Internet Explorer Mobile (formerly named Pocket Internet Explorer; later called IE Mobile) was a mobile version of

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecation, retired series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were u ...

developed by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, based on versions of the MSHTML (Trident) layout engine. IE Mobile comes loaded by default with

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...

and Windows CE. Later versions of Internet Explorer Mobile (since

Windows Phone 8 Windows Phone 8 is the second generation of the Windows Phone mobile operating system from Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft, released on October 29, 2012. It runs on the Windows NT kernel and is the successor to Windows Phone 7. It was the first ...

) are based on the desktop version of Internet Explorer. Older versions however, called Pocket Internet Explorer (found on Windows Phone 7 and

Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDA). Designed to be the portable equivalent of the Windows desktop OS in the emerging Mobile device, mobile/port ...

), are not based on the same layout engine. Internet Explorer Mobile 11, the last version that was supported, is based on the desktop version of

Internet Explorer 11 Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) is the eleventh and final version of the Internet Explorer web browser, by now retired. It was initially included in the release of Windows 8.1, Windows RT, Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 on October 17, 2013 ...

and came with Windows Phone 8.1. A new browser, Microsoft Edge egacyreplaced Internet Explorer Mobile in Windows 10 Mobile. Support for IE Mobile has ended on all Microsoft operating systems on October 10, 2023 with the end of support for Windows Embedded Compact 2013.

Features

The latest version of Internet Explorer Mobile includes tabbed browsing. The browser supports multi-touch gestures, including pinch-to-zoom as well as tap-to-zoom, although not th
Touch API
at present. Bing Search is tightly integrated with Internet Explorer Mobile. It can display websites in both "mobile" and "desktop" versions.

Platforms

Internet Explorer Mobile 6 is included with Windows Mobile 6.5 and Zune HD. Internet Explorer Mobile 7 is included with Windows CE 7. Internet Explorer Mobile 9 is included with

. Each version has the same MSHTML rendering engine as its desktop counterpart, but with additional improvements.

Version history

Pocket Internet Explorer

Version 1

Pocket Internet Explorer was first introduced in Windows CE 1.0, released in November 1996. It does not derive from the

code and was written from scratch for being as lightweight as possible. PIE 1.1 was later released that supported cookies,

HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protoc ...

, and SSL.

Version 2 and 3

Pocket Internet Explorer 2.0, released in September 1997 with Windows CE 2.0, added many new features: offline browsing, resizing images to fit to screen, and richer

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...

support, including framesets and tables. PIE 3.0, introduced in July 1998 with Windows CE 2.10, added support for JScript and various secure protocols.

Version 4

Pocket Internet Explorer 4 was the first to support

ActiveX ActiveX is a deprecated software framework created by Microsoft that adapts its earlier Component Object Model (COM) and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technologies for content downloaded from a network, particularly from the World Wide W ...

, CSS, VBScript as well as further extending support for HTTPS and advanced HTML features. Pocket PC 2002 version of PIE brought limited support for DHTML and

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing data. It defines a set of rules for encoding electronic document, documents in a format that is both human-readable and Machine-r ...

, and also the ability to browse WAP sites – a feature not present in Internet Explorer for PC, Internet Explorer 6.0 added support for IFrames. The

web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...

supports

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

XSLT XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language originally designed for transforming XML documents into other XML documents, or other formats such as HTML for web pages, plain text, or XSL Formatting Objects. These formats c ...

, cookies and animated GIFs among other features.

Internet Explorer Mobile

Version 6

Microsoft announced an updated Internet Explorer Mobile browser on April 1, 2008, alongside Windows Mobile 5.0/6.0/6.1. It was described as "taking advantage of Internet Explorer 6 technologies," with promised support for H.265, Adobe Flash, and Microsoft Silverlight content. It would also support panning and zooming on pages designed for desktop browsers, similar to

Safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

on iPhone. The new update was shown running briefly during Microsoft's 2009 CES Keynote on a Palm Treo Pro, and later in an official video for

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

's TG01 phone. Internet Explorer Mobile 6 was released as part of Windows Mobile 6.1.4, and some OEMs also installed it on Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Standard devices. New features include enhanced Javascript and AJAX support (Jscript v5.7 from Internet Explorer 8) and support for Adobe Flash Lite 3.1. The browser also has a redesigned finger friendly

Graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

. Overall rendering quality and speed are also improved with this version; however according to

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...

and

Engadget Engadget ( ) is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially ...

it didn't render pages as well as Opera Mobile and browsers based on

Webkit WebKit is a browser engine primarily used in Apple's Safari web browser, as well as all web browsers on iOS and iPadOS. WebKit is also used by the PlayStation consoles starting with the PS3, the Tizen mobile operating systems, the Amazon K ...

Version 7

On February 15, 2010, Microsoft unveiled its next-generation

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on the ...

, Windows Phone. With it, came a new version of the Internet Explorer Mobile browser. New features for the browser included multi-touch gesture support, tabbed browsing, a new UI, smooth zoom in/out animations, and a hybrid rendering engine of the

Internet Explorer 7 Windows Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) (codenamed Rincon) is a version of Internet Explorer, a web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on October 18, 2006. It was the first major update to the browser since 2001. It does not support ve ...

and Internet Explorer 8 desktop versions. According to

and

, rendering speed and quality has significantly improved and was now on par with those of competing mobile browsers based on WebKit.

Version 9

At Mobile World Congress 2011 in February, 2011, Microsoft unveiled a major upgrade to Internet Explorer Mobile based on the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 9. Like its desktop counterpart, the browser features full hardware acceleration. Changes in this version included moving the address bar to the bottom of the screen and having it present in landscape orientation. Microsoft showed a number of

HTML5 HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5) is a markup language used for structuring and presenting hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. It was the fifth and final major HTML version that is now a retired World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommend ...

demonstrations for the browser. This is the last version supported on Windows Phone 7.

Version 10

In the Windows Phone Developer Summit in June 2012, Microsoft revealed that the next version of Windows Phone,

, would come with the same web browsing engine to be used in

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...

PCs and tablets. Internet Explorer Mobile 10 was intended to be faster and more secure, with anti-phishing features like SmartScreen Filter to block dangerous websites and malware. Sharing a core with Internet Explorer 10, Internet Explorer Mobile 10 supports a broader range of the HTML5 capabilities (including pointer events) and boosts applications/websites' performance. When it released, Internet Explorer Mobile 10 out-performed the Galaxy S III, HTC One S, and iPhone 4S on iOS 6 Beta in the

SunSpider A browser speed test is a computer benchmark that scores the performance of a web browser, by measuring the browser's efficiency in completing a predefined list of tasks. In general the testing software is available online, located on a website, w ...

benchmark.

Version 11

On July 15, 2014,

released Windows Phone 8.1, which includes the new Internet Explorer Mobile 11 browser. This version gets even closer to the desktop counterpart, by carrying over many of its improvements. New features include: * support for WebGL; * normal mapping; * InPrivate Browsing mode; * Reading mode; * the possibility to swipe left or right to navigate to the previous or next webpage; * file upload; * a new HTML5 video web player with support for inline playback and closed captions; * Windows 8-style website live tiles; * the ability to save passwords; * the ability to open an unlimited number of tabs (previously the user could open up to six tabs). Furthermore, the button to refresh the page is now placed on the address bar, and the open tabs can be displayed on other Microsoft devices besides the smartphone in use: if a user is logged in with his Microsoft account on both his Windows 8.1 device and Windows Phone device, tabs on Internet Explorer 11 will synchronize automatically.

Version 11 Update

Microsoft made several changes to Internet Explorer Mobile to make the browser more compatible with sites designed for mobile

( iOS) and Chrome ( Android). To accomplish this, Microsoft adopted features used in Safari and Chrome, emulates legacy WebKit features, and claims to web servers that it is iOS or Android compatible. The new version of Internet Explorer Mobile was released with Windows Phone 8.1 Update.

Gallery

File:O2xda2i.jpg, Pocket Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile 2003 SE File:Pocket PC.jpg, Pocket Internet Explorer running on the Dell Axim X30 File:Internet Explorer for Zune HD.png, Internet Explorer Mobile 6 on Zune HD File:Internet Explorer Mobile 7.png, Internet Explorer Mobile 7 on Windows Phone 7.5 File:Internet Explorer Mobile 9.png, Internet Explorer Mobile 9 on Windows Phone 7.8 File:Acid 3.png, Acid3 shown on Internet Explorer Mobile v9.0

References

External links

IE Mobile Team Blog
(inactive)
The Pocket or Mobile Internet Explorer
– Some information about Internet Explorer running on Windows Mobile (February 2010) {{Zune Internet Explorer Pocket PC software Windows Mobile Standard software Discontinued mobile web browsers Windows Phone software