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

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Microsoft Wind ...

developed by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

, based on versions of the

MSHTML Trident (also known as MSHTML) is a proprietary browser engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer, developed by Microsoft. MSHTML debuted with the release of Internet Explorer 4 in 1997. For versions 7 and 8 of Internet ...

(Trident) layout engine. IE Mobile comes loaded by default with

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

and

Windows CE Windows Embedded Compact, formerly Windows Embedded CE, Windows Powered and Windows CE, is an operating system subfamily developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows Embedded family of products. Unlike Windows Embedded Standard, which is ba ...

. 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. It was released on October 29, 2012, and, like its predecessor, it features a flat user interface based on the Metro design language. It was s ...

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

Windows Phone 7 Windows Phone 7 is the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010. It runs on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel. It received multiple large upda ...

and

Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants. Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...

), 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 and came with Windows Phone 8.1. A new browser,

Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge is a proprietary, cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft. It was first released in 2015 as part of Windows 10 and Xbox One and later ported to other platforms as a fork of Google's Chromium open-source project: Android ...

replaced Internet Explorer Mobile in Windows 10 Mobile.

Features

The latest version of Internet Explorer Mobile includes

tabbed browsing In interface design, a tab is a graphical user interface object that allows multiple documents or panels to be contained within a single window, using tabs as a navigational widget for switching between sets of documents. It is an interface ...

. 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 The Zune HD is a portable media player in the Zune product family released on September 15, 2009, by Microsoft. It was a direct competitor with Apple's iPod Touch series of mobile devices. It was initially released in 16 and 32 GB capacities. A ...

. 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 is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is e ...

, and

SSL SSL may refer to: Entertainment * RoboCup Small Size League, robotics football competition * ''Sesame Street Live'', a touring version of the children's television show * StarCraft II StarLeague, a Korean league in the video game Natural language ...

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 The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScri ...

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

JScript JScript is Microsoft's legacy software, legacy dialect of the ECMAScript standard that is used in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 11 and older. JScript is implemented as an Active Scripting engine. This means that it can be "plugged in" to OLE Aut ...

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 Web. ...

, 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 Dynamic HTML, or DHTML, is a term which was used by some browser vendors to describe the combination of HTML, style sheets and client-side scripts (JavaScript, VBScript, or any other supported scripts) that enabled the creation of interactive ...

and

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

, 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 is application software 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 screen. Browsers are used on ...

supports FTP,

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, which may subse ...

, cookies and animated

GIFs The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. It ...

among other features.

Internet Explorer Mobile

Version 6

On July 8, 2008 at the annual Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft announced Internet Explorer Mobile 6 for their next version of

. Andy Lees, Microsoft's senior vice president of mobile communications business, said that Internet Explorer Mobile 6 was going to be a full version of

Internet Explorer 6 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is a graphical web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. Released on August 24, 2001, it is the sixth, and by now discontinued, version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Inter ...

on Windows Mobile. It was shown running briefly during Microsoft's 2009 CES Keynote on a Palm Treo Pro, and again in an official video for

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems ...

's TG01 phone, which has a

Qualcomm Snapdragon Snapdragon is a suite of system on a chip (SoC) semiconductor products for mobile devices designed and marketed by Qualcomm Technologies Inc. The Snapdragon's central processing unit (CPU) uses the ARM architecture. A single SoC may include m ...

processor. 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 The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows User (computing), users to Human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through graphical icon (comp ...

. 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, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite '' io9'', w ...

and

Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editor ...

it didn't render pages as well as

Opera Mobile Opera Mobile is a mobile web browser for smartphones, tablets and PDAs developed by Opera. History The first devices to run a mobile edition of Opera were the Psion Series 5, Psion Series 5mx, Psion Series 7, and then Psion netBook. They ...

and browsers based on

Webkit WebKit is a browser engine developed by Apple and primarily used in its Safari web browser, as well as on the iOS and iPadOS version of any web browser. WebKit is also used by the BlackBerry Browser, PlayStation consoles beginning from the ...

Version 7

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

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablet computer, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal computing, personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobi ...

, 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 web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on October 18, 2006, as the seventh version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer 6. Internet Explorer 7 is par ...

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 Internet Explorer 9 or IE9 (officially Windows Internet Explorer 9) is a web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on March 14, 2011, as the ninth version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer 8, and can replace p ...

. 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 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HT ...

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 released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012, and later to ...

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 The Samsung Galaxy S III (or Galaxy S3) is an Android smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Launched in 2012, it had sold more than 80 million units overall, making it the most sold phone in the S series. It ...

, HTC One S, and iPhone 4S on iOS 6 Beta in the SunSpider 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

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

( iOS) and

Chrome Chrome may refer to: Materials * Chrome plating, a process of surfacing with chromium * Chrome alum, a chemical used in mordanting and photographic film Computing * Google Chrome, a web browser developed by Google ** ChromeOS, a Google Chrome- ...

(

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

). 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:HTC_Wallaby.jpg, Pocket Internet Explorer on

Windows Mobile 2003 Windows Mobile 2003, originally codenamed "Ozone", was a member of the Windows Mobile family of mobile operating systems, released on June 23, 2003. It was the first Microsoft mobile OS to be called "Windows Mobile" and was based on Windows CE 4. ...

File:Pocket PC.jpg, Pocket Internet Explorer File:Internet Explorer for Zune HD.png, Internet Explorer Mobile 6 in Zune HD File:Internet Explorer Mobile 7.png, Internet Explorer Mobile 7 in Windows Phone 7.5 File:Internet Explorer Mobile 9.png, Internet Explorer Mobile 9 in 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 Mobile web browsers Windows Phone software