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For starters, my argument is only about MobileSafari (MS) and home-screen web apps. If you read my other posts I think you'll see I have no issue with the idea

For starters, my argument is only about MobileSafari (MS) and home-screen web apps. If you read my other posts I think you'll see I have no issue with the idea that there may be a security issue with JIT. That is fine and acceptable. What I have an issue with is the idea that MobileSafari is somehow the safest place to put it. If there is a security issue, then MobileSafari is clearly the absolute least safe place to put it (vs homescreen web apps), since any malicious web page has access to it. That includes random ads loaded on otherwise safe web pages. The user is not prompted when entering a web page if they want to use Nitro or not, so basically anything goes on the open web. If a security flaw is discovered in Nitro, I have only to place it on an ad that gets deployed to popular sites to take advantage of it. And Apple's only recourse is to issue an entire system upgrade and hope people update. Home-screen web apps are thus at least as safe as MobileSafari, since they are literally just bookmarks that load web pages (in a different process and without chrome, but fundamentally the same, no access to any other native code or anything). They are in fact arguably more safe, because the user has to first grant it "home-screen" status. This is a sensible time to ask the user if this ONE app should deserve more privileges than the rest of the wild-west web. In other words, had apple done the opposite, ONLY allowing home-screen web apps access to Nitro, it would make a lot of security sense, especially because Apple could warn the user before they download the app saying "downloading this app gives it access to the special Nitro engine, which may be less secure...".

raganwald 16y ago
I am not arguing with you, I was only trying to distinguish between saying "Gruber could possibly be right, but I think he is wrong" and saying "Gruber can't possibly be right, and he ought to know better." The situation is complicated by the fact that he is reporting what Apple is doing and what he has been told is the motivation for doing so. So he could be right that Apple is doing this, but you assert that Apple is wrong. Or that Apple is doing this, but not for the reasons they give. You assert that there is no vulnerability in home screen apps wrapping UIWebView that isn't in Mobile Safari, and thus there is no downside to granting writeable code page permission to home screen apps. Ok, I think I understand what you are saying, why you are saying it, and what you would do in Apple's shoes.

raganwald 16y ago

I am not arguing with you, I was only trying to distinguish between saying "Gruber could possibly be right, but I think he is wrong" and saying "Gruber can't possibly be right, and he ought to know better." The situation is complicated by the fact that he is reporting what Apple is doing and what he has been told is the motivation for doing so. So he could be right that Apple is doing this, but you assert that Apple is wrong. Or that Apple is doing this, but not for the reasons they give. You assert that there is no vulnerability in home screen apps wrapping UIWebView that isn't in Mobile Safari, and thus there is no downside to granting writeable code page permission to home screen apps. Ok, I think I understand what you are saying, why you are saying it, and what you would do in Apple's shoes.