Microsoft plans to release Edge for iOS and Android

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 5, 2017
Internet, Microsoft Edge
|
22

Microsoft announced plans today to release a version of the company's Microsoft Edge web browser for Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating system.

The release for Apple's iOS operating system seems to be available already, the Android release is still under development. Both releases are currently only available to Windows Insiders who run a copy of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update on their machine.

All users may open the promotional page for Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android however.

Microsoft Edge Preview for iOS and Android

microsoft edge ios android

This is not the first time that Microsoft brought a web browser to a non-Windows operating system. The company released Internet Explorer for Mac many years ago, but stopped doing so after a while.

Microsoft Edge has been available for Windows 10 only up until now as well, and the release for Android and iOS means that versions of Microsoft Edge will land on non Microsoft operating systems and not on previous versions of Windows that Microsoft still supports.

It is interesting to note that Microsoft did not port Edge to the two mobile platforms. The iOS version is a re-skin of Apple's Safari web browser for iOS more or less. This is the only option to bring browsers to iOS as Apple has a set of restrictions in place that prevent different browsers from being ported to the operating system. This restriction affects other browser developers, Mozilla and Google, as well for instance.

Android does not have these restrictions, but Microsoft made the decision to use Google's Blink browsing engine for the port.

In short: both browsers use a different engine than Microsoft Edge on Windows 10. This begs the question: how much Edge is in the browser?

The promo page provides some details on what Edge for iOS and Android supports:

  • Synchronization between Windows 10 PCs and mobile devices, including passwords, favorites, and tabs.
  • Reading View as a readability option to focus on articles and do away with menus, ads and other undesirable elements when reading.
  • Hub View to manage favorites, the reading list, history, and books.
  • Built-in QR Code Reader.
  • Voice Search support.
  • InPrivate browsing mode.

Users who want to give it a go right now need to be signed up for the Windows Insider program. Those interested in the Android version can only enter an email address currently on the page to receive a notification when that version is available. Apple iOS users need to enter their name and Apple ID to get instructions by email from Apple on how to proceed with the installation of Edge on iOS.

Closing Words

Edge for mobile devices should make the browser more attractive to Windows 10 users who use Android or iOS devices, and want a browser that syncs between PC and mobile device. The move may irritate Microsoft customers who use previous Windows versions however, as Edge is still not -- and probably will never be -- available for these operating systems.

Now You: Will you give Edge on mobile a go?

Summary
Microsoft plans to release Edge for iOS and Android
Article Name
Microsoft plans to release Edge for iOS and Android
Description
Microsoft announced plans today to release a version of the company's Microsoft Edge web browser for Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating system.
Author
Publisher
Ghacks Technology News
Logo
Advertisement

Tutorials & Tips


Previous Post: «
Next Post: «

Comments

  1. ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
    Reply

    Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on August 4, 2012 at 7:57 pm
      Reply

      Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.

    2. Leonidas Burton said on September 4, 2023 at 4:51 am
      Reply

      I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
      http://www.google.com/saved

  2. VioletMoon said on August 16, 2023 at 5:26 pm
    Reply

    @Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!

  3. Karl said on August 17, 2023 at 10:36 pm
    Reply

    @Martin

    The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/

    Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.

  4. Anonymous said on August 25, 2023 at 11:44 am
    Reply

    Omg a badge!!!
    Some tangible reward lmao.

    It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.

  5. Scroogled said on August 25, 2023 at 10:57 pm
    Reply

    With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.

    1. lollmaoeven said on August 27, 2023 at 6:24 am
      Reply

      This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)

  6. El Duderino said on August 25, 2023 at 11:14 pm
    Reply

    Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.

    And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.

  7. John G. said on August 26, 2023 at 1:29 am
    Reply

    First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[

  8. Kalmly said on August 26, 2023 at 4:42 pm
    Reply

    Yes. Please. Fix the comments.

  9. Kim Schmidt said on September 3, 2023 at 3:42 pm
    Reply

    With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.

    Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.

    The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.

    If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.

    And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.

Leave a Reply

Check the box to consent to your data being stored in line with the guidelines set out in our privacy policy

We love comments and welcome thoughtful and civilized discussion. Rudeness and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Please stay on-topic.
Please note that your comment may not appear immediately after you post it.