7 ms·

Are other browsers not allowed to implement their own rendering engines or is their some other reason that Chrome and Firefox both use the web view?

mikeash 11y ago
It's not allowed. From Apple's guidelines: > Apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript
JohnTHaller 11y ago
All apps on iOS are forced to use the built-in webkit engine. Think of it as if every browser on Windows was forced to use the IE engine and Chrome, Firefox, et al never existed, just a ton of IE skins.
keehun 11y ago
Yes, there's a rule which prohibits anyone from implementing their own renderer.
pjmlp 11y ago
Only the iOS webview is allowed to render web content. Additionally only Apple's JavaScript engine is allowed to use a JIT compiler. The only benefit is whatever extra features they might offer, like bookmark synchronization.
- ethagnawl 11y ago
  > Additionally only Apple's JavaScript engine is allowed to use a JIT compiler. I'm not intimately familiar with the iOS API, but I believe that this is no longer the case, courtesy of WKWebView[0], which was released in iOS 8. 0: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/WebKit/Reference/WKWebView_Ref/ https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/WebKit...
  - IMcD23 11y ago
    The WKWebView is just a newer API for a WebKit webview, which replaced the older and slower UIWebView. Still Apple's WebKit that you're forced to run.
    - sandstrom 11y ago
      True, but JIT should now work for both Chrome and FF.
- robin_reala 11y ago
  Chrome on iOS embeds its own network stack, which it touts as being faster and more fully-featured than Safari’s.
  - Tloewald 11y ago
    Until your battery goes flat. Oops.
    - ashark 11y ago
      Precisely the reason I don't care that the other big browser engines can't be ported to iOS. Their concern for battery life/power drain is so low that there's zero chance I'd use them anyway. I don't even use them on the "desktop" (laptop) anymore, for that reason.
  - pjmlp 11y ago
    It still uses the IP iOS stack, right?
    - robin_reala 11y ago
      I’d guess so. The original Chrome for iOS announcement [1] said: it’s been challenging to re-use critical Chromium infrastructure components. That said, there is a lot of code we do leverage, such as the network layer, the sync and bookmarks infrastructure, omnibox, metrics and crash reporting, and a growing portion of content. [1] https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/chromium-dev/vYGxPx-tVKE https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/?fromgroups#!...
  - st3fan 11y ago
    The Safari network stack is actually pretty good. It has good SSL/TLS support and does SPDY pretty well.
- spmurrayzzz 11y ago
  > Additionally only Apple's JavaScript engine is allowed to use a JIT compiler. Can you elaborate? I was under the impression that as of iOS 8, if a developer implements WKWebView in place of UIWebView they would have access to Nitro.
  - robin_reala 11y ago
    This is true, but what pjmpl was saying is that Mozilla couldn’t port their JITted JS engine to iOS and expect it to get through the app store review – they have to use Apple’s.
- Tloewald 11y ago
  Actually I think the javascriptcore restriction is the main thing. I'm not sure that, say, the kindle app has to use a web view (for example)
- twa927 11y ago
  > Only the iOS webview is allowed to render web content. This is quite shocking. I wonder how a platform with such policies could be universally accepted and praised by the tech community. Microsoft didn't achieve this level of closedness but become universally hated.
  - pjmlp 11y ago
    Personally I don't have a problem with that. What I think is happening is that the hipster generation that grew with Mac OS X and helped save Apple is just discovering the Apple of yore. The old Apple was quite proprietary, but they needed to sell an history to save the company. So with NextSTEP adoption and increase of UNIX culture at Apple, they tried to cater a picture of standards adoption and welcome feeling to UNIX devs. I value more cool tech than openess, but to each its own.
  - coldpie 11y ago
    There is actually a fair amount of people who do not accept such a policy and use Android instead. Apple's super locked-down ecosystem is why I use Android, despite iOS being (imo) a better OS. You tend not to hear from us because... we don't use iOS.
    - 7Z7 11y ago
      >You tend not to hear from us because... we don't use iOS. Seriously? we hear from the non-iOS tech crowd all the time about how locked down iOS is.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
  - ZenoArrow 11y ago
    > "could be universally accepted and praised by the tech community" Apple's reputation in the tech community is very far from being universally accepted and praised.

mikeash 11y ago

It's not allowed. From Apple's guidelines: > Apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript

JohnTHaller 11y ago

All apps on iOS are forced to use the built-in webkit engine. Think of it as if every browser on Windows was forced to use the IE engine and Chrome, Firefox, et al never existed, just a ton of IE skins.

keehun 11y ago

Yes, there's a rule which prohibits anyone from implementing their own renderer.

pjmlp 11y ago

Only the iOS webview is allowed to render web content. Additionally only Apple's JavaScript engine is allowed to use a JIT compiler. The only benefit is whatever extra features they might offer, like bookmark synchronization.

ethagnawl 11y ago
> Additionally only Apple's JavaScript engine is allowed to use a JIT compiler. I'm not intimately familiar with the iOS API, but I believe that this is no longer the case, courtesy of WKWebView[0], which was released in iOS 8. 0: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/WebKit/Reference/WKWebView_Ref/ https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/WebKit...
- IMcD23 11y ago
  The WKWebView is just a newer API for a WebKit webview, which replaced the older and slower UIWebView. Still Apple's WebKit that you're forced to run.
  - sandstrom 11y ago
    True, but JIT should now work for both Chrome and FF.
robin_reala 11y ago
Chrome on iOS embeds its own network stack, which it touts as being faster and more fully-featured than Safari’s.
- Tloewald 11y ago
  Until your battery goes flat. Oops.
  - ashark 11y ago
    Precisely the reason I don't care that the other big browser engines can't be ported to iOS. Their concern for battery life/power drain is so low that there's zero chance I'd use them anyway. I don't even use them on the "desktop" (laptop) anymore, for that reason.
- pjmlp 11y ago
  It still uses the IP iOS stack, right?
  - robin_reala 11y ago
    I’d guess so. The original Chrome for iOS announcement [1] said: it’s been challenging to re-use critical Chromium infrastructure components. That said, there is a lot of code we do leverage, such as the network layer, the sync and bookmarks infrastructure, omnibox, metrics and crash reporting, and a growing portion of content. [1] https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/chromium-dev/vYGxPx-tVKE https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/?fromgroups#!...
- st3fan 11y ago
  The Safari network stack is actually pretty good. It has good SSL/TLS support and does SPDY pretty well.
spmurrayzzz 11y ago
> Additionally only Apple's JavaScript engine is allowed to use a JIT compiler. Can you elaborate? I was under the impression that as of iOS 8, if a developer implements WKWebView in place of UIWebView they would have access to Nitro.
- robin_reala 11y ago
  This is true, but what pjmpl was saying is that Mozilla couldn’t port their JITted JS engine to iOS and expect it to get through the app store review – they have to use Apple’s.
Tloewald 11y ago
Actually I think the javascriptcore restriction is the main thing. I'm not sure that, say, the kindle app has to use a web view (for example)
twa927 11y ago
> Only the iOS webview is allowed to render web content. This is quite shocking. I wonder how a platform with such policies could be universally accepted and praised by the tech community. Microsoft didn't achieve this level of closedness but become universally hated.
- pjmlp 11y ago
  Personally I don't have a problem with that. What I think is happening is that the hipster generation that grew with Mac OS X and helped save Apple is just discovering the Apple of yore. The old Apple was quite proprietary, but they needed to sell an history to save the company. So with NextSTEP adoption and increase of UNIX culture at Apple, they tried to cater a picture of standards adoption and welcome feeling to UNIX devs. I value more cool tech than openess, but to each its own.
- coldpie 11y ago
  There is actually a fair amount of people who do not accept such a policy and use Android instead. Apple's super locked-down ecosystem is why I use Android, despite iOS being (imo) a better OS. You tend not to hear from us because... we don't use iOS.
  - 7Z7 11y ago
    >You tend not to hear from us because... we don't use iOS. Seriously? we hear from the non-iOS tech crowd all the time about how locked down iOS is.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  > "could be universally accepted and praised by the tech community" Apple's reputation in the tech community is very far from being universally accepted and praised.