Watch out Google Chrome - Safari has taken a huge bite into the browser market
Safari is now the second browser to hit one billion users worldwide
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The browser wars may be set for a resurgence after new figures showedApple’sSafaribrowsernow has over one billion users.
A study byAtlas VPNpulled data from GlobalStates and InternetWorldStats to find that Safari now boasts almost 20% of all internet users worldwide.
However despiteSafarihitting this monumental goal, it doesn’t even come close toGoogle Chrome’scolossal numbers. According to the numbers,GoogleChrome has well over 3.3 billion worldwide users, around 64% of the total browser market, followed byMicrosoft Edgein third place with over 212 million users and a little bit above 4% of the market, but ahead ofFirefoxin fourth with over 179 million users and around 3% of users, and Samsung Internet with nearly 150 million users or 2.85% in fifth.
Security and availability
Atlas VPN attributes the popularity of most of the top browsers to their wide availability and security features. Chrome is a little different. Atlas VPN claims Chrome’s “application drive design” attracts a lot of people. Google owns a lot of widely used apps likeYouTube,Maps, andDrive, which many people use frequently. Those apps, Atlas VPN asserts, lead people to try out Google’s other services and eventually download Chrome.
Safari’s success gets tied to the fact that it’s instantly available on alliPhonesandMacs. What expands on that success, according to the study, is the browser’s security features. Namely, itsIntelligent Track Prevention featurewhich prevents bad actors from tracking people across websites.
MicrosoftEdge andSamsungInternet are similar to Safari minus the security features. Edge is the default on all Microsoft devices, plus there was that period of time when it wasdifficult to switch default browsers,which led to an increase in users, according to Atlas. And Samsung’s proprietary browser is on all of its mobile devices, so the app saw high adoption.
Firefox’s popularity is tied to its security features. Thebrowser has tons of extensions that protect peoplefrom various forms of malware. It also has theSecure Shell network protocol,which ensures safe communication between devices and is one of the few browsers that support it.
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New Microsoft Edge feature solves one of the most common file-sharing frustrations>Microsoft Edge remains in second place - but it’s still miles behind Chrome>Browser wars: Has Microsoft Edge completely lost its way?
Analysis: Safari’s next potential update
From June 6 to June 10, Apple will be holding its bigWWDC 2022developer conference. People are expecting to see the next iteration of iOS, macOS, andApple’s new microchip. It’ll be interesting to see what security changes Apple will bring to its software and how it will impact Safari.
2021 was, maybe, not a great yearfor Apple in terms of security. Expect to see Apple make renewed efforts on that front.
Cesar Cadenas has been writing about the tech industry for several years now specializing in consumer electronics, entertainment devices, Windows, and the gaming industry. But he’s also passionate about smartphones, GPUs, and cybersecurity.
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