Chrome's Share of iOS Usage Doubles Year-Over-Year to 3%

According to research firm Chitika (via GigaOM), Google's Chrome browser for iOS now accounts for 3% of total iOS web traffic, up from 1.5% when it was first released for the platform in June 2012. The research attributes the browser's rise in usage to a release of the new version of Chrome optimized for iOS 7, an advertising campaign for the browser, and the release of the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on September 20.

While Chrome usage share on iOS devices rose only about 0.3 percentage points following September 22, keep in mind that iOS has an incredibly large existing user base meaning that usage changes need to be exceptionally great to cause a significant impact. In this realm, Google still has work to do, but the recent growth is a likely indicator that Chrome is regaining some traction in the iOS browsing space.

Google has regularly updated Chrome since its debut, including an update in July that improved interoperability with other Google Apps by giving users the ability to open links for YouTube, Maps, G+ and Drive in the app instead of the browser itself. Earlier this month, a report detailed an issue in Chrome for iOS 7 that revealed private Incognito seraches, but Google notes that this issue is the result of iOS limitations that require regular and incognito tabs to share the same HTML5 local storage.

Chrome is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

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ssspinball

66 months ago

Meh. I like iOS 7 Safari and the fact it's not run by the world's largest advertising company trying to follow your every move on the web.

But it's nice to have options.

Rating: 7 Votes

rmwebs

66 months ago

I'm not saying this is a bad browser or anything but I absolutely see no reason why would I switch, at least not at the moment.

You'd use it if you used chrome on your Mac instead of Safari, and wanted to sync up your bookmarks, history and passwords.

That's it's purpose, and it does it well. Obviously if you use Safari on your mac then Safari on iOS makes perfect sense.

Rating: 7 Votes

rmwebs

66 months ago

Isnt that what Icloud does ?

Yeah...for Safari.

Again. If you DO NOT use Safari on your MAC, and instead use CHROME on your MAC, then CHROME is the logical option for your iOS device as it'll sync.

Basically if you use Chrome on your Mac (or any other browser that isn't Safari) it won't get synced over iCloud.

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Is the Chrome browser better on iOS 5.1.1 (that which my iPad 1 is trapped at) compared to the stock Safari browser?

It's still basically safari as Apple locked down iOS so much that it wasn't possible for Chrome to use its own rendering engine. All it essentially is, is safari with google sync baked in, and a better UI (IMO).

Speed wise safari is faster as Apple again locked down the javascript engine and refuse to allow anyone to take advantage of it.

Rating: 7 Votes

Rattle&Hum

66 months ago

My daily use is a great example.... my work computer is a Windows laptop but I use an iPhone, an iPad, and I own a Mac at home. I use Chrome to unify web activity across all those devices. iCloud and Safari is okay for syncing bookmarks across Apple devices, but Chrome's ability to sign in and even see recently opened tabs on all connected devices (or sending pages to a mobile device) is very cool and helpful.

I'd likely drop it if Apple kept producing a version of Safari for Windows, but they don't.

Rating: 7 Votes

pauliaK

66 months ago

I'm not saying this is a bad browser or anything but I absolutely see no reason why would I switch, at least not at the moment.

Rating: 6 Votes

Eminemdrdre00

66 months ago

I stick with Safari because it has the "Nitro" JS engine. Does Apple still prevent 3rd party browsers/apps from using it in iOS 7?

Rating: 2 Votes

cababah

66 months ago

In other words, porn searches on iOS have doubled year-to-year.

Rating: 2 Votes

Karma*Police

66 months ago

I have a hard time seeing Chrome's share getting much higher unless Apple allows for other browsers to be the default.

For now, Safari seems best in class on iOS so I don't see many users switching anyway, even if Apple did allow it.

Rating: 1 Votes

delnerdo

66 months ago

Meh. I like iOS 7 Safari and the fact it's not run by the world's largest advertising company trying to follow your every move on the web.

But it's nice to have options.

Follow? try Stalk! And not just on the web.

ghostery anyone?

3%?

Rating: 1 Votes

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