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IMO it seems like "all browsers on iOS are Safari" isn't that big of a deal because 'browsers' on iOS still get to throw all their own features and sync service

by judge2020 5y ago

IMO it seems like "all browsers on iOS are Safari" isn't that big of a deal because 'browsers' on iOS still get to throw all their own features and sync services into their browser app. It'd be like saying you wish you didn't have to use Windows' window APIs to create windows or wished you could avoid UIKit to do anything on iOS.

samwillis 5y ago
This is conflating "Browser Chrome/UI" and "Browser Rendering Engine", from a developers/business (and a web standards) perspective the rendering engine is what matters. From that perspective all bowsers "engines" on iOS are Safari/Webkit.
- judge2020 5y ago
  From a purely business standpoint, the UI really is all that matters. Users don't choose firefox over Chrome just because FF has CSS cascade layers[0] (for example), they choose it because they think the sync/PW manager is better for them, or they might like the look of it more compared to alternatives. 0: https://caniuse.com/css-cascade-layers https://caniuse.com/css-cascade-layers
  - debaserab2 5y ago
    No, they choose Chrome because it doesn't crash and pretty much works everywhere, which has everything to do with the underlying tech.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
      Firefox doesn't crash and pretty much works everywhere, and Safari doesn't crash (although it only works on Darwin); that doesn't sound like a differentiator.
      - yellowapple 5y ago
        > Firefox doesn't crash and pretty much works everywhere Hell, it works more "everywhere" than Chromium (let alone Chrome) does.
        debaserab2 5y ago
        Not in my experience. Developers develop for chromium, I find many more rendering issues with Firefox's rendering engine than I do Chrome's.
        yellowapple 5y ago
        I meant more in the sense of operating system + hardware combinations on which you can compile/install/run Firefox.
  - samwillis 5y ago
    That might well be why a user chooses it, even on iOS. But from my perspective as a business owner and developer, on iOS Chrome is Safari no matter what. When I test my site for use on iOS, I test in Safari. Which variant they use is irrelevant.

samwillis 5y ago

This is conflating "Browser Chrome/UI" and "Browser Rendering Engine", from a developers/business (and a web standards) perspective the rendering engine is what matters. From that perspective all bowsers "engines" on iOS are Safari/Webkit.

judge2020 5y ago
From a purely business standpoint, the UI really is all that matters. Users don't choose firefox over Chrome just because FF has CSS cascade layers[0] (for example), they choose it because they think the sync/PW manager is better for them, or they might like the look of it more compared to alternatives. 0: https://caniuse.com/css-cascade-layers https://caniuse.com/css-cascade-layers
- debaserab2 5y ago
  No, they choose Chrome because it doesn't crash and pretty much works everywhere, which has everything to do with the underlying tech.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    Firefox doesn't crash and pretty much works everywhere, and Safari doesn't crash (although it only works on Darwin); that doesn't sound like a differentiator.
    - yellowapple 5y ago
      > Firefox doesn't crash and pretty much works everywhere Hell, it works more "everywhere" than Chromium (let alone Chrome) does.
      - debaserab2 5y ago
        Not in my experience. Developers develop for chromium, I find many more rendering issues with Firefox's rendering engine than I do Chrome's.
        yellowapple 5y ago
        I meant more in the sense of operating system + hardware combinations on which you can compile/install/run Firefox.
- samwillis 5y ago
  That might well be why a user chooses it, even on iOS. But from my perspective as a business owner and developer, on iOS Chrome is Safari no matter what. When I test my site for use on iOS, I test in Safari. Which variant they use is irrelevant.