News

Microsoft Brings Edge Browser to iOS and Android Devices

• By Gladys Rama
• December 01, 2017

Microsoft this week announced the general availability of Edge browser apps for Android and iOS devices.

The apps let users browse the Web, but they also can roam passwords between devices and synchronize favorites (Web bookmarks). The apps permit the exchange of content between a mobile device and a PC via a "Continue on PC" capability, although it requires having the Windows 10 "Fall Creators Update" operating system on the PC. Both applications can use a "dark theme," "InPrivate" browsing, plus a "Reading View" pane. They also permit voice searches for Web content.

The Android app is available for users in Australia, Canada, China, France, India, United Kingdom and United States. Availability of the iOS app includes China, France, United Kingdom and United States.

The apps previously were at the preview stage in October, where they had been described as being limited to phones rather than tablets, but that restriction apparently was ended with the new releases, or perhaps earlier. Despite the "Edge" label, the apps don't use Microsoft's EdgeHTML browser rendering technology. The Microsoft Edge for Android app uses Google's Blink rendering engine, while the Microsoft Edge for iOS app uses WebKit.

The Microsoft Edge for Android app at the Google Play Store still displayed the "preview" label at press time. The Microsoft Edge for iOS app is available at the Apple Store here.

In addition to the new Edge apps, Microsoft this week announced that there's a new Remote Desktop app for macOS (version 10.0.1) that's available at the Mac App Store. The app is used for connecting a device with a remote PC or server, with the ability to access apps running in virtual machines.

Microsoft made changes to the user interface with this release of the Remote Desktop app for macOS. It added the ability to redirect printers, microphones and smart cards to the remote machine. The new app supports the use of keyboard shortcuts, such as copying and pasting content during a remote session.

In response to feedback, Microsoft added the following capabilities to the Remote Desktop app for macOS:

• Assign desktop connections to custom groups.
• Easily identify active connections in the connection center.
• Manage a single list of user accounts in the preferences of the app.
• Store multiple entries of the same username with different passwords.

Users of the earlier version (8.0.43) can install the new Remote Desktop app for macOS and then import the connections, Microsoft's announcement explained.