Android Browser and Chrome

There has been some confusion in the Android world lately due to the two different browsers on Android devices. Some devices run one, some the other and some run both. Here’s a rundown on what we know about them and how they differ.

The browser is important to AppStudio apps. It provides the runtime environment. It also provides the ability to save the app to the Home screen.

Browser” is the original Android browser. It was the only browser available until Android 4. It’s a mature app, stable and well behaved. It does a good job running AppStudio apps.

Mobile Chrome” was introduced with Android 4.0. It is a port of the desktop version of Chrome to Android. Here is Google’s official statement on Mobile Chrome:

Development is still underway, and there are many additional features being added to Google Chrome for Android.

Google maintains a bug list for Mobile Chrome. It is interesting reading.

Chrome has a couple of issues which affect AppStudio users:
113041 No way to auto-hide location bar / Full screen API support
181133 Customized bookmarks’ chrome icon cannot work in MUT

Looks like Google still has some work to do! If you vote for these (and any other you find), it could help speed up the process.