6 ms·

All browsers on iOS are based on WebKit. It’s an Apple requirement.

• MBCook 5y ago
  That’s not exactly true. They’re not based on Safari, they ARE Safari. The browser maker controls the chrome and can add some kids of features (bookmark/history sync, password management/etc.) but they can’t modify the rendering engine outside of any hooks Apple provides them. It’s not like when Google forked WebKit to make Chrome on the desktop and could truly modify it. On iOS you can’t add new tags or syntax, as a simple example.
  • yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    That makes them WebKit, not Safari; they share the engine, not the chrome.
  • freediver 5y ago
    It is a common misconception. Browser != rendering engine. It takes tremendous effort to build an iOS browser even when you have WebKit as given as you need to build every single browser feature from scratch. "Open in new tab"? "Favorites"? "Download file"? "Switch tabs"? "Find on page"? All of them need to be built. I know because we are building one. Chrome on iOS can do pretty much everything it needs to do - settings, telemetry, sync, any kind of custom browser chrome and features and is a _very_ different browser than Safari in many important aspects. For a few that particularly matter to user - consistency of web page rendering, performance and battery life - the user is actually better off as they get a rendering engine built by the phone manufacturer.
    • ladon86 5y ago
      > the user is actually better off as they get a rendering engine built by the phone manufacturer But also worse off, because features like WebGL2 are released literally 5 years after other browsers supported them.
      • freediver 5y ago
        It is a balance you have to strike. The benefits are very strong IMO.