: Which current stock mobile browsers support linked phone numbers by default? The better question is, are there any that currently DO NOT support auto linking of phone numbers by default? Main

@Deb1703797

It's a good idea to wrap phone numbers in tel URIs because:


Mobile browsers often parse numbers incorrectly, especially with unusual formats. All they're doing is attempting to wrap phone numbers in anchor links and tel URIs; doing it for them reduces the chance of error.
It's a vendor-neutral, official proposed standard that desktop VOIP phone clients (e.g. Skype, Vonage etc.) may one day see sense and come to adopt.
It is not ideal to create linked text which does nothing in some cases, but it serves to highlight important contact information on a page, and does no irreversible damage if a visitor without tel: support clicks a link. (It may be frustrating for mobile phone users without tel: support, but they are already used to typing numbers found on web pages.)
Crucially, you can use tel: URIs to prevent mobile browsers attempting to link numbers that definitely aren't phone numbers. Apple recommends this method: wrap your phone numbers in tel: URIs, then include the following meta tag to prevent the iOS device from looking for additional numbers to convert:

<meta name = "format-detection" content = "telephone=no">


In short, it doesn't really matter which mobile browsers support auto discovery of phone numbers today. It's still a good idea to adopt the format.

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