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Apple disallows third-party web rendering engines. Google Chrome on iOS uses own networking stack. It is still a significant restriction, but it is rather unde

Apple disallows third-party web rendering engines. Google Chrome on iOS uses own networking stack. It is still a significant restriction, but it is rather understandable. Without it it could be just Blink everywhere at this point.

lern_too_spel 7y ago
> Without it it could be just Blink everywhere at this point. In what reality-distortioned universe is that worse than having a crippled web?
- saagarjha 7y ago
  Please don't call anything that's not Blink "a crippled web".
  - jamiesonbecker 7y ago
    I believe that OP is saying it would be preferable to have blink-everywhere than to have a deliberately-crippled Apple web browser with all other choices banned.
    - soapdog 7y ago
      I'm the OP and I am a Mozilla volunteer. I prefer a web with many engines, I want it to have WebKit, Blink, Gecko and more.
      - jamiesonbecker 7y ago
        Agreed. There is no choice with IOS: you choose the same WebKit that they've chosen, or Safari. One engine and version, or one browser using that one engine.
        millstone 7y ago
        Android is a web monoculture too. Non-Blink browsers on Android are at <1%.
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
        searchableguy 7y ago
        You can install any browser you want from playstore or outside of playstore. There are no restrictions on what you can and cannot have on your phone on android.
        fpoling 7y ago
        Yet non-default browsers on Android are non-existent. So in practice Android has the same web-engine mono-culture as iPhone. Given how successfully Google was able to ensure Blink domination on desktop and even more so on Android it is very understandable what Apple has done. And for me having at least 2 web engines on mobile is better than 1.
        lern_too_spel 7y ago
        In what reality-distortioned world is that worse than 0%? Also, several of those Blink-based browsers include additional non-Google-approved features, like Mozilla's own Firefox Focus, Samsung Browser, Edge, and Brave. I'd hardly call that a monoculture just because they share the same lineage.
      - lern_too_spel 7y ago
        Then you also prefer not to have those options banned.
cageface 7y ago
So it's not about what's best for the user but what's best for Apple? I wouldn't call that "understandable". All this is doing is contributing to webkit monoculture.
- Spivak 7y ago
  There's some irony that Apple forcing the use of Safari on iOS is creating a monoculture when, were the restriction lifted, everyone would be using Chrome.
  - cageface 7y ago
    If so it would be because users chose it and it would also help keep Firefox in the game which important to the long term health of the web.
  - zimpenfish 7y ago
    > everyone would be using Chrome. I'd be amazed if there were more than a tiny fraction of iOS/iPadOS users (of which there are hundreds of millions) who weren't perfectly ok with Mobile Safari for their everyday usage. [I'm probably the "target market" for Chrome (backend, occasionally frontend developer) and there's no way I'd have it on my phone. I only suffer the GMail app because they've made IMAP usage of gmail unreliable.]
    - kitsunesoba 7y ago
      It doesn’t matter what users choose, devs would badger users into using Chrome for their own convenience. It’d be the return of the “viewed best in” badges from the late 90s and early 00s.
- TheKarateKid 7y ago
  Remember, making everything a web app is Google's agenda because they benefit most from it.
  - NightlyDev 7y ago

lern_too_spel 7y ago

> Without it it could be just Blink everywhere at this point. In what reality-distortioned universe is that worse than having a crippled web?

saagarjha 7y ago
Please don't call anything that's not Blink "a crippled web".
- jamiesonbecker 7y ago
  I believe that OP is saying it would be preferable to have blink-everywhere than to have a deliberately-crippled Apple web browser with all other choices banned.
  - soapdog 7y ago
    I'm the OP and I am a Mozilla volunteer. I prefer a web with many engines, I want it to have WebKit, Blink, Gecko and more.
    - jamiesonbecker 7y ago
      Agreed. There is no choice with IOS: you choose the same WebKit that they've chosen, or Safari. One engine and version, or one browser using that one engine.
      - millstone 7y ago
        Android is a web monoculture too. Non-Blink browsers on Android are at <1%.
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
        searchableguy 7y ago
        You can install any browser you want from playstore or outside of playstore. There are no restrictions on what you can and cannot have on your phone on android.
        fpoling 7y ago
        Yet non-default browsers on Android are non-existent. So in practice Android has the same web-engine mono-culture as iPhone. Given how successfully Google was able to ensure Blink domination on desktop and even more so on Android it is very understandable what Apple has done. And for me having at least 2 web engines on mobile is better than 1.
        lern_too_spel 7y ago
        In what reality-distortioned world is that worse than 0%? Also, several of those Blink-based browsers include additional non-Google-approved features, like Mozilla's own Firefox Focus, Samsung Browser, Edge, and Brave. I'd hardly call that a monoculture just because they share the same lineage.
    - lern_too_spel 7y ago
      Then you also prefer not to have those options banned.

cageface 7y ago

So it's not about what's best for the user but what's best for Apple? I wouldn't call that "understandable". All this is doing is contributing to webkit monoculture.

Spivak 7y ago
There's some irony that Apple forcing the use of Safari on iOS is creating a monoculture when, were the restriction lifted, everyone would be using Chrome.
- cageface 7y ago
  If so it would be because users chose it and it would also help keep Firefox in the game which important to the long term health of the web.
- zimpenfish 7y ago
  > everyone would be using Chrome. I'd be amazed if there were more than a tiny fraction of iOS/iPadOS users (of which there are hundreds of millions) who weren't perfectly ok with Mobile Safari for their everyday usage. [I'm probably the "target market" for Chrome (backend, occasionally frontend developer) and there's no way I'd have it on my phone. I only suffer the GMail app because they've made IMAP usage of gmail unreliable.]
  - kitsunesoba 7y ago
    It doesn’t matter what users choose, devs would badger users into using Chrome for their own convenience. It’d be the return of the “viewed best in” badges from the late 90s and early 00s.
TheKarateKid 7y ago
Remember, making everything a web app is Google's agenda because they benefit most from it.
- NightlyDev 7y ago