The rise of mobile browsers

Since the rapid take off of both the iPhone and Android devices, there has been a big push to try and get websites working on mobile phones and tablet PCs.

Some people develop a completely new look or layout for the mobile market, while others aim to get their full website functioning as best they can.

A lot of websites have now successfully made working versions of their website for mobile devices. But there is a new challenge ahead which we've already come across on desktops.

4 browsers available on Android devicesI now have 4 browsers on my Android phone, and that doesn't even include the Android built in browser.

There are already noticeable differences in how a couple of these browsers handle the same websites. From what I have seen, Mobotap, the creators of Dolphin Browser, are on the right track. The browser is by far the easiest to use to manage multiple windows/tabs, and displays websites almost identically to a desktop PC (Unless presented with a specific mobile website, in which case it is of course different to a desktop).

So now, we have to not only ensure websites look and function correctly on 5 major desktop browsers, but we will soon need to check against a multitude of browsers on mobile devices.

I'm starting to believe browser developers are trying to make things difficult on purpose!

Posted on the 2nd March 2012 at 9:27pm.