Android Stock Browser

How come the Android stock browser is still running?

How come the Android stock browser is still running? Since June 2014, 15.7% (0.8+14.9) of Chrome customers still use Android 2.2 and 2.3.x (Froyo and Gingerbread), since Chrome only support Android 4.0+, they cannot use Chrome for Android. Android 4.0 (ICS), which has 12.3% of the user base, is also not shipped with pre-installed Chrome.

I also think the stock browser is still pre-installed in all Android Jellybean mobile devices (version 4.1.x, 4.2.x and 4.3.x) used by 58.4% (29.0+19.1+10.3) of the population. This means that the share browser is still pre-installed at 86.4% (15.7+12.3+58.4) of Android mobile telephones. This should be the cause that the stock browser is still widely used.

Lots of people don't take the trouble to download or change the preset/pre-installed browser. The use of Stock Browser has no technology advantage over using Android' based version of Crome. In Android Kitkat (4.4), Google has already configured the share browser. Google licenses Browsers to view and print data on Android, but the share browser does not.

You can also change the Stock Browser, but not change it. So, from a commercial point of view, it's actually better for Google if your company uses them. However, some original equipment manufacturers don't like being too addicted to Google. Android' kernel has gradually moved from Google AOSP to its close sources and licenced Google Apps, and the browser is one of the last remaining elements in this map.

Like Erwinus mentions in the commentaries, Stock Browser was used for WebView in Android releases before Kitkat.

How come the Android stock browser is still running?

How come the Android stock browser is still running? Since June 2014, 15.7% (0.8+14.9) of Chrome customers still use Android 2.2 and 2.3.x (Froyo and Gingerbread), since Chrome only support Android 4.0+, they cannot use Chrome for Android. Android 4.0 (ICS), which has 12.3% of the user base, is also not shipped with pre-installed Chrome.

I also think the stock browser is still pre-installed in all Android Jellybean mobile devices (version 4.1.x, 4.2.x and 4.3.x) used by 58.4% (29.0+19.1+10.3) of the population. This means that the share browser is still pre-installed at 86.4% (15.7+12.3+58.4) of Android mobile telephones. This should be the cause that the stock browser is still widely used.

Lots of people don't take the trouble to download or change the preset/pre-installed browser. The use of Stock Browser has no technology advantage over using Android' based version of Crome. In Android Kitkat (4.4), Google has already configured the share browser. Google licenses Browsers to view and print data on Android, but the share browser does not.

You can also change the Stock Browser, but not change it. So, from a commercial point of view, it's actually better for Google if your company uses them. However, some original equipment manufacturers don't like being too addicted to Google. Android' kernel has gradually moved from Google AOSP to its close sources and licenced Google Apps, and the browser is one of the last remaining elements in this map.

Like Erwinus mentions in the commentaries, Stock Browser was used for WebView in Android releases before Kitkat.