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The Browser Breakdown

The growth of the mobile web and touch screens has created more browser diversity than ever before. I think it’s useful to categorize browsers into four major categories, along the axes of screen size and input type.

chart of browsers by screen size and mouse vs touch

Probably the most growth is going to come in the large-screen touch category (mainly because it’s starting from the lowest place overall). If anything, I would expect the small-screen mouse input category (i.e. Blackberries) to decrease — but not to disappear entirely, because businessmen sure do love their physical keyboards.

Making web apps that work with minimal adaptation across all four quadrants is the challenge. (And you thought dealing with different screen resolutions was hard?)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 7:44 pm and is filed under design, development, visual explanations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “The Browser Breakdown”

  1. kirabug Says:
    April 29th, 2010 at 1:24 am

    If you’re interested, I have some stats on iPhone and mobile growth vs. “normal” computer growth that I got at AEA from LukeW. Remind me at work and I’ll pass them on to you :)

    The right column is one of the reasons why I’m being such a thorn in the side about users with no mouse. :)