WebRTC is a project that provides web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication (RTC) via simple application programming interfaces (APIs). Many browsers have added versions that support WebRTC to allows audio and video communication to work inside the web page.
Increasingly, web developers are using WebRTC to provide direct peer-to-peer communications. While WebRTC has some shortcomings versus traditional VoIP communications products and services, its availability opens the potential for interesting online services. Letting people communicate quickly while on webpage can generate a great user experience in eCommerce, customers service, or even healthcare.
Is WebRTC Widely Supported
But how ubiquitous is WebRTC support? Based on our MOVR analysis of 2018 Q1 from all device types (desktop, smartphone, tablets, and others), 80% of all traffic came from a browser version that supported WebRTC.
Browser Market Share
ScientiaMobile’s analyst team looked at browser share in 2018 Q1, and Chrome and Safari represented over 70% of the market. Less popular browsers like Mozilla’s Firefox and Microsoft’s IE and Edge make up some of the remainder of the market. An emerging proportion of the market comes from App Webviews. These are browsing sessions launched from within a mobile app. In the case of apps like Facebook, they use their own embedded browser. Facebook’s browser generates 3.5% of browsing sessions via Facebook on Android, and 1.6% on Facebook on iOS. (Developers who want to make sure that their app’s browsing session is identifiable should follow these guidelines.)
WebRTC Support on Specific Browsers
For WebRTC support, ScientiaMobile analyzed traffic during 2018 Q1 coming from each device’s browser version. Chrome has supported WebRTC since March 2016 in version 49. Over 95% of traffic on Chrome is coming from a version that supports WebRTC.
Safari recently introduced support in version 11.2, during September 2017. Even though Apple has relatively good success upgrading users to new iOS and Safari browser versions, during 2018 Q1 only 75% of users had browser versions supporting WebRTC. Under Safari, we include Facebook on iOS and Chrome on iOS because these apps actually use the iOS and Safari browser for much of their functionality.
