JimBergman.net » websocket

Android 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’ WebSocket support

Jim Bergman — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:46:21 +0000

Android 2.3 Gingerbread beta was recently released to developers.

The Android 2.3 SDK information does not mention a browser upgrade or support for websockets specifically. So there is no official word from Google regarding websockets being included when Android 2.3 is released.

Taking a look at the beta 1 release of the Android 2.3 SDK, the browser in the emulator is the same version as in Android 2.2 FroYo. Here are screencaps from the browser in the Android 2.3 emulator and a screencap from the browser in Android 2.2. Note the browser version is the same in each screencap.

Considering that the browser in Android is based on the same open-source WebKit browser used in the iPhone and iPad, and Apple recently released websocket support in iOS 4.2, it is reasonable to predict that Google will include websocket support in the Android browser very soon, and hopefully in Android 2.3.

I posted this question to Quora. We’ll see if someone with more info can add to this.

WebSockets supported in iOS 4.2

Jim Bergman — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 08:50:47 +0000

Apple released iOS 4.2 in November 2010, and part of that release was support for websocket in the web browser.

This was confirmed in a visit to a local Apple store. Here are some screencaps grabbed of the iPhone 4:

iOS 4.2 is also available for the iPad, which is a huge improvement. iOS 4.0 was only for the iPhone, and the iPad was still using iOS 3. Here are the iPad screencaps to confirm websocket support on the iPad:

Apple had websocket support in the beta of iOS 4.0, but removed it before release. Whatever reason it was not included iOS 4.0 must have been resolved in iOS 4.2.

WebSockets NOT supported in iOS 4.0

Jim Bergman — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:58:36 +0000

UPDATE December 2010: iOS 4.2 now has websocket support

UPDATE July 2010: since the beta 2 release of iOS4, Apple has disabled websockets support. A few readers pointed this out, so I made a trip to an Apple Store it run a few tests.

Confirmed: iOS4 as it is released reports it does NOT have websocket support.

ORIGINAL POST:

Since the Safari web browser on the iPhone is based on WebKit, it makes sense that at some point support for WebSockets would make it to the iPhone.

Safari on iPhone OS 4.0 beta 2 supports WebSocket.

Once OS 4 is available for the iPad, support should be there as well.

Thanks to reader Arun for pointing this out.

Test your web browser for WebSocket support

Jim Bergman — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:34:50 +0000

Google announced an improved way for a web application to communicate with a server. The new method is called Web Sockets. You can read more info here on Web Sockets.

Here is a quick test to see if your web browser supports Web Sockets. At the time this post was published Google Chrome developer channel release 4.0.249.0 is the only browser to support Web Sockets.

Here is the JavaScript code (or right click and save file as WebSocketTest.js):

function WebSocketTest()
{
  if ("WebSocket" in window)
  {
    // Google example code
    //  var ws = new WebSocket("ws://example.com/service");
    //  ws.onopen = function()
    //  {
    //    // Web Socket is connected. You can send data by send() method
    //    ws.send("message to send"); ....
    //  };
    //  ws.onmessage = function (evt) { var received_msg = evt.data; ... };
    //  ws.onclose = function() { // websocket is closed. };
    alert("WebSockets supported here!rnrnBrowser: " + navigator.appName + " " + navigator.appVersion + "rnrntest by jimbergman.net (based on Google sample code)");
  }
  else
  {
    // the browser doesn't support WebSockets
    alert("WebSockets NOT supported here!rnrnBrowser: " + navigator.appName + " " + navigator.appVersion + "rnrntest by jimbergman.net (based on Google sample code)");
  }
}

Sample HTML code (save file as WebSocketTest.html in same folder as .js file above):



JimBergman.net - JavaScript: WebSocketTest



Run WebSocket test

UPDATE:

Result of this test on an Windows 7 PC in Google Chrome v4.0.249.0

Result of this test on an Windows 7 PC in Mozilla Firefox v3.5.5

Result of this test on an Windows 7 PC in Microsoft Internet Explorer v8.0.7100.0

Result of this test on an Apple iPhone in OS 3.1.2