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After the recent Chrome debacles, I removed it from my systems (not that I was using it much before). On iOS, my go to browser is Firefox Focus, a single tab br

After the recent Chrome debacles, I removed it from my systems (not that I was using it much before). On iOS, my go to browser is Firefox Focus, a single tab browser that you treat as a private tab and erase quickly when you're done. It comes with a built in ad blocker too. Next in line for my use are Brave and Firefox. They're different, have good interfaces, and support multiple tabs. Last on my list is Safari. The only thing that sucks about browsers on iOS is that extensions are not supported by the platform. I'd love to have Firefox extensions work on it, but that seems as unlikely as having another browser/JS engine on the platform.

ericlewis 8y ago
It is unlikely to have another JS engine. But the JS engine is exposed for WKWebViews, where creating a shim layer could work perfectly fine for many extensions.
- bgdam 8y ago
  The issue is not the technical capability. It has been possible to inject javascript into web views in ios since ios 6 (at the least). The problem is that Apple App Store terms state that your app cannot download arbitrary pieces of code from the internet and run it, which is exactly what extensions are. The rule was relaxed recently, to allow for things like teaching programming apps for the iPad pro, but not for browsers.
walterbell 8y ago
iOS12 Shortcuts are a limited form of extension, they can parse JS from a web page and cause side effects. E.g. - extract URL and download youtube video to camera roll - move a running video out of browser into picture-in-picture mode for multitasking Content (ad) blocking extensions are supported in Safari.
- ghostly_s 8y ago
  Shortcuts can "parse JS from a web page"? Can you explain how that's possible? None of the examples you listed seem to involve direct access to page content.
  - walterbell 8y ago
    Here's the JS for PiP video, the shortcut command is "Run JS in web page": var videos = document.getElementsByTagName("video"); if (videos) { var video = videos[0]; video.webkitSetPresentationMode(video.webkitPresentationMode === "picture-in-picture" ? "inline" : "picture-in-picture"); } completion({"success": true});
pgm8705 8y ago
What are your main problems with Safari?
- michael_h 8y ago
  "A problem occurred with this webpage so it was reloaded"
  - eridius 8y ago
    All browsers on iOS must use the same WebKit rendering engine, and the error you quoted is quite rare in practice (I can't even remember the last time I saw it on iOS).
  - dionian 8y ago
    I use safari quite often and do not see this very often
- newscracker 8y ago
  Personal preferences, mainly. I don’t like the fact that I have to go to the Settings app to clear browsing history, for one.
ddalex 8y ago
On Android, at least, I could install and happily use uBlock Origin on Firefox.

ericlewis 8y ago

It is unlikely to have another JS engine. But the JS engine is exposed for WKWebViews, where creating a shim layer could work perfectly fine for many extensions.

bgdam 8y ago
The issue is not the technical capability. It has been possible to inject javascript into web views in ios since ios 6 (at the least). The problem is that Apple App Store terms state that your app cannot download arbitrary pieces of code from the internet and run it, which is exactly what extensions are. The rule was relaxed recently, to allow for things like teaching programming apps for the iPad pro, but not for browsers.

walterbell 8y ago

iOS12 Shortcuts are a limited form of extension, they can parse JS from a web page and cause side effects. E.g. - extract URL and download youtube video to camera roll - move a running video out of browser into picture-in-picture mode for multitasking Content (ad) blocking extensions are supported in Safari.

ghostly_s 8y ago
Shortcuts can "parse JS from a web page"? Can you explain how that's possible? None of the examples you listed seem to involve direct access to page content.
- walterbell 8y ago
  Here's the JS for PiP video, the shortcut command is "Run JS in web page": var videos = document.getElementsByTagName("video"); if (videos) { var video = videos[0]; video.webkitSetPresentationMode(video.webkitPresentationMode === "picture-in-picture" ? "inline" : "picture-in-picture"); } completion({"success": true});

pgm8705 8y ago

What are your main problems with Safari?

michael_h 8y ago
"A problem occurred with this webpage so it was reloaded"
- eridius 8y ago
  All browsers on iOS must use the same WebKit rendering engine, and the error you quoted is quite rare in practice (I can't even remember the last time I saw it on iOS).
- dionian 8y ago
  I use safari quite often and do not see this very often
newscracker 8y ago
Personal preferences, mainly. I don’t like the fact that I have to go to the Settings app to clear browsing history, for one.

ddalex 8y ago

On Android, at least, I could install and happily use uBlock Origin on Firefox.