Why is the web browsing experience so sub-par on Windows Phone 8?

[a5cent]

Do you even know what does RAM stands for?

... and all this time I thought there was no such thing as a stupid question.

And that app memory limit doesn't apply to IE

That memory limit is enforced by the OS. If you're going to claim that WP's memory management makes special exceptions for specific apps (which would be unique among OS') then you will need to back that up. Otherwise I'd consider that theory unworthy of consideration.

When I mention JAVA I am suggesting you get an web app to testified that the amount of RAM you have does play an important role when rendering object filled website.

If you would be so kind as to provide a link to the specific web app you're talking about, then I'd be glad to test it on an 512 MB and a 1 GB device and compare the results.

I still don't understand what Java has to do with any of this (unless you mean javascript, which is something else entirely), because IE on WP can't run Java.

 

[link68759]

... and all this time I thought there was no such thing as a stupid question.


That memory limit is enforced by the OS. If you're going to claim that WP's memory management makes special exceptions for specific apps (which would be unique among OS') then you will need to back that up. Otherwise I'd consider that theory unworthy of consideration.


If you would be so kind as to provide a link to the specific web app you're talking about, then I'd be glad to test it on an 512 MB and a 1 GB device and compare the results.

I still don't understand what Java has to do with any of this (unless you mean javascript, which is something else entirely), because IE on WP can't run Java.

This is incredibly likely- I would be surprised if this is not the case. Why can Nokia make awesome apps and firmware updates? Because as an OEM they have the ability to create apps and system modifications running privileged code. IE isn't just an app- *it's made by Microsoft and is a core component of the system*.

Consider the following- there are no 3rd party browsers in the store that aren't simply a wrapper for IE. Why is that? Probably because the SDK isn't powerful enough to allow for the creation / import of a different browser engine. So how does IE work? MS made it, and they gave it all the advantages they could (running privileged code), and even if another rendering engine could be ported to WP, it likely could not compete in performance with IE.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro

 

[a5cent]

Consider the following- there are no 3rd party browsers in the store that aren't simply a wrapper for IE. Why is that? Probably because the SDK isn't powerful enough to allow for the creation / import of a different browser engine. So how does IE work? MS made it, and they gave it all the advantages they could (running privileged code), and even if another rendering engine could be ported to WP, it likely could not compete in performance with IE.

There is a huge difference between Microsoft reserving some APIs strictly for their own use, and Microsoft changing the execution model under which a process runs (solely for one of their own apps that they ship with the OS). The former is "simple", common practice and more importantly, officially confirmed. The later is otherwise unheard of.

 

[a5cent]

So Saintforlife. I'm still hoping for a better description of your tests, that isn't distributed amongst multiple posts, but from what I've gathered so far:
1) you are testing the L521 and the iP5 over WiFi
2) if you type the same URL into both browsers and press enter, the L521 takes approximately 3 seconds longer (I'm assuming that means 3 seconds longer until the page completes rendering)
Is that right?

I still don't know if that applies to any page, or just a specific page.

I don't have a L521 to test with. I have tested against my L920, and the Lumia seems to be either just as fast or a tad faster than the iP5. That the L521 should be three seconds slower seems a bit extreme. I don't know, maybe your loading some gigantic web page, or not realizing that the iP5 is being served a webkit optimized page, while the Lumia 521 is being served a generalized page, in which case you'd be comparing apples with oranges.

 

[eric12341]

The main reason why IE may appear to be subpar to other browsers is because the web developers of some websites are choosing to disobey standards by developing with webkit specific tags instead of the standard tags,on non webkit sites IE is king.

 

[adaptor]

The question isnt about speeed ..about the way the browser handles popup and allows you to type or select options ..kayak.com is a terror on WP8 ...havnt recovered from trying to browse and select dates on that site. The date picker was all over the screen and the keyboard pops up all the time. But this is a software issue so i hope it clears out fast

 

[a5cent]

The question isnt about speeed ..about the way the browser handles popup and allows you to type or select options ..kayak.com is a terror on WP8 ...havnt recovered from trying to browse and select dates on that site. The date picker was all over the screen and the keyboard pops up all the time. But this is a software issue so i hope it clears out fast

From the OP's first post:

"I have tried Internet Explorer, UC Browser and Nokia Express. They are all painfully slow, especially when you come from the Safari on an iPhone 5."
<snipped>
"Did I already mention that all three browsers are slooooww...?"

He/She starts and ends the first paragraph by complaining about speed. I know it's not just about speed, but that sounded like an important issue to me. Ah well. It doesn't seem like the OP is interested in looking at that issue, so you're probably right.

 

[MacDaMachine]

IE10 is just missing small features I really hate not being able to copy picture URLs. I can do it on a iPhone, android, PC, Mac, but not on WP8 IE10. Its fast and fluid though.

 

[JerseySal]

I really hate not being able to copy picture URLs.

Ditto!

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

You hit on yourself: it's likely the lack of webkit.

 

[saintforlife]

So Saintforlife. I'm still hoping for a better description of your tests, that isn't distributed amongst multiple posts, but from what I've gathered so far:
1) you are testing the L521 and the iP5 over WiFi
2) if you type the same URL into both browsers and press enter, the L521 takes approximately 3 seconds longer (I'm assuming that means 3 seconds longer until the page completes rendering)
Is that right?

I still don't know if that applies to any page, or just a specific page.

I don't have a L521 to test with. I have tested against my L920, and the Lumia seems to be either just as fast or a tad faster than the iP5. That the L521 should be three seconds slower seems a bit extreme. I don't know, maybe your loading some gigantic web page, or not realizing that the iP5 is being served a webkit optimized page, while the Lumia 521 is being served a generalized page, in which case you'd be comparing apples with oranges.

Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you. These are some of the sites I tested:

Wpcentral.com
Macrumors.com
Theverge.com
Planet-F1.com
Yahoo.com
Nyt.com

IE was slower when opening all these sites. Granted my tests were not scientific, it was done just like how I would use the phone in real life and mimicked my daily use.

Also can you tell me how the lack of WebKit affects IE? What exactly does WebKit do that makes it better? Are there technical reasons that prevent MS from implementing WebKit on IE?

 

[emagius]

Also can you tell me how the lack of WebKit affects IE? What exactly does WebKit do that makes it better? Are there technical reasons that prevent MS from implementing WebKit on IE?

Webkit/Blink is the backend/engine that Chrome, Safari, Opera (recently), and a number of other browsers use (including all iOS browsers). Trident is the backend/engine that Internet Explorer (and all WP8 browsers) use. There are some benchmarks in which recent Webkit versions top the charts and some where certain versions of Trident do really well. The two are based on entirely different code and both technological issues and licensing would prevent portions of one being integrated into the other.

So "implementing" Webkit on IE would mean giving up entirely on Trident, which is Microsoft's in-house web browser engine. Even if Webkit is faster (debatable), Microsoft would be sacrificing a lot of internal flexibility, backwards compatibility and market power by making such a switch. It's at least as much of a business decision as a technical one.

 

[immyperez]

I think my mum's iPhone 5 looks like it loads faster because it starts throwing parts of the webpage as they come...IE10 on my 920 however literally waits until it's got the majority of the webpage before it reveals it all.

I'm using UC browser now because I not only find it more functional in general, it pre renders and gives the illusion of being faster like iPhone etc

At least, that's how I see it, lol.

 

[David A Smith]

I think my mum's iPhone 5 looks like it loads faster because it starts throwing parts of the webpage as they come...IE10 on my 920 however literally waits until it's got the majority of the webpage before it reveals it all.

I think there's some truth to this. I've been disappointed with my Lumia 822 compared with my roommate's iPhone 5. Both are connected over WIFI (Comcast Internet), so the only real difference is the processor and the rendering engine. Bringing up google.com takes ~10 seconds on the Lumia vs ~2 seconds on the iPhone, and other sites see similar differences.

On the desktop (Windows 8) I've also had some issues with slow loading pages in IE, but found that turning on Tracking Protection Lists greatly improved things. Sadly, this is not an option on the phone that I'm aware of.

 

[MurphieB]

Sounds like a problem with your Lumia, my 1020 brings up google.com in a couple seconds on an LTE connection, even after deleting all browsing history. IE is quite fast!

I think there's some truth to this. I've been disappointed with my Lumia 822 compared with my roommate's iPhone 5. Both are connected over WIFI (Comcast Internet), so the only real difference is the processor and the rendering engine. Bringing up google.com takes ~10 seconds on the Lumia vs ~2 seconds on the iPhone, and other sites see similar differences.

On the desktop (Windows 8) I've also had some issues with slow loading pages in IE, but found that turning on Tracking Protection Lists greatly improved things. Sadly, this is not an option on the phone that I'm aware of.

 

[Xpider_MX]

2.5 seconds for opening google.com in IE here.

 

[JohnStrk]

IE10 on my 920 is not that bad but I haven't tried out the other WP browsers yet. Seems to load most pages just fine. My biggest complaint so far though is why pages float around all over the place when scrolling. Why don't they lock into place when scrolling up and down. I find the page floating around everywhere to the left and right. E-mails do this too. It's kind of annoying. :shocked:

 

[gwinegarden]

IE goes like a bullet on my 520.

 

[christos michalopoulos]

I prefer it over anything I've tried on Android or iOS

+1000

 

[David A Smith]

Sounds like a problem with your Lumia, my 1020 brings up google.com in a couple seconds on an LTE connection, even after deleting all browsing history. IE is quite fast!

I'm at work using LTE at the moment; Google is taking 14-15 seconds to fully load (a partial render shows after ~10 seconds). Refreshing the page takes less than 2 seconds, but after navigating to a different website and back, the reload takes a full 15 seconds again. My connection seems fine; running speedtest.net results in:

Ping: 80ms
Download: 10.41 Mbps
Upload: 1.18 Mbps

Any thoughts on what the problem might be? I can try resetting the phone, although I hate to go through the hassle of setting everything up again unless it's likely to make a difference.