Fixya Mobile Browser Report: How Users Feel About Chrome, Safari, IE, Opera, and the Android Stock Browser

Fixya Mobile Browser Report

Fixya Mobile Browser Usability Report details persistent issues across the top mobile browsers, with Safari and Chrome users longing for Flash support, Opera and Internet Explorer users struggling to view pages correctly, and Android Stock Browser lovers still experiencing random crashes.

Today Fixya, the leading product Q&A destination on the web and mobile, announces the release of a new report comparing the number of fix-it requests across top mobile browsers – pitting them head-to-head to see which mobile browser is the most reliable.

The Fixya Mobile Browser Usability Report covers Safari, Opera, Chrome, Internet Explorer, and the Stock Android browser, with Safari coming in first by a long shot, but with Chrome quickly catching up to the stock Android Browser, which it will soon replace. By looking at the top issues with each browser, the Fixya Mobile Browser Usability Report seeks to provide clarity to consumers by highlighting the main troubleshooting trends across these four standout companies.

To see the full Fixya Mobile Browser Usability Report, please visit: https://blog.fixya.com/fixyareport/oct2013/mobile-browser-report.html

Fixya’s Mobile Browser Usability Report uses information based on troubleshooting requests posted by consumers through its product Q&A site and iOS mobile app. By combining and analyzing data from 61,582 combined problem impressions, and bringing in market share data from NetMarketShare, Fixya has assigned each browser a mobile browser usability score. The fewer problem impressions the company had relative to their market share, the higher the score. The mobile browser usability scores were as follows:

  • Safari: 1.31
  • Stock Android: 0.87
  • Opera: 0.70
  • Chrome: 0.64
  • Internet Explorer: 0.28

Below are the major trends found within the Fixya Mobile Browser Usability Report:

  • Safari stood out from the pack with its individual page action features like creating reading lists, printing specific web pages, the ability to add pages to your home screen and easily mailing and directly tweeting links. With the exception of a lack of flash support (which Apple products may never have), it is safe to say that Apple’s stock browser isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
  • With the second highest usability score of the group, the Stock Android Browser has users loving the simple UI design, the quick browser speed and the strong support for Flash videos, making this stock browser a great fit for first time and early mobile users looking to surf the web from their mobile devices.
  • Although ranking fourth in the report, Chrome is quickly gaining steam on the stock Android Browser with only a 0.23 difference in usability score, despite an 18 percent difference in market share. Chrome still has a bit of catching up to do, with Fixya users finding the complete lack of Flash support and sporadic font recognition outweighing the (sometimes) sleek UI and cross platform compatibility that has made the browser so popular.
  • With the exception of great screen real estate and cross-platform compatibility, a combination of font recognition errors, a serious lack of search engine options (mainly Bing favorability) and occasional site rendering issues has landed Internet Explorer at the bottom of Fixya users’ list of most reliable mobile browsers.
  • Although being known for having especially strong support for HTML5, Opera users on Fixya have noted some issues with screen real estate, with pages being slimmed down or loading in strange and non-aesthetic ways.
    Below are the top five problems for each browser in the Fixya Mobile Browser Usability Report, and the percentage of troubleshooting requests that fall into each problem category:

Top 5 Android Stock Browser Issues

  1. Random Crashes – 35%
  2. Password Concerns – 20%
  3. Limited Support – 15%
  4. Various Versions– 15%
  5. Other – 15%

Top 5 Safari Issues:

  1. No Flash Support – 25%
  2. Screen Real Estate – 25%
  3. Video Integration– 20%
  4. Cached Pages – 15%
  5. Other – 15%

Top 5 Opera Issues:

  1. Screen Real Estate – 40%
  2. Security Concerns – 20%
  3. Data Usage Not Working – 15%
  4. Flash Support – 15%
  5. Other – 10%

Top 5 Chrome Issues:

  1. Font Recognition – 30%
  2. Tab Issues – 25%
  3. Lack of Flash Support – 25%
  4. Minor JavaScript Incompatibility – 10%
  5. Other – 10%

Top 5 Internet Explorer Issues:

  1. Poor Rendering – 35%
  2. Font Recognition – 20%
  3. Search Engine – 20%
  4. Compatibility – 15%
  5. Other – 10%

Fixya has created this latest report by sourcing data from its 30 million users and 8 million product problems and solutions. Those interested in viewing the full report can do so here: https://blog.fixya.com/fixyareport/oct2013/mobile-browser-report.html

“With more and more people doing the majority of their browsing on their smart devices, especially in mobile-first countries where people are doing almost all of their browsing this way, it’s important to compare these browsers to find how exactly they stack up against each other,” said Fixya CEO and founder Yaniv Bensadon. “Our latest Fixya report compiles the top issues with these browsers from the Fixya community, comparing the total number and nature of issues for each browser with their designated market share. This allows us to not only pinpoint the most common problems with each browser, but fairly assign usability scores for each.”

Fixya brings consumers the most comprehensive solution database in the world. Fixya’s unique access to crowd-sourced product Q&A from consumers grants the company transparent data that no other service can claim to provide. Fixya’s troubleshooting data comes from real-life consumer experience with products and product problems

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