink (versions 15+) | Proprietary | Capable of reading HTML and can reformat for small screens |
| PlayStation Portable web browser | Sony | Yes | NetFront | Proprietary | - |
| Polaris Browser | Infraware Inc. | Some | Lumi (Ver. 6.x) WebKit (Ver. 7.x) | Proprietary andLGPL | Nokia, Samsung, Kyocera and other phones sold in the United States, China, South Korea, etc. |
| QQ browser | Tencent | Some | WebKit,MSHTML | Proprietary | |
| S60 web browser | Nokia | Yes | WebKit | LGPL | OnS60 phones (predominantly Nokia) |
| Safari | Apple | Some | WebKit (WebCore) | Proprietary andLGPL[21] | OniOS (iPhone,iPod Touch andiPad) |
| Skyfire Mobile Browser | Skyfire | Some | WebKit | Proprietary andLGPL | Renders Flash 10, Ajax and Silverlight content. Currently supports iOS and Android. |
| WebOS Browser | Some | WebKit | Proprietary andLGPL | The last WebOS, 3.0.5, was released on January 12, 2012 | |
| Browser | Creator | FOSS | Currentbrowser engine | Software license | Notes |
| Browser | Creator | Currentbrowser engine | Platforms | Software license | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 360 Web Browser | Digital Poke | iOS | |||
| BOLT browser | Bitstream | WebKit | Java ME,BlackBerry | Proprietary | Discontinued December 2011 |
| Brave | Brave | Blink | iOS, Android | Open-source | Privacy-focused, built on Chromium. |
| Cốc Cốc | Cốc Cốc | Blink | iOS, Android | Proprietary | |
| Cake Browser | Cake Technologies, Inc. | WebKit | iOS, Android | Swipeable mobile browser created in 2018[22] | |
| Google Chrome | Blink,V8,WebKit (iOS) | Android,iOS | Proprietary under Google Chrome Terms of Service | ||
| Chromium | Blink,V8 | Android, Linux | BSD-3 and others[23] | Primary code-base of Chrome. | |
| Classilla | Cameron Kaiser | Clecko (modifiedGecko) | Mac OS 8.6,Mac OS 9 | MPL/GPL/LGPL | Although desktop, uses a mobile user agent by default due to the older machines it services. |
| Deepfish | Microsoft | Windows Mobile | Proprietary | Proxy-rendering browser (discontinued) | |
| Dolphin Browser | MoboTap | WebKit | Android,iOS | ||
| DuckDuckGo | DuckDuckGo | Blink, WebKit (iOS) | Android, iOS | Apache 2.0 | |
| Firefox for mobile | Mozilla | Gecko,WebKit (iOS) | Android,Firefox OS (discontinued),iOS | MPL | IncludesHTML5 support,Firefox Sync,add-ons support andtabbed browsing.[24] |
| Firefox Focus/Klar | Mozilla | Gecko, WebKit (iOS) | Android, iOS | MPL 2.0 | |
| GNU IceCat | GNU Project | Gecko | Android, Linux | MPL 2.0, GPLv3+ | |
| JioSphere | Jio | WebKit, Blink | Android | Proprietary | |
| Links | Twibright Labs | PlayStation Portable | GPL | Unofficial port, requires custom firmware | |
| Mercury Browser | iLegendSoft, Inc. | Android,iOS | Proprietary | ||
| Micromax Browser | Micromax Informatics | Android | |||
| Minimo | Mozilla Foundation | Gecko | Linux,Windows CE | MPL/GPL/LGPL | Discontinued |
| NetFront | ACCESS | NetFront, WebKit | Linux,S60,BREW,Android,Windows Mobile, others | Proprietary | |
| Opera Mini | Opera | Presto | Java ME,Android,Windows Mobile,iOS,BlackBerry,S60, others | Proprietary | Supports most features of stand-alone Opera, but can run on less capable phones by offloading memory-intensive rendering to proxy server (based on Opera Mobile running on a server) |
| Opera Mobile | Opera | Presto, Blink | Android,Maemo,BREW,S60,Windows Mobile | From version 14 it is based on Chromium. | |
| Pale Moon | Moonchild Productions | Android | Proprietary | Built on Firefox code | |
| Pixo | Sun Microsystems | ||||
| QQ browser | Tencent | WebKit,MSHTML | Windows,Mac OS X,Android,iOS | Proprietary | |
| Skweezer | |||||
| Skyfire | Skyfire Labs, Inc. | WebKit (ver 2.x+),Gecko (ver 1.x) | Android,iOS | Supports Flash and Ajax. As of December 2010[update], it no longer supports Symbian OS or Windows Mobile | |
| Sleipnir | Fenrir Inc | WebKit | Android,iOS,Windows Mobile | ||
| Steel | WebKit | Android | Discontinued | ||
| Teashark | Java ME | Proprietary | |||
| Tor Browser | The Tor Project,Guardian Project | Gecko | Android, Linux | MPL 2.0 | |
| UC Browser | UC Mobile | U3 (based onWebKit) | S60,Java ME,Android,iOS,Windows Mobile,Bada | Proprietary | Proxy-rendering in Java and Symbian. U3 engine in Android. |
| Vision Mobile Browser | Novarra | Java ME,BREW | Proprietary | ||
| Vivaldi | Vivaldi Technologies | Blink, V8 | Android, Linux, iOS | BSD-3, Proprietary | |
| WinWAP | Winwap Technologies | Windows Mobile | Proprietary | ||
| Arc | The Browser Company | WebKit | iOS | Proprietary | |
| Browser | Creator | Currentbrowser engine | Platforms | Software license | Notes |
Mobile transcoders reformat and compress web content for mobile devices and must be used in conjunction with built-in or user-installed mobile browsers. The following are several leading mobiletranscoding services.
