Safari still leads in mobile browser share, but Facebook's browser is on the rise

A new study shows Safari and Chrome are still dominant on mobile devices, but Facebook is coming on strong to try to claim the mobile crown.

According to a new study from analytics firm Mixpanel, Facebook's in-app web browser now accounts for an average of 7.6 percent of mobile browser market share in the United States. This places Facebook behind only Apple's Safari with 58.4 percent and Google's Chrome at 33.3 percent.

The most recent measure of domestic browser market share, by Statcounter last month, placed Safari in first place with 49.4 percent, followed by Chrome with 43.1 percent. Facebook was not listed in those rankings.

In terms of overall platform use, Mixpanel found that 65.5 percent of Americans use iOS, compared to 34.5 percent using Android. As for carriers, the study said, 28.6 percent of users use Verizon, with 27.1 percent using AT&T.

Counterpoint, as of May, listed the iPhone at 42 percent U.S. market share. The study also splits off the market share numbers by state, and reports that Safari is the top mobile web browser in each of the 50 states.

Mixpanel's study surveyed 20,000-plus of the firm's customers, covering 3 billion individual events.

The numbers show that while Safari maintains its dominant position, more and more users are reaching the web through Facebook's ecosystem. This represents a change in users' consumption of content, as they're at the mercy of Facebook's algorithm, and all of its notable shortcomings.

24 Comments

nunzy 662 comments · 6 Years

About 6 years ago

65.5% of Americans use iOS? Is that accurate?

I thought that iPhone had around 35 or 40% of the American market. Does iPad make up the difference?

arthurba 146 comments · 16 Years

On iOS everything is Safari right (or WebKit or whatever - the same engine)? On iOS app makers still must use the Apple supplied web browser calls - Apple won’t approve any alternative web browser engines for iOS right? So are these stats about actual web browsers or just apps? Ie: on iOS if you use the Facebook app to browse the web does that show up as Safari or as Facebook?

tedp88 20 comments · 7 Years

Facebook browser?! What is wrong with people?

SnickersMagoo 77 comments · 7 Years

For all the crap from FB lately... i'm starting to think of FB just like I think of Google, Samdung and Android....as in I want nothing to do with it!!!

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

arthurba said:

On iOS everything is Safari right (or WebKit or whatever - the same engine)? On iOS app makers still must use the Apple supplied web browser calls - Apple won’t approve any alternative web browser engines for iOS right? So are these stats about actual web browsers or just apps? Ie: on iOS if you use the Facebook app to browse the web does that show up as Safari or as Facebook?

Who gives a rat’s ass? What does browser market share have to do with anything? Browsers are supposed to support W3C standards and websites are supposed to be platform agnostic, use any browser you wish. Nerds arguing about features is about the only thing I can see using this survey to pound away at each other’s browser choices. Ooooo, Firefox is closing in on Chrome and Safari. Do we actually want a winner? Do we think it would be a good idea to have a single browser become the only browser we use?