Chrome on Android works great and experiences literally zero of the issues mentioned for Safari.
Chrome for Android is an app, not a system component, and does not require Android point releases to be updated. It is frequently updated on a regular schedule by Google and pushed out to devices.
Using sources like www.caniuse.com, I frequently find that Safari/iOS does not support a feature that is supported on Android browsers and desktop browsers.
When designing responsive in 2015, I limit myself to Safari/iOS, the worst browser I build for, then quickly and effortlessly make sure all other browsers work.
That's my reality, Safari/iOS is the worst platform to develop for for me. I can't even remember the last time Chrome/Android had any issues that weren't also present on Chrome/Firefox/Desktop. Safari iOS though, even with CSS Resets, even with custom CSS, always finds a way to be non-standard with text size, or font weight with bold, or some "feature" that breaks Safari and nothing else.
What about the other 50% of Android users that don't have Chrome or Chrome WebView? I've been working mobile for a few years now and would love to drop anything before KitKat, but that's not something feasible given market share.
In practice, pre 4.4 embedded WebViews have worse support for standards than Mobile Safari. Chrome for Android was in part a system component in order to replace 4.4's embedded WebView, only until 5.0+ did it become decoupled.[1]
Google's evergreen approach reduces fragmentation of a core API and it's been a godsend. I know in the future, Safari will be left alone as a pain point. Just don't misrepresent the present situation, where older Android has worse standards support than Mobile Safari and can't even be debugged in devtools.
> "pre 4.4 embedded WebViews have worse support for standards than Mobile Safari"
My old Windows XP box also has worse support for standards than Mobile Safari.
OK, so XP also doesn't have market share. But it's hard to blame older versions of Android for not supporting standards that didn't exist when they were implemented, just because people continue to buy low-end devices running those old versions.
Right, but at the same time you can't say that Safari is the only thing holding mobile web development back. Because dropping users on "old" versions of Android isn't an option from a business standpoint, Safari isn't the only thing holding people back. And 4.4 really isn't that old; so there are tons of users on older devices.
The Android browser was a sore joke and didn't support years old standards. It was embarrassing for Google, the top web company, to release a browser that was so impaired and so slow at adopting standards, years after Mobile Safari. With Chrome, google has reverted the situation and they are now bleeding edge.
Android Chrome has about 13.3% global usage, and all versions of Android Browser have about 6.5%. If we do not count versions before 4.4, then Android Browser has about 2.5%.
Also worth pointing out that Chrome for Android is over the 1 billion mark (1,000,000,000 - 5,000,000,000)
this. and don't get me started with the whole mess that happens if you dare to use a css transform on a positioned element, which works kind of differently according to every browser already, but is completely different than every other on safari/ios
Chrome for Android is an app, not a system component, and does not require Android point releases to be updated. It is frequently updated on a regular schedule by Google and pushed out to devices.
Using sources like www.caniuse.com, I frequently find that Safari/iOS does not support a feature that is supported on Android browsers and desktop browsers.
When designing responsive in 2015, I limit myself to Safari/iOS, the worst browser I build for, then quickly and effortlessly make sure all other browsers work.
That's my reality, Safari/iOS is the worst platform to develop for for me. I can't even remember the last time Chrome/Android had any issues that weren't also present on Chrome/Firefox/Desktop. Safari iOS though, even with CSS Resets, even with custom CSS, always finds a way to be non-standard with text size, or font weight with bold, or some "feature" that breaks Safari and nothing else.