Apple rules the mobile web despite Android's popularity says report

[kyrax12]

New data released by NetMobileShare this week says that Apple device owners are more likely to browse the web than those that own Android devices. This is in spite of Android's greater market share than iOS in the smartphone market.

In fact, iOS users browse the web a lot more than their Android counterparts. And they are doing more web browsing now than ever before, as iOS keeps gaining share of web browsing. From June 2011 to May 2012, iOS jumped from 52.4 percent share to 62 percent on NetMobileShare's network, an increase of nearly 20 percent. During the same period, Android's share grew from 14.3 percent to 19.7 percent. Android may have had a higher percentage gain than iOS, but iOS still claims three times as many web users.

Apple's dominance in the tablet market certainly contributes to this, as web browsing is a very popular activity for iPad owners. Still, there are far more smartphone owners than tablet owners in the world, so it is interesting to note the disparities between users on each platform.

NetMobileShare conducted its study based on the hits on its client's web pages over the past twelve months. NetMobileShare's network sees about 160 million visitors per month.

http://www.mobileburn.com/19761/new...share-despite-androids-popularity-says-report
I wonder if it is mostly due to the iPad users.

 

[Bateluer]

We use a unique methodology for collecting this data. We collect data from the browsers of site visitors to our exclusive on-demand network of live stats customers. The data is compiled from approximately 160 million visitors per month. The information published is an aggregate of the data from this network of hosted website statistics. The site unique visitor and referral information is summarized on a monthly, weekly, daily and hourly basis

From NetMarketShare's testing methodology. Looks like they're tracking by browser, and most mobile browsers identify as Safari? So their data's a little skewed.

Positive that iPad browsers outnumber Android tablet browers by a good margin regardless.

 

[SAWYER]

ipod touch as well

 

[mosco]

From NetMarketShare's testing methodology. Looks like they're tracking by browser, and most mobile browsers identify as Safari? So their data's a little skewed.

Positive that iPad browsers outnumber Android tablet browers by a good margin regardless.

Part of the user agent for the built in Android webkit/mobile safari browsers has the word "Android" in it. I doubt they count those as iOS.

Anyway, this isn't the first group tracking usage stats that has claimed this.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Part of the user agent for the built in Android webkit/mobile safari browsers has the word "Android" in it. I doubt they count those as iOS.

Anyway, this isn't the first group tracking usage stats that has claimed this.

Many of the past reports were before the explosion in android market share so they weren't terribly relevant.

 

[runawayprisoner]

http://www.mobileburn.com/19761/new...share-despite-androids-popularity-says-report
I wonder if it is mostly due to the iPad users.

I'm sure it might be because of the fact that... Mobile Safari is smoother and more responsive than the stock browser in 99% of Android devices in the entire world even up to this point. That translates to a better browsing experience.

But on a side note, I have finally found the HTC One X to have a stock browser that's about comparable to Mobile Safari in smoothness/responsiveness, so I can believe that the trend will soon change.

 

[SAWYER]

Dolphin is better than both

 

[zerocool84]

Dolphin is better than both

Dolphin has always been slower for me.

 

[dagamer34]

Dolphin is better than both

Better UI perhaps, but certainly not JavaScript performance on iOS (lacks JIT compiler that Mobile Safari has)

 

[runawayprisoner]

Dolphin is better than both

Dolphin is actually slower and lagger than the stock browser in the HTC One X.

I concur that Dolphin is faster on the G Nexus, though.

I guess it depends on which device you have. But really, I don't think the majority of Android users would even bother (or know) to go to the Market (Google Play) to look for a new browser if the stock browser sucks.

 

[ponyo]

iPhone did have the best browser until the release of GNex. Galaxy Nexus has the best stock mobile browser followed by One X and then iPhone 4S. Galaxy S3 is supposed to have faster and better browser than GNex though.

 

[podspi]

I always use Opera Mobile on iOS and Android, but I imagine Opera reports the correct OS in each case?

 

[ibex333]

http://www.mobileburn.com/19761/new...share-despite-androids-popularity-says-report
I wonder if it is mostly due to the iPad users.

Dont want to start a flame war, but I just want to voice my opinion...


No, it's NOT just due to the iPad users. As a convert from Android to iOS I can see why this is the case. Lets face it. iOS simply has more useful apps, more games, and more apps in general as opposed to Android and Windows Phone OS.

I know people will argue saying that they have all the apps they need on their android phone, but see, THIS IS NOT THE POINT. The point is, iOS has MORE apps, and games than Android, and FOR ME, PERSONALLY, that is very important.

Call me a fanboy or whatever, but I see the fact that Android doesnt have Infinity Blade as a huge problem. Why in the hell should I settle for less, when I can have more?

Yeah, yeah, Android may have more customization, etc etc... Who cares? It all gets old after a short while. Cyanogen Mod? Yeah.. Whatever. I have a Jailbroken 4S.

Small screen on my iPhone? Ok.. but it still has a much higher contrast than a Galaxy II S.

Best things is, the iPhone NEVER, EVER has any issues or problems whatsoever! It will never freeze, reboot, slow down, (even for a sec). It is visible in sunlight...

Virtually all games perform, and look better on an iPhone. And again, there is by far more of them on iOS, with even more coming! Android devices... with their Tegra 2 and 3.. and Ice Cream Sandwich... BUT WHERE THE HELL IS THE SOFTWARE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THIS?! Where are the new amazing PC like games... Apps, etc? I am still waiting to see an Infinity Blade like game on Android. Oh wait.. I am sorry.. There are none!

And what about fighting games? Street Fighter IV Volt? King of Fighters? Marvel vs Capcom? Might not be important for you, but important for me!


And dont even get me started about the camera. It's miles better than anything on Android. And with it's apps, yet even better. The iPhone camera has become a complete replacement for my camera. I sold my SLR and I never use my point and shoot. sure it's lacking in features, but most of the time, I was taking very simple pictures anyway... I care a lot more about taking that great shot quickly, easily and efficiently than messing around with bells and whistles and miss the opportunity. I saw pictures from Galaxy II S and the iPhones pictures are much, much better.

SD card? dont miss it at all. Most of the time I will never find myself going above 16 GB anyway.

When people say that iPhone is more popular because of the braindead masses of Apple zombie drones buying their products simply for looks and popularity, they are just saying that to make themselves feel better. The fact is, people buy the iPhone and the iPad because these products are vastly superior (usefullness wise) compared to Android and Windows offerings.

If that ever changes, I'll be glad to buy an Android device again.

 

[Oyeve]

Nm

 

[titan131]

The iPhone is nice, but it has limitations that android doesn't. What I get from your post ibex is that the iPhone is the best option for YOU and that's fine. For one thing many Android phones are relatively cheap compared to iPhones. Also screen real estate is very important to some as is a SD card slot and removable battery. I personally don't give a monkeys about games, and my android phone does everything I want a phone to do and it was cheaper than any iPhone, it also has a bigger screen which makes typing easier.

All of the iPhones limitations are self inflicted, they could give us more options e.g. bigger screen, SD slot, they could even create a razr maxx style option. Is the iPhone ecosystem better than androids? I think so and its UI is smoother and it gets better battery. They're good, no doubt, but they're not for everybody.

Also there's customation to consider, but I don't really care about that but some obviously do.

 

[Skurge]

Dont want to start a flame war, but I just want to voice my opinion...


No, it's NOT just due to the iPad users. As a convert from Android to iOS I can see why this is the case. Lets face it. iOS simply has more useful apps, more games, and more apps in general as opposed to Android and Windows Phone OS.

I know people will argue saying that they have all the apps they need on their android phone, but see, THIS IS NOT THE POINT. The point is, iOS has MORE apps, and games than Android, and FOR ME, PERSONALLY, that is very important.

Call me a fanboy or whatever, but I see the fact that Android doesnt have Infinity Blade as a huge problem. Why in the hell should I settle for less, when I can have more?

Yeah, yeah, Android may have more customization, etc etc... Who cares? It all gets old after a short while. Cyanogen Mod? Yeah.. Whatever. I have a Jailbroken 4S.

Small screen on my iPhone? Ok.. but it still has a much higher contrast than a Galaxy II S.

Best things is, the iPhone NEVER, EVER has any issues or problems whatsoever! It will never freeze, reboot, slow down, (even for a sec). It is visible in sunlight...

Virtually all games perform, and look better on an iPhone. And again, there is by far more of them on iOS, with even more coming! Android devices... with their Tegra 2 and 3.. and Ice Cream Sandwich... BUT WHERE THE HELL IS THE SOFTWARE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THIS?! Where are the new amazing PC like games... Apps, etc? I am still waiting to see an Infinity Blade like game on Android. Oh wait.. I am sorry.. There are none!

And what about fighting games? Street Fighter IV Volt? King of Fighters? Marvel vs Capcom? Might not be important for you, but important for me!


And dont even get me started about the camera. It's miles better than anything on Android. And with it's apps, yet even better. The iPhone camera has become a complete replacement for my camera. I sold my SLR and I never use my point and shoot. sure it's lacking in features, but most of the time, I was taking very simple pictures anyway... I care a lot more about taking that great shot quickly, easily and efficiently than messing around with bells and whistles and miss the opportunity. I saw pictures from Galaxy II S and the iPhones pictures are much, much better.

SD card? dont miss it at all. Most of the time I will never find myself going above 16 GB anyway.

When people say that iPhone is more popular because of the braindead masses of Apple zombie drones buying their products simply for looks and popularity, they are just saying that to make themselves feel better. The fact is, people buy the iPhone and the iPad because these products are vastly superior (usefullness wise) compared to Android and Windows offerings.

If that ever changes, I'll be glad to buy an Android device again.

Most of the complaints you have with android are phone specific. I could say the same if I compared an Iphone 3GS to a Galaxy S3 or One X. You dismiss the advantages android has as "whatever" and push the iOS advantages.

My company ONLY sells iphones and we have a ton of issues with the iphone 4 and 4s. We have had so many iphones , die, have wifi issues, 3G issues, speaker issues, microphone issues, reboots, signal issues and problems reading the sim card. iOS has it's advantages, but to say it's flat out better than android is pure BS.

Also, sounds to me like you aren't a real photographer is you replaced your DSLR with an iphone.

As for games, I'm enjoying Zelda and Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 on my Galaxy S at 60FPS

 

[podspi]

Best things is, the iPhone NEVER, EVER has any issues or problems whatsoever! It will never freeze, reboot, slow down, (even for a sec). It is visible in sunlight...

Apple makes some great products, but I'm sick of people propagating the myth that Apple products never have issues.

Focusing on just iOS devices (otherwise we will veer OT), my iPod touch froze while UNLOCKING yesterday. The unlock screen was dimmed, everything else was working (I could still access the music controls by holding down the err... button), but it would not unlock. I had to hard reset it (which then took forever).

Overall, the device has been good and I agree that iOS provides a smoother experience than Android with lower hardware specs, but to claim iOS does not freeze, reboot, or ever slow down is just false. If you honestly have never had an issue, congratulations (you are very lucky), but in both my personal experience and anecdotal experiences told to me, iOS is not perfect.

Heck, when I purchased my D4 the guy next to me had an iPad he couldn't get to sync with his email for anything. The Verizon tech couldn't figure it out either, so he sent him to Apple...

 

[Eug]

It will be interesting going forward, because browsing on previous Android phones sucked IMO, which is why I think mobile browsing traffic in the iPhone 4 era favoured iOS so much.

Oh and yes, iPhones do freeze, etc. but overall I find the serious glitch rate pretty low.

 

[titan131]

It will be interesting going forward, because browsing on previous Android phones sucked IMO, which is why I think mobile browsing traffic in the iPhone 4 era favoured iOS so much.

Oh and yes, iPhones do freeze, etc. but overall I find the serious glitch rate pretty low.

I posted my previous comment using my android phone, as I am this one, and it was a lag fest and the reason I didn't quote ibex is because I didn't want to quote his entire post but trying to edit it down defeated me cuz it wouldn't let me scroll down to the bit I wanted, does stuff like that on a lot of websites and now everytime I move the screen to the left to see what I wrote it centers it and moves it to the right almost instantly so I can't see what l've written (I'm in portrait). When I said my phone does everything I want a phone to do I think I was being a little generous upon reflection.

Edit: my phone is a nexus s on 2.3.6 so it's quite old, I'm sure the latest Android phones r better.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Dont want to start a flame war, but I just want to voice my opinion...


No, it's NOT just due to the iPad users. As a convert from Android to iOS I can see why this is the case. Lets face it. iOS simply has more useful apps, more games, and more apps in general as opposed to Android and Windows Phone OS.

I know people will argue saying that they have all the apps they need on their android phone, but see, THIS IS NOT THE POINT. The point is, iOS has MORE apps, and games than Android, and FOR ME, PERSONALLY, that is very important.

Call me a fanboy or whatever, but I see the fact that Android doesnt have Infinity Blade as a huge problem. Why in the hell should I settle for less, when I can have more?

Yeah, yeah, Android may have more customization, etc etc... Who cares? It all gets old after a short while. Cyanogen Mod? Yeah.. Whatever. I have a Jailbroken 4S.

Small screen on my iPhone? Ok.. but it still has a much higher contrast than a Galaxy II S.

Best things is, the iPhone NEVER, EVER has any issues or problems whatsoever! It will never freeze, reboot, slow down, (even for a sec). It is visible in sunlight...

Virtually all games perform, and look better on an iPhone. And again, there is by far more of them on iOS, with even more coming! Android devices... with their Tegra 2 and 3.. and Ice Cream Sandwich... BUT WHERE THE HELL IS THE SOFTWARE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THIS?! Where are the new amazing PC like games... Apps, etc? I am still waiting to see an Infinity Blade like game on Android. Oh wait.. I am sorry.. There are none!

And what about fighting games? Street Fighter IV Volt? King of Fighters? Marvel vs Capcom? Might not be important for you, but important for me!


And dont even get me started about the camera. It's miles better than anything on Android. And with it's apps, yet even better. The iPhone camera has become a complete replacement for my camera. I sold my SLR and I never use my point and shoot. sure it's lacking in features, but most of the time, I was taking very simple pictures anyway... I care a lot more about taking that great shot quickly, easily and efficiently than messing around with bells and whistles and miss the opportunity. I saw pictures from Galaxy II S and the iPhones pictures are much, much better.

SD card? dont miss it at all. Most of the time I will never find myself going above 16 GB anyway.

When people say that iPhone is more popular because of the braindead masses of Apple zombie drones buying their products simply for looks and popularity, they are just saying that to make themselves feel better. The fact is, people buy the iPhone and the iPad because these products are vastly superior (usefullness wise) compared to Android and Windows offerings.

If that ever changes, I'll be glad to buy an Android device again.

Actually the contrast on an iPhone blows compared to a Galaxy S2, the Samsung literally has infinite contrast.

Several Sony phones and the Galaxy S3 have the same camera as the 4s and some consider the One X to have an even better one.

I am fine not having Infinity Blade, I found it to be very boring anyways.

I posted this from a Galaxy S2 Btw.

 

[kyrax12]

Actually the contrast on an iPhone blows compared to a Galaxy S2, the Samsung literally has infinite contrast.

Several Sony phones and the Galaxy S3 have the same camera as the 4s and some consider the One X to have an even better one.

I am fine not having Infinity Blade, I found it to be very boring anyways.

I posted this from a Galaxy S2 Btw.

The Samsung Galaxy s2's horrid resolution makes reading text very hard compared to the iPhone.

 

[dagamer34]

Considering the percentage of Android phones sold in the US (over 50%) vs iPhones (30%), you'd think that a) web stats would reflect more browsing on Android devices and b) Android app sales would be more equivalent to iOS.

My guess is that while people "buy" Android smartphones, they treat them as feature phones and never really connect them to the Internet. If that's the case, then Google gets zero benefit from them.

 

[Eug]

Yeah I agree. However, one of the reasons I think people treated Android phones before 2012 as so-called feature phones is because their browser experience sucked. With newer phones with ICS and faster CPUs, things are changing. I suspect that going forward, a lot more people will be using their Android phones to browse the net.

Not many people predicted that the consumer Linux distribution wouldn't actually be Linux-on-the-desktop, but instead would be a smartphone OS. Unfortunately, some of the inconsistencies and usability issues in design that plagued Linux-on-the-desktop still existed in Android. It's much improved in 2012, but it's unfortunate that it's taken this long for Android to overcome a lot of these issues.

BTW, I wonder how much of this was accomplished by brute force - CPU speed - vs. OS efficiency and design. While both have improved, my suspicion is a lot of it has to do with the former rather than the latter. But then again, the same is true to an extent on iOS. I find the iPhone 4 very slow now, and despite the efficient iOS, it's just not good enough anymore. My wife will be happy to take my iPhone 4 when I upgrade though, as she's coming from the now utterly painful (IMO) iPhone 3G.

 

[ITHURTSWHENIP]

There is no "best" device, only the best for ones personal needs. I never cared about flashing roms or the need to sideload stuff on my S2. I do miss the bigger screen and emulators. I was also surprised going back to iOS that not all apps are better looking on that platform. Evernote, Dropbox and Whatsapp are superior on Android imo as an example

With that said. Iphone has way more accessories and loyalty from developers. I bought Plants vs Zombies last year but the game broke when Galaxy S2 got updated to ICS. Its kind of annoying to not be able to play a game you bought and paid for with no update in sight for 2 months and counting (not sure if they finally patched it or not).

 

[dguy6789]

Best things is, the iPhone NEVER, EVER has any issues or problems whatsoever! It will never freeze, reboot, slow down, (even for a sec).

That is false. It does freeze, apps crash, and it definitely lags from time to time.