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

[Zaap]

Haven't I seen this thread about a gazilion times already? Had to check the date to be sure it wasn't zombie.

Anyway, I don't get the big deal with this. I notice that when surfing the web with my Nook Tablet it's often misidentified by sites as an iPad. Occasionally I get similar with my Droid, sites acting as if I'm using an iPhone. Checking my own stat counter, our household's iPod touches ALWAYS show up on my own sites as iPhones.

So if even if these stats aren't counting false hits but are counting every iPod Touch on the web (And they do just list iOS) then I don't even see what the big deal is. OF COURSE every single iOS device is going to outnumber currently owned and used Android devices. So what?

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

Heh. I'm going to show this quote to my wife so she can get a good chuckle. Lately she's been complaining about her iPhone being flaky at times more and more. We're just about to head off to Europe where she's counting on posting to WordPress with her iPhone, and the 3.0 version of the app is hopelessly broken. No word from the developer when they'll release 3.0.1 to fix it. And no other app on iOS that I can find that will post to a .htaccess protected site. The selection every time I really NEED something on iOS isn't nearly as wonderful as I'm constantly told. I'll look for something I really NEED to get done- like WordPress in this case, and be greeted to a list of no-star/2-3 star apps and most of it pure junk, and PAID pure junk at that.

Not saying that iOS sucks, just I get sick of hearing how it's this mythical never-failing golden-egg-laying goose of an OS. It has it's strengths, of course, but it's not always the greatest thing in the tech universe.

 

[Eug]

So if even if these stats aren't counting false hits but are counting every iPod Touch on the web (And they do just list iOS) then I don't even see what the big deal is. OF COURSE every single iOS device is going to outnumber currently owned and used Android devices. So what?

It's pretty obvious. Google isn't leveraging Android as much as it should.

Android is a profitable venture for Google through indirect advertising revenue. However, it's not as profitable for them as it should be, because not enough people are using Android as Google wants. Google needs to ensure the browsing process (among other things) on Android is top notch if it wants to make more money off of it. More browsing on Android equals more profit per Android user.

Things are changing in 2012, but a lot of that has to do with the ARM CPU designers rather than the OS and app designers alone.

 

[WelshBloke]

The iPhones horrid screen size makes reading text very hard compared to the Samsung Galaxy s2.

Its personal preference really.

 

[Zaap]

It's pretty obvious. Google isn't leveraging Android as much as it should.

Are they?

NetMobileShare conducted its study based on the hits on its client's web pages over the past twelve months.

Does anyone ever REALLY look into these things? If I based some real world stat on hits to my own web pages, I would conclude that the vast majority of people use iPhones, because that's what shows up even when it's an iPod Touch,or sometimes even a Nook Tablet.

What reliability does anyone have in the accuracy of "NetMobileShare's clients" as the authority on this? And what sites? Counting what traffic and from where?

Again, it's not a big deal, but certainly before I made great sweeping pronouncements about Google's fate or how wonderful iOS is, I'd want to know these answers for sure.

 

[zerocool84]

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

That's why you can choose an Android phone with high resolution.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

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

The iPhone's horrid screen size makes doing anything with it hard for me but that's beside the point.

If you care that much about DPI why did you buy an S2? There are Android phones out there that offer both higher DPI and higher resolution than the iPhone 4S. To be honest using screen quality as a selling point for the iPhone is downright funny seeing as the One X's SLCD2 screen puts the Retina display to shame across the board.

 

[ponyo]

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S browser test

Galaxy Nexus on this test is running 4.0. Browser is even faster and better on current 4.0.4.

iOS and iPhone no longer has the best browser. iOS users who believe iPhone has better browser than Android is living in the past. Galaxy Nexus surpassed iP4S last November. GNex has faster browser and browsing experience is simply better than the iPhone due to the larger size and 720p resolution which allows you to see more of the web pages. Android also has Flash and it's very usable on GNex.

 

[QueBert]

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S browser test

Galaxy Nexus on this test is running 4.0. Browser is even faster and better on current 4.0.4.

iOS and iPhone no longer has the best browser. iOS users who believe iPhone has better browser than Android is living in the past. Galaxy Nexus surpassed iP4S last November. GNex has faster browser and browsing experience is simply better than the iPhone due to the larger size and 720p resolution which allows you to see more of the web pages. Android also has Flash and it's very usable on GNex.

Most web sites I read have white backgrounds, Gnex has god awful whites. 720p's fine and all, but how can you say a browser experience is simply better when the whites don't even look white? That would annoy me more than any screen size or resolution difference. But that's just me. Now the One X browser is pretty damn good, but I'd take Safari on the iP4 over the Gnex any day of the week.

 

[ponyo]

Most web sites I read have white backgrounds, Gnex has god awful whites. 720p's fine and all, but how can you say a browser experience is simply better when the whites don't even look white? That would annoy me more than any screen size or resolution difference. But that's just me. Now the One X browser is pretty damn good, but I'd take Safari on the iP4 over the Gnex any day of the week.

I guess S-AMOLED whites don't bother you that much since you bought the Note. You traded One X for the Note. You're closeted Amoled lover, admit it. Just like you're closeted Android lover.

 

[QueBert]

I guess S-AMOLED whites don't bother you that much since you bought the Note. You traded One X for the Note. You're closeted Amoled lover, admit it. Just like you're closeted Android lover.

The inverted AOSP apps fix the white problem by making the main system app's black with a dark gray text. Not as easy on the eyes to read as white background with black text, but it does rid the phone of AMOLED's piss poor rendering of anything white.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S browser test

Galaxy Nexus on this test is running 4.0. Browser is even faster and better on current 4.0.4.

iOS and iPhone no longer has the best browser. iOS users who believe iPhone has better browser than Android is living in the past. Galaxy Nexus surpassed iP4S last November. GNex has faster browser and browsing experience is simply better than the iPhone due to the larger size and 720p resolution which allows you to see more of the web pages. Android also has Flash and it's very usable on GNex.

Web browsing is not all about how fast a webpage loads. Want to load a fast website? My netbook loads any website faster than either the iPhone or G Nex, but obviously it won't "scroll" or "pan" around the same website as smooth or responsive as the iPhone or G Nex, and that's the whole point.

iPhone is smoother and more responsive than G Nex when it comes to scrolling and panning around. That's on any random website, with or without Flash.

The G Nex, with any browser I have tested (that includes Dolphin, Firefox, Opera Mobile, Opera Mini, and the stock browser) always feel less responsive and less smooth than the iPhone. And I have also tested that with overclocking kernels (like Franco's) as well.

The HTC One X, which I have now, has improved on that by a huge margin, but given that it's a 1.5GHz quad-core phone, I guess it's a given that the phone should perform well. But also... the HTC One X is one of the current flagships. Perhaps next year will change the story, but I don't think... any Android device prior to the HTC One X was able to measure up to iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad web browsing.

 

[ponyo]

Web browsing is not all about how fast a webpage loads. Want to load a fast website? My netbook loads any website faster than either the iPhone or G Nex, but obviously it won't "scroll" or "pan" around the same website as smooth or responsive as the iPhone or G Nex, and that's the whole point.

iPhone is smoother and more responsive than G Nex when it comes to scrolling and panning around. That's on any random website, with or without Flash.

Likewise smoothness is not the only thing that matters. Android is not as smooth as iOS but is faster. Same with web browsing. The video shows GNex browser is slightly less smooth than the 4s. But as the reviewer said, it's minor and overall browser experience so good on GNex it doesn't really matter. It's nitpicking at best.

Web browsing is better on the GNex.

 

[Ime]

I just wanted to say something as an Android -> iPhone convert.

For me, it's not so much what OS the phone is running, as it is the hardware of the phone itself. My old Tmobile MyTouch 3G ran great on Android 1.6, until Tmobile pushed the 2.x update to it, then it ran slow and crashed often, even after a factory reset. The battery life was also terrible. It wouldn't go a single day without the battery dying, even if I did nothing with it.

I went to iPhone because my wife did, and I feel my iPhone 4s runs about as fast (as far as apps opening and closing) and my MyTouch 3G did under Android 1.6. It also has excellent battery life. I've had it go 4 days without a charge with light usage, 2 days with moderate usage. It's not perfect though, for one then I still miss the Google integration with Android (I have my whole life in Google it seems). Don't even get me started on how much I miss Google Navigation.

I've talked to others using new android's though and they have battery life in the 2 day range as well with moderate usage. Samsung's seem to be pretty popular in that regard.

My wife's sticking with iPhone forever I think. She's addicted to iTunes. I myself will be taking another close look at Android in another 16 months, and may switch back.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Likewise smoothness is not the only thing that matters. Android is not as smooth as iOS but is faster. Same with web browsing. The video shows GNex browser is slightly less smooth than the 4s. But as the reviewer said, it's minor and overall browser experience so good on GNex it doesn't really matter. It's nitpicking at best.

Web browsing is better on the GNex.

Well, web browsing better on the GNex is more of your opinion than a fact, I think. The fact, as shown by mobile web data over and over, is that people still prefer smoothness over "fast".

The problem is that... regardless of how "fast" a phone can render a website, if it's on slow 3G network, it doesn't matter. If it's on WIFI, then sure, the GNex can be marginally faster than the iPhone 4 or 4S, but does it matter at all when the whole website is loaded and the browsing experience (panning, zooming around) is totally charred as the phone drags its feet trying to follow your command?

It only gets worse with Flash on.

I know this for FACT because I have owned and used the GNex alongside an iPhone. The browsing experience simply isn't better unless you absolutely need Flash playback for certain websites, but even then, it's not a pleasant experience.

And I know it can get better because I have seen it get marginally better with the HTC One X.

 

[ponyo]

Well, web browsing better on the GNex is more of your opinion than a fact, I think. The fact, as shown by mobile web data over and over, is that people still prefer smoothness over "fast".

The problem is that... regardless of how "fast" a phone can render a website, if it's on slow 3G network, it doesn't matter. If it's on WIFI, then sure, the GNex can be marginally faster than the iPhone 4 or 4S, but does it matter at all when the whole website is loaded and the browsing experience (panning, zooming around) is totally charred as the phone drags its feet trying to follow your command?

It only gets worse with Flash on.

I know this for FACT because I have owned and used the GNex alongside an iPhone. The browsing experience simply isn't better unless you absolutely need Flash playback for certain websites, but even then, it's not a pleasant experience.

And I know it can get better because I have seen it get marginally better with the HTC One X.

You make it sound like GNex is completely jerky and scrolling and pan and zoom is totally unusable. That's like me saying the iPhone is so slow at web browsing it's completely unusable. iPhone is fast enough just like GNex is smooth enough. The YouTube video I posted above shows both the speed and the user experience. The video reviewer did plenty panning and zooming around various web pages. Are you saying what's shown on the video is not pleasant experience and differs from your own personal experience? Scrolling, panning and zooming looked pretty good on the video. Just like you I have used both devices side by side. Browser experience is absolutely better on GNex even without the need of Flash. You see more of the web pages because of the higher resolution and the bigger screen makes it easier to see and use. Web browsing is a joy on GNex. iPhone isn't bad but it's definitely inferior browsing experience.

One X I haven't used but web browsing on the video reviews I've seen doesn't paint rosy picture.

 

[Red Storm]

My opinion is that web browsing on Android is far better and more useable. Nevermind how ridiculously small the iPhone screen is and how that really kills my desire to even use its browser, but on Android I can simply do more with the web. I can download just about any file, and then open that file with whatever program I want. I can highlight an address and then start navigating to it (Holy hell do I miss my free Google Navigation, it's downright embarrassing how bad iOS is in this regard). As for smoothness, my iPhone 4 lags and stutters while web browsing just as much as my Galaxy Nexus did. The difference is The Nexus had LTE so I could actually use the web while out and about (Verizon's 3G is a joke), and the larger screen allowed me to use it more comfortably as well.

 

[Oyeve]

My opinion is that web browsing on Android is far better and more useable. Nevermind how ridiculously small the iPhone screen is and how that really kills my desire to even use its browser, but on Android I can simply do more with the web. I can download just about any file, and then open that file with whatever program I want. I can highlight an address and then start navigating to it (Holy hell do I miss my free Google Navigation, it's downright embarrassing how bad iOS is in this regard). As for smoothness, my iPhone 4 lags and stutters while web browsing just as much as my Galaxy Nexus did. The difference is The Nexus had LTE so I could actually use the web while out and about (Verizon's 3G is a joke), and the larger screen allowed me to use it more comfortably as well.

^ This basically.

While I find web browsing on any phone, be it android or ios, horrible, the browsing limitations, be it physical screen or funtionality, is even more horrid on the iphone. I really dont care about the whiteness of the web page on my SGS2 as it is just a web page, not a piece of art.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Are you saying what's shown on the video is not pleasant experience and differs from your own personal experience? Scrolling, panning and zooming looked pretty good on the video.

I am saying it differs from my own personal experience because he didn't show the websites that I frequent. Many of which are borderline bad on the GNex.

Prime example? XDA developers. The XDA developers page has been notoriously bad with Android browser since it seems to take up huge amount of memory for some reason. As a result, the Android browser can lag and stutter when there are way too many rows being displayed (typically when switching away from Compact mode since XDA shows every single device and its submenus then).

I did browse the web extensively on both devices enough to know what it's like. It's not like I'm basing my assessment on some video review somewhere.

Just like you I have used both devices side by side. Browser experience is absolutely better on GNex even without the need of Flash. You see more of the web pages because of the higher resolution and the bigger screen makes it easier to see and use. Web browsing is a joy on GNex. iPhone isn't bad but it's definitely inferior browsing experience.

Then it's simply a screen size limitation, not because of performance. You prefer the bigger screen, and I can respect that, but it doesn't take away the fact that the GNex still lags behind the iPhone when it comes to navigating (panning/zooming) around certain websites.

The browser that comes closest to iPhone performance on the GNex that I tested was Opera Mini, but Opera Mini didn't work right for a number of websites that I visited, and typing long text responses was a huge pain.

One X I haven't used but web browsing on the video reviews I've seen doesn't paint rosy picture.

I can assure you the One X I have is leaps and bounds ahead of my old GNex. That's also from personal experience. It's a lot faster and smoother in just about everything.

----

As for limited functionality in iOS browser, try iCabMobile. It has a built-in adblock, support for both downloading and uploading files. Also support for you to open the file either directly with the browser or with an external app. Multiple plugins to change the look of the website, save the whole site as PDF, or save an offline version for future access, etc... Among them are also multitouch gesture support for better browsing, fullscreen modes, user-agent faker, and many other silly things.

Stock browser in iOS is limited, yeah, but you can use other browsers.

I find it silly that some people refer to Dolphin on Android devices and then use that as the basis to compare to how limited stock Mobile Safari is on iOS, but again, you CAN use another browser. Apple is not forcing people to use Mobile Safari exclusively.

But it's a moot point. Like I kept saying, I have found the HTC One X (at least the one that I have) to be the best blend between iPhone smoothness/responsiveness and GNex features. The screen is also bigger than both GNex and iPhone so no qualm about that one either.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I am saying it differs from my own personal experience because he didn't show the websites that I frequent. Many of which are borderline bad on the GNex.

Prime example? XDA developers. The XDA developers page has been notoriously bad with Android browser since it seems to take up huge amount of memory for some reason. As a result, the Android browser can lag and stutter when there are way too many rows being displayed (typically when switching away from Compact mode since XDA shows every single device and its submenus then).

I just visited the xda developers main page on my SGS2 running AOKP 4.0.4 to compare to you observations of the GNex.

Using the stock ICS browser it scrolled smoothly while the page was loading but pinch to zoom was slightly laggy. I also tried the Chrome Beta and while it didn't load all of the page content as quickly scrolling was very smooth and zooming in and out didn't lag at all.

I wonder if the Gnex being less than perfect is due to it having a relatively weak SoC for it's resolution. Either way the SGS3 should change things since Samsung seems to have significantly improved browser performance in TouchWiz.

 

[ponyo]

I am saying it differs from my own personal experience because he didn't show the websites that I frequent. Many of which are borderline bad on the GNex.

Prime example? XDA developers. The XDA developers page has been notoriously bad with Android browser since it seems to take up huge amount of memory for some reason. As a result, the Android browser can lag and stutter when there are way too many rows being displayed (typically when switching away from Compact mode since XDA shows every single device and its submenus then).

I did browse the web extensively on both devices enough to know what it's like. It's not like I'm basing my assessment on some video review somewhere.

Then why don't you make a YouTube video showing the lag and stutter on XDA when viewing expanded mode. Because I just tried the site and it's same as the video. Fast and smooth. Scrolling is beyond fast. So is pinch and zoom. Android pressure sensitive scrolling is awesome on that web page you can scroll the entire page in couple swipes. iPhone you have to swipe about billion times to get to the top or the bottom. And you call iOS better browsing experience? Your personal user experience is completely opposite of mine. I've shown video that mirrors my experience. So why don't you make a video showing the horrid web browsing you've encountered. Because I don't believe anything you say at this point. So show me.

 

[WelshBloke]

I just visited the xda developers main page on my SGS2 running AOKP 4.0.4 to compare to you observations of the GNex.

Using the stock ICS browser it scrolled smoothly while the page was loading but pinch to zoom was slightly laggy. I also tried the Chrome Beta and while it didn't load all of the page content as quickly scrolling was very smooth and zooming in and out didn't lag at all.

I wonder if the Gnex being less than perfect is due to it having a relatively weak SoC for it's resolution. Either way the SGS3 should change things since Samsung seems to have significantly improved browser performance in TouchWiz.

I just tried on a SGS2 with a stock 4.0.3 TW ROM. The stock browser loads, zooms and pans fine. Theres a little redraw sometimes when zooming but its very quick. The chrome browser is not as smooth and doesn't redraw as quickly.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I just tried on a SGS2 with a stock 4.0.3 TW ROM. The stock browser loads, zooms and pans fine. Theres a little redraw sometimes when zooming but its very quick. The chrome browser is not as smooth and doesn't redraw as quickly.

That's about what I would expect, imo the stock Touchwiz browsers on these phones were always excellent.

 

[WelshBloke]

That's about what I would expect, imo the stock Touchwiz browsers on these phones were always excellent.

Yeah, I'm having difficulty finding a better ROM than the stock one. I've used prettier ones but not better ones.

 

[runawayprisoner]

I just visited the xda developers main page on my SGS2 running AOKP 4.0.4 to compare to you observations of the GNex.

Using the stock ICS browser it scrolled smoothly while the page was loading but pinch to zoom was slightly laggy. I also tried the Chrome Beta and while it didn't load all of the page content as quickly scrolling was very smooth and zooming in and out didn't lag at all.

I wonder if the Gnex being less than perfect is due to it having a relatively weak SoC for it's resolution. Either way the SGS3 should change things since Samsung seems to have significantly improved browser performance in TouchWiz.

That's entirely possible. I seem to have come off sounding like it's an Android issue, but it's not. It's more likely because the hardware could not keep up with the resolution of the screen.

It's also because GPU acceleration for 2D interface still isn't stable enough in Android, which is why some drawing operations still fall back to CPU. iOS is more mature in that regard.

I expect things to even out once Jellybeans hits.

Then why don't you make a YouTube video showing the lag and stutter on XDA when viewing expanded mode. Because I just tried the site and it's same as the video. Fast and smooth. Scrolling is beyond fast. So is pinch and zoom. Android pressure sensitive scrolling is awesome on that web page you can scroll the entire page in couple swipes. iPhone you have to swipe about billion times to get to the top or the bottom. And you call iOS better browsing experience? Your personal user experience is completely opposite of mine. I've shown video that mirrors my experience. So why don't you make a video showing the horrid web browsing you've encountered. Because I don't believe anything you say at this point. So show me.

I don't have the GNex anymore, so I can't make a video of it. I swapped the phone for the One X.

But here's a video if you really need one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ4SuQe8fgQ

And here's the thread on XDA that it came from:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1399370&highlight=web+browser+lag

Whether you believe me or not is up to you, but seriously, I'm not saying this to degrade the GNex. It's just a general observation.

Also what I'm trying to say is that any device that's slower than the GNex (practically anything that is not on ICS and not SGS2) would be worse than that.

The iPhone 4 and any other iOS device in the same generation does much better, or at least more consistently so, and that's why I think more people prefer to browse the web on their iOS device as opposed to Android.

 

[QueBert]

That's entirely possible. I seem to have come off sounding like it's an Android issue, but it's not. It's more likely because the hardware could not keep up with the resolution of the screen.

It's also because GPU acceleration for 2D interface still isn't stable enough in Android, which is why some drawing operations still fall back to CPU. iOS is more mature in that regard.

I expect things to even out once Jellybeans hits.



I don't have the GNex anymore, so I can't make a video of it. I swapped the phone for the One X.

But here's a video if you really need one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ4SuQe8fgQ

And here's the thread on XDA that it came from:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1399370&highlight=web+browser+lag

Whether you believe me or not is up to you, but seriously, I'm not saying this to degrade the GNex. It's just a general observation.

Also what I'm trying to say is that any device that's slower than the GNex (practically anything that is not on ICS and not SGS2) would be worse than that.

The iPhone 4 and any other iOS device in the same generation does much better, or at least more consistently so, and that's why I think more people prefer to browse the web on their iOS device as opposed to Android.

LOL that thread's great.

1. guy complains about a site being laggy on his phone - gets called a liar basically
2. guy uploads video showing clear lag - is told "oh that's because the site's still loading"
3. guy points out the lags the worst after the site's 100% loaded. - other posters blame it it on it being a "media heavy" site.