5 ms·

Easy, stop supporting Safari. No-one cares when IE support is dropped (people usually cheer for this) and user needs to download and install another browser. So

by dmz73 5y ago

Easy, stop supporting Safari. No-one cares when IE support is dropped (people usually cheer for this) and user needs to download and install another browser. So, stop supporting Safari and concentrate on Chrome (I use Firefox but their market share is even smaller so who cares). If enough people show they don't support Safari, THEN Apple will listen. If you keep complaining about having to support Safari then why would Apple care? Not only are you doing all the work for free, you are paying them money for their devices and software.

kabes 5y ago
On iOS you don't have a choice other than Safari (other browsers are just wrappers around safari die to Apple policies). And most of us can't afford to drop iOS support (and most of us aren't even in the position to make that call).
WA 5y ago
Chrome has other issues once in a while as well. Ironically, they broke IndexedDB in 2018 when a device had less than 1 GB of available space (which happened surprisingly often in 2018 on Android). A few months ago, Chrome broke all WebView-based apps. Fortunately, they fixed it within a day. The IndexedDb bug was fixed after 6 weeks.
- pier25 5y ago
  The difference is Apple doesn't care about reported WK bugs. I reported a bug in 2016 and it's still open. Another bug I reported in early 2020 doesn't even have an answer from the team.
pzo 5y ago
Any browser on iOS must use safari browser engine (otherwise won't be approved in app store) - the same issue will arise while using Chrome or Firefox on iPhone. Unless you can afford not support iOS/iPadOS users, devs have not choice but complain about bugs.
- ajuc 5y ago
  > Any browser on iOS must use safari browser engine (otherwise won't be approved in app store) How can they get away with this? That's like 10 times worse than what Microsoft was doing with ie in 00s and they got fined over it so many times.
  - quenix 5y ago
    Not Safari per se. All App Store browsers must use Safari’s engine, WebKit.
  - davej 5y ago
    Mostly because iOS isn’t the market leader (and they don’t want to be).
    - wayneftw 5y ago
      In the US they are the market leader in both profit and volume [0]. [0] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-states-of-america https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-sta...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - agust 5y ago
    Because this is a bit technical and regulators are not aware of it and its tremendous implications. Hopefully the anti-trust investigations in the US, the EU and other parts of the world will change that...
    - handrous 5y ago
      The "tremendous implication" is that it forces developers to test on two browsers (mobile Safari, Chrome) rather than just one. It's the only reason Google is just mostly, rather than entirely, dictating the direction of the Web.
rimliu 5y ago
Yes, make Chrome the next IE. I wonder whther things that "do not work on Safari" are alredy Chrome specific.
- Kipters 5y ago
  On the market-strangling side, Chrome is already the next IE6. On the stuck-in-the-past-and-always-broken side, Safari is the next IE6.
Rumudiez 5y ago
The thing is, Apple WANTS us all to stop supporting Safari. It doesn’t help them make money to keep maintaining and extending WebKit to compete with the other browsers. Their (shareholders’) goal is to get more app purchases. I think the only realizable solution is something like antitrust litigation or class action lawsuit to allow web browser competition on iOS, allowing Firefox and Chrome to outcompete Safari. Then we can all drop support and give them the middle finger like IE
- tyingq 5y ago
  I agree that there seems to be no incentive for Apple to keep Safari up to date with features that make native-like web apps possible. I suppose if they feel like they are big enough to bully websites into just working around long standing bugs, that may be intentional as well.

by dmz73 5y ago

kabes 5y ago

On iOS you don't have a choice other than Safari (other browsers are just wrappers around safari die to Apple policies). And most of us can't afford to drop iOS support (and most of us aren't even in the position to make that call).

WA 5y ago

Chrome has other issues once in a while as well. Ironically, they broke IndexedDB in 2018 when a device had less than 1 GB of available space (which happened surprisingly often in 2018 on Android). A few months ago, Chrome broke all WebView-based apps. Fortunately, they fixed it within a day. The IndexedDb bug was fixed after 6 weeks.

pier25 5y ago
The difference is Apple doesn't care about reported WK bugs. I reported a bug in 2016 and it's still open. Another bug I reported in early 2020 doesn't even have an answer from the team.

pzo 5y ago

Any browser on iOS must use safari browser engine (otherwise won't be approved in app store) - the same issue will arise while using Chrome or Firefox on iPhone. Unless you can afford not support iOS/iPadOS users, devs have not choice but complain about bugs.

ajuc 5y ago
> Any browser on iOS must use safari browser engine (otherwise won't be approved in app store) How can they get away with this? That's like 10 times worse than what Microsoft was doing with ie in 00s and they got fined over it so many times.
- quenix 5y ago
  Not Safari per se. All App Store browsers must use Safari’s engine, WebKit.
- davej 5y ago
  Mostly because iOS isn’t the market leader (and they don’t want to be).
  - wayneftw 5y ago
    In the US they are the market leader in both profit and volume [0]. [0] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-states-of-america https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-sta...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- agust 5y ago
  Because this is a bit technical and regulators are not aware of it and its tremendous implications. Hopefully the anti-trust investigations in the US, the EU and other parts of the world will change that...
  - handrous 5y ago
    The "tremendous implication" is that it forces developers to test on two browsers (mobile Safari, Chrome) rather than just one. It's the only reason Google is just mostly, rather than entirely, dictating the direction of the Web.

rimliu 5y ago

Yes, make Chrome the next IE. I wonder whther things that "do not work on Safari" are alredy Chrome specific.

Kipters 5y ago
On the market-strangling side, Chrome is already the next IE6. On the stuck-in-the-past-and-always-broken side, Safari is the next IE6.

Rumudiez 5y ago

The thing is, Apple WANTS us all to stop supporting Safari. It doesn’t help them make money to keep maintaining and extending WebKit to compete with the other browsers. Their (shareholders’) goal is to get more app purchases. I think the only realizable solution is something like antitrust litigation or class action lawsuit to allow web browser competition on iOS, allowing Firefox and Chrome to outcompete Safari. Then we can all drop support and give them the middle finger like IE

tyingq 5y ago
I agree that there seems to be no incentive for Apple to keep Safari up to date with features that make native-like web apps possible. I suppose if they feel like they are big enough to bully websites into just working around long standing bugs, that may be intentional as well.