What’s new in Internet Explorer 11 for Windows Phone 8.1

Internet Explorer for Windows Phone

Microsoft recently made available Windows Phone 8.1 to developers, which also introduces a new updated version of Internet Explorer 11, and now the company is providing the key changes and improvements users will see when Windows Phone 8.1 finally ships.

In a new article at the IEBlog, Microsoft says that the IE team has worked in four different areas to improve and make better the browsing experience for mobile users: “quick site access, fast and fluid browsing, safety and privacy, and accessibility”.

Quick site access

On Internet Explorer 11 users are able to get to websites quickly. With Windows Phone 8.1 the browser will provide a list of the most frequently visited sites when users first tap the address bar, and as they type URL predictions will be shown.

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IE 11 for Windows Phone 8.1 offers unlimited open tabs, just like in Windows 8.1 devices. Also favorites, history, passwords, and open tabs will sync across devices for those using Windows 8 PCs. And in phones users will easily be able to access open tabs from other devices by simply tapping “other” from the “recent” tabs section.

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Live pinned sites improvements, in the new update users will notice that pinned sites now show better icons and live updates with headlines and images.

Fast and fluid browsing

The update will also bring support for in-line video playback, that way people who visit YouTube using IE 11 can watch the video and read comments at the same time.

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Reading View, as the version of Internet Explorer 11 on the PC, mobile devices will also get Reading View, which is simply a feature to remove clutter from web pages.

Passwords, now they sync across devices and platform.

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Similar to PC and tablets, Microsoft is adding swipe back and forward to move between articles in a website.

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Downloading files to your phone is finally supported too.

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Safety and privacy

Internet Explorer 11 for Windows Phone 8.1 includes InPrivate tabs, which will assure all the browsing data gets deleted after closing the tab. Just open the menu and the tabs screen and select “Open InPrivate tab”.

DataSense High Savings Mode, DataSense, the feature that allows to save data usage, but in Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft is introducing “High Savings Mode”, which will only download what’s important with better compression. To configure this new setting in IE 11 settings, choose to always enable “High Savings Mode”, never to enable it, or automatic, which will only enable the feature when data plan is reaching its limit.

Accessibility

Finally, to ensure every user can surf the net, the IE team is introducing support for high contrast mode, Narrator, and an override switch to zooming into all web pages. For more details on Accessibility, check out this Microsoft article.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.