Samsung Internet Browser Not Anymore Exclusive: Opening Itself Up To Most Android Devices

Samsung Internet

Apple's iOS devices have Safari and Google's Android has Chrome installed as default web browsers on their respective platform. Another player that was once exclusive wants to be one of the crowd. It's Samsung.

Samsung Internet browser was an exclusive mobile browser available for all Samsung mobile device's users. It released a beta version of Samsung Internet (5.4) compatible with Google devices such as the Pixel and Nexus series. And starting version 6 beta, it's being released for any phone running Android 5.0, aka Lollipop, or later.

This is the Korean tech giant's ambitions known in March when, in response to "many requests".

According to a blog post by Peter O'Shaughnessy, developer advocate for Samsung Internet:

The beta is being rolled out gradually and will become available worldwide over the next few days via the Play Store and the Galaxy Apps Store. It will receive multiple updates before the v6.2 stable release.
Samsung Internet

In the market that is already populated and monopolized with the likes of Chrome, Firefox and Opera, Samsung is betting big on the game. Previously, Samsung has released apps with no significant demand, It's Pandora-like offering, Milk, for example, has shut down only after two years.

First of all, Samsung Internet is based on Chromium, the open-source project behind Chrome. For that matter, it's already having a solid foundation, and is able to offer practically anything users are expecting from a browser. Samsung Internet users can sync with multiple other devices (even non-Samsung) and also browser anonymously using Secret mode, for example.

But still, Samsung has a few tricks up its sleeves by bringing in a couple of features that aren't found in competitors' browsers.

High contrast mode, for example, could make reading more accessible. This feature can be found on most devices, however, it's not built-in within browsers. There is also the 'features behind flags' options that allows users to play with Bluetooth and WebVR directly from the browser.

A niche audience will also appreciate CSS Grid and its Gamepad Extensions that provide additional Gamepad API capabilities for controller orientation and touch position.

Samsung Internet - Content Blockers

There is also a quick access to content blockers. Samsung got serious about content blocking when it gave Samsung Internet ad block support, and the company has only doubled down in that area ever since. The beta update continues that trend, and also added a list of extensions built into the settings menu.

Samsung has come prepared in this area, and it's confident that its browsers can be similar, or probably better than competitors'.

With the ability to render websites pretty quickly, Samsung Internet is already having good reviews from users. So it's clear that Samsung doesn't just pull in features from Chromium, but also actively contributes into them, and also into web standards.

Published: 
12/08/2017