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You do realize that Safari's engine WebKit is used for mission critical things in macOS and iOS… many apps like Mail, the App Store, iTunes and many thousands o

You do realize that Safari's engine WebKit is used for mission critical things in macOS and iOS… many apps like Mail, the App Store, iTunes and many thousands of 3rd party applications, right? Every WebView in a macOS or iOS app is backed by WebKit—it's not just a browser; it's an extremely important system software component on over a billion devices. I think Safari Tech Preview and WebKit Nightlies are a good tradeoff—I'd rather that than frequent instability on my Mac or iPhone just for the appearance of being an evergreen browser. You can see what's being developed and what's being considered for WebKit just like you can for Chrome and Firefox: https://webkit.org/status/ https://webkit.org/status/

kalleboo 10y ago
Isn't it the same situation with Chrome on Android?
madeofpalk 10y ago
Yup. Of course I realise that. But also I believe that implementation details of iTunes also shouldn't hold users (and/or developers) back. Safari Tech Preview was a huge surprise and an awesome leap for community engagement and awareness of upcoming works. But the realities are that "the industry" is moving ahead faster than Safari's (at best) twice-a-year release cycle. I can 1005 appreciate vendors taking time to let 'specs' 'settle', but Safari's comparatively infrequent cycle puts them at a weird pace.
- alwillis 10y ago
  The narrative that somehow Safari’s release cycle is causing major problems in the "industry" or that somehow, macOS and iOS users are being left behind is false, especially for everyday users. I use an old MacBook laptop running MacOS 10.7.5 with Safari 6.1.6, an ancient version of Safari by today's standards--about four years old--when I'm out and about. Otherwise, I'm using macOS Sierra with Safari 10.x on two different iMacs. On the MacBook I use Facebook, Slack and many other websites without a problem. I get a warning banner on Gmail that says my version of Safari is no longer supported; other than a few cosmetic issues, I can send and receive email just fine. The point: web developers have long figured out how to deal with multiple browsers across different platforms with different capabilities. Many differences and bugs have polyfills; it's not a show stopper. Look, there are major features and minor ones; Safari has been at the leading edge with support for CSS Grids, wide-gamut color support, variable fonts, 100% of ES6, CSS Snap Points in addition to rendering speed and power efficiency. There certainly have been calls to reduce the pace of new specs and releases so we developers can catch their breath and so that Apple, Google and Mozilla can release quality implementations--there's nothing wrong with that.

kalleboo 10y ago

Isn't it the same situation with Chrome on Android?

madeofpalk 10y ago

Yup. Of course I realise that. But also I believe that implementation details of iTunes also shouldn't hold users (and/or developers) back. Safari Tech Preview was a huge surprise and an awesome leap for community engagement and awareness of upcoming works. But the realities are that "the industry" is moving ahead faster than Safari's (at best) twice-a-year release cycle. I can 1005 appreciate vendors taking time to let 'specs' 'settle', but Safari's comparatively infrequent cycle puts them at a weird pace.

alwillis 10y ago
The narrative that somehow Safari’s release cycle is causing major problems in the "industry" or that somehow, macOS and iOS users are being left behind is false, especially for everyday users. I use an old MacBook laptop running MacOS 10.7.5 with Safari 6.1.6, an ancient version of Safari by today's standards--about four years old--when I'm out and about. Otherwise, I'm using macOS Sierra with Safari 10.x on two different iMacs. On the MacBook I use Facebook, Slack and many other websites without a problem. I get a warning banner on Gmail that says my version of Safari is no longer supported; other than a few cosmetic issues, I can send and receive email just fine. The point: web developers have long figured out how to deal with multiple browsers across different platforms with different capabilities. Many differences and bugs have polyfills; it's not a show stopper. Look, there are major features and minor ones; Safari has been at the leading edge with support for CSS Grids, wide-gamut color support, variable fonts, 100% of ES6, CSS Snap Points in addition to rendering speed and power efficiency. There certainly have been calls to reduce the pace of new specs and releases so we developers can catch their breath and so that Apple, Google and Mozilla can release quality implementations--there's nothing wrong with that.