Smartphone Browser localStorage is up to 5x Faster than Native Cache (New Research)

As a web developer you know that creating engaging web UX means quickly delivering content that captures your visitor's attention.

The storage API, including localStorage, was designed to help web developers provide more app-like behaviour for the web than cookies previously allowed.

But it turns out you can also use localStorage to make your mobile website faster!

How much faster? Well, you can load some critical path resources such as a JavaScript that's required for your UX up to 3 - 5x faster using localStorage than from the browser's native cache. Using millions of data points from Real User Monitoring (RUM) I had the following surprising results.

What does this mean? It means you should absolutely be using localStorage for essential resources rather than depending on the browser's cache. This is a bold claim I'm happy to back with data, and I'm also very curious to hear from the community on your own test results. For more details on how I collected and analyzed my results, read on.

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A Beginner's Guide to HTTP Cache Headers

This article offers an exploration into HTTP caching headers and associated CDN behaviour. If you're looking to understand how caching headers fit into the modern web, or are just curious about what everyone is talking about around you, this resource is for you.

If you already understand the benefits of cache headers and are looking to extend your knowledge further, I'd recommend referring to the W3 documentation.

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Mobile Web Design for Content-Heavy Websites: 8 Clever Techniques from Golf Digest

Adapting a content-heavy website for mobile devices can seem like a difficult design challenge. How do you successfully squeeze all of that valuable content into such a small viewport?

Many publishers are choosing to ignore this challenge, happy to let users pinch, zoom and squint their way around a website. And if the content—for example, an image gallery—fails to work at all, it's the user's fault for browsing on a smartphone.

Other publishers, however, do not feel the same way.

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Red state, blue state 2012: iOS vs Android in the USA

When it comes to politics, the US loves dividing up the country according to political parties. But who is winning the battle of the mobile operating system?

In this article, we’ve broken down mobile website traffic in the US according to mobile OS. Our sample data comes from Mobify's publisher network, which is composed of over 20,000 sites with almost 200 million visits in 2012.

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Evolving Mobify part 5: HTTP Basic Authentication

Today we’re happy to announce the latest in Mobify’s biweekly update cycle!

This round’s update consists of one feature: adding support for HTTP Basic authentication. Why only 1 feature this time? We’re working hard behind the scenes on some major new features that will be released soon!

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