Microsoft brings Edge to Android and iOS

Microsoft is going to make its Edge browser available for Android and iOS. A preview for iOS is available immediately for Windows Insiders to use. A preview version for Android will follow shortly.

To try the Edge Preview, users must be a member of the Windows Insiders Program. The trial version can be requested from the Edge website. The iOS version must then be downloaded via Apple’s TestFlight app.

The smartphone version of Edge includes features from the desktop version such as the Reading List, New Page Tab, and Reading View. There will also be a Continue on PC feature, allowing users to continue their mobile browsing session on a Windows 10 PC. That functionality will be activated with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update that comes out on October 17.

Apple only allows browsers based on its WebKit engine on iOS. In a developer blog, Microsoft reports that the Edge version for iOS is based on the engine made available by Apple. For the Android version, Microsoft uses the Blink engine from the Chromium project. Microsoft already wrote two years ago that its EdgeHTML engine is fully compatible with Blink and WebKit.

Microsoft has not yet announced when the Android version will be available, but in the announcement, the company says that this version will be coming soon. Initially, Edge for iOS and Android is only available in English. Later on, the number of languages ​​will be expanded during the preview. Support for tablets will also come later.