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Looks like it might be a nice app. I wonder if Chrome will ever be released for iOS? I've been using a 3rd-party web browser on iPad called "Atomic Web" and i

Looks like it might be a nice app. I wonder if Chrome will ever be released for iOS? I've been using a 3rd-party web browser on iPad called "Atomic Web" and it is pretty nice. Of course it uses the WebKit engine to render, but it has ad-block, real tabs, privacy mode, and can do user-agent switching to make mobile websites render properly. For 99 cents it's a worthy purchase.

mbrubeck 16y ago
Neither Chrome nor Firefox can be released for iOS in anything like their current form (at least through the App Store). The current current SDK agreement forbids interpreters, which means Google can't ship V8, and Mozilla can't ship Tracemonkey. All browsers in the App Store must use Apple's interpreters or none at all (like Opera Mini, which does its rendering on a server-side proxy and can't run JavaScript on the client).
- doublec 16y ago
  Even if it allowed interpreters the iOS doesn't allow just in time compiling - you can't dynamically generate and execute code. This means V8 can't be used since it doesn't have an interpreter and Trace Monkey would do no tracing.
- borisk 16y ago
  "with Apple’s prior written consent, an Application may use embedded interpreted code" - from the dev agreement. A few games have been approved to host an interpreter. So it's just a matter of Apple deciding if they want fully featured Firefox, Chrome, Opera or not.
  - mbrubeck 16y ago
    You left out part of it: "Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Application may use embedded interpreted code in a limited way if such use is solely for providing minor features or functionality that are consistent with the intended and advertised purpose of the Application." You might argue that executing JavaScript is a "minor feature" of a web browser. Then maybe Chrome would be allowed. But almost of Firefox's frontend is also written in JavaScript and tied to Mozilla's JavaScript engine. So there's no way that we (mobile Firefox) fall within the "in a limited way..." allowance.
  - thought_alarm 16y ago
    A 3rd-party rendering engine is a security liability that Apple cannot control, therefore they won't allow it.
  - cmelbye 16y ago
    They've approved interpreters for games for code that was written by the developers. I can't see them allowing an app that has a custom interpreter that users can use to run arbitrary code.
  - jistein 16y ago
    Apple would never allow it.

mbrubeck 16y ago

Neither Chrome nor Firefox can be released for iOS in anything like their current form (at least through the App Store). The current current SDK agreement forbids interpreters, which means Google can't ship V8, and Mozilla can't ship Tracemonkey. All browsers in the App Store must use Apple's interpreters or none at all (like Opera Mini, which does its rendering on a server-side proxy and can't run JavaScript on the client).

doublec 16y ago
Even if it allowed interpreters the iOS doesn't allow just in time compiling - you can't dynamically generate and execute code. This means V8 can't be used since it doesn't have an interpreter and Trace Monkey would do no tracing.
borisk 16y ago
"with Apple’s prior written consent, an Application may use embedded interpreted code" - from the dev agreement. A few games have been approved to host an interpreter. So it's just a matter of Apple deciding if they want fully featured Firefox, Chrome, Opera or not.
- mbrubeck 16y ago
  You left out part of it: "Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Application may use embedded interpreted code in a limited way if such use is solely for providing minor features or functionality that are consistent with the intended and advertised purpose of the Application." You might argue that executing JavaScript is a "minor feature" of a web browser. Then maybe Chrome would be allowed. But almost of Firefox's frontend is also written in JavaScript and tied to Mozilla's JavaScript engine. So there's no way that we (mobile Firefox) fall within the "in a limited way..." allowance.
- thought_alarm 16y ago
  A 3rd-party rendering engine is a security liability that Apple cannot control, therefore they won't allow it.
- cmelbye 16y ago
  They've approved interpreters for games for code that was written by the developers. I can't see them allowing an app that has a custom interpreter that users can use to run arbitrary code.
- jistein 16y ago
  Apple would never allow it.