Iris Browser

Iris Browser is a discontinued web browser for Windows Mobile smartphones^[1] and personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed by the Torch Mobile company. The first version was released in 2008.^[2] It was one of the first mobile browsers to score a perfect 100 on the Acid3 test.^[3]

Iris Browser

Iris Browser 1.15 Screenshot
Developer(s)	Torch Mobile
Initial release	2008
Final release	1.1.9 (July 6, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-07-06)) [±]
Operating system	Windows Mobile, Windows CE
Type	Mobile browser
License	Proprietary
Website	www.torchmobile.com

RIM acquired Torch Mobile in 2009 and discontinued Iris.^[4]

Features

Iris is based on the WebKit rendering engine^[5] with the SquirrelFish Extreme JavaScript engine, Netscape plug-in API, and JavaScript/ECMAScript 1.5.

It has HTML and CSS support and supports SVG, XPath, and XSLT.

It supports a customizable interface and touch screen control, pop-up blockers, and XHTML 1.x mobile profile support.

It has advanced security features, advanced mobile key navigation, HTTP cache optimized for low disk usage, History Auto-Complete, and SSL and authenticated proxy support.

It also features bookmarks, which can be customized by the carrier, tabs, and customizable about pages.^[2]

Performance

According to independent testing, Iris 1.1.5 loads pages more slowly than its closest competitor, Opera Mobile.^[6] The UI was greatly enhanced all the way up until 1.1.9 which was released on July 6, 2009.

According to testing done by Torch Mobile, Iris 1.1.2 outperformed Access NetFront 3.5 and Opera Mobile 9.5 in the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark.

References

1. Fitzpatrick, Jason (2008-12-08). "Iris Brings Desktop Browsing To Windows Mobile". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on 2008-08-14. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
2. "Torch Mobile Launches Free Web Browser for Windows Mobile". Brighthand. 2008-02-15. Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
3. Perez, Sarah (2009-02-24). "Iris: A New Browser for Windows Mobile Emerges from Beta". Channel19. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
4. Nickinson, Phil (2009-08-25). "RIM purchases Torch Mobile; Iris Browser for Windows Mobile will be discontinued". wpcentral.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
5. Loganbill, Scott (2008-08-13). "Torch Fires up Webkit-Powered Windows Mobile Browser". Webmonkey. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
6. Niall, Magennis (2009-03-30). "Torch Mobile Iris Browser 1.1.5 IRIS". TrustedReviews. Archived from the original on 2009-04-08. Retrieved April 30, 2009.