Mobile browsers and the future of mobile web applications

I see mobile devices as an exciting platform due to their ability to stay up-to-date. There are many issues with web standards, and browser compatibility issues that will be absent from most current and future mobile platforms. Right now Apple, Google, and Palm use Safari, Android Browser, and WebOS as their mobile web browsers. All of these browsers are based on the WebKit layout engine. This commonality will help make web applications share a similar aesthetic and feel across these various devices.

The ability to easily update your mobile device by pushed updates or syncing with your laptop are also a cause of excitement. Today we see how many users still use out-dated versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, causing many security and layout issues for developers. Now that devices can be updated more easily, updates to mobile browsers are even easier.

With mobile browsers in mind, I wonder what HTML 5 features will be incorporated into mobile browsers. The new features of HTML 5 are really exciting — If you have not had a chance to read about HTML 5, I would recommend reading Dive Into HTML 5, a book written by Mark Pilgrim. Dive Into HTML 5 is available on the web, reads easy, and is free!

Should be interesting to see just how many new mobile browsers come online within the next year.