iOS is the clear performance leader in HTML5 rendering, according to a report from Spaceport.io. In an attempt to provide a benchmark for theoretical game and app performance with HTML5, the Web app development company issued the report (PDF) analyzing the major mobile platforms’ ability to display moving graphics at acceptable frame rates.
The HTML5 benchmark, available on github for anyone to try for themselves, measured how many images each mobile platform could display and move at once while maintaining a 30 frames per second frame-rate and looked at all major iOS and Android devices.
The report’s results demonstrate an overwhelming performance advantage for iOS devices of all generations, with the three-year-old iPhone 3GS outperforming current generation Android smartphones. The iPad 2, likely to be updated soon, likewise performed significantly better than competing tablets, with its closest competitor being the Blackberry Playbook.
Graph courtesy of Spaceport.io March 2012 PerfMarks Report.
Of note, the report demonstrates how important device software can be when it comes to HTML5 performance. The iPad 2’s update from iOS 4 to iOS 5 last fall resulted in a nearly 65% increase in performance with no corresponding hardware changes.
This improvement lends support to Apple’s heavy investment in HTML5 development and optimization and also partly explains why older hardware, such as the iPhone 3GS, can still outperform modern hardware on competing platforms in some scenarios. However, it also indicates that Apple’s competitors in the mobile phone and tablet arena may be able to significantly close the performance gap with software changes.
Spaceport, which provides the development tools to create HTML5-based applications and games, hopes the report will reinforce the viability of a single, HTML5-based multi platform option for mobile content creation.