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And its really just Safari. Apple forbids other browser engines in iOS so every third party browser in the app store is effectively a safari skin and not at all

And its really just Safari. Apple forbids other browser engines in iOS so every third party browser in the app store is effectively a safari skin and not at all related to the product's true codebase. Real Firefox uses the Gecko browser engine. iOS Firefox is webkit. To quote Apple's iOS dev guidelines: "2.5.6 Apps that browse the web must use the appropriate WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript." https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/ https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

stjohnswarts 5y ago
Sure but in my experience the sync, night mode, and ad blocking are a lot better in firefox, although it is definitely a bit slower because of javascript.
jonfw 5y ago
Most users don't care about the engine, they care about things like where your bookmarks are synched and configured, and the UI. This is like telling people that a lexus isn't a real luxury car, it's just a re-skinned toyota. Most people don't care- they just want materials, tech, and nice seats. The skin is the car
- thereddaikon 5y ago
  That's a debatable point but the result either way doesn't change the point of my comment. They were dismissing the parent comment because they didn't understand the true nature of what they were talking about.
- mywittyname 5y ago
  In this case, it's more like telling people that a particular Toyota was built by BMW. It might not seem relevant on the surface, but the underlying technical differences could pose an issue for certain user cases, thus it's an important consideration. Not all Firefox addons work with the iOS version just like not every Toyota dealership carries parts for a Zupr4.
- suby 5y ago
  The engine is a method for apple to maintain control over the entire ecosystem. Is a web standard developing which could threaten native ios apps? By maintaining control of the engine they can prevent the standard from threatening them. Users dont care about the engine until they cant use some web based thing because apple has decided so.

stjohnswarts 5y ago

Sure but in my experience the sync, night mode, and ad blocking are a lot better in firefox, although it is definitely a bit slower because of javascript.

jonfw 5y ago

Most users don't care about the engine, they care about things like where your bookmarks are synched and configured, and the UI. This is like telling people that a lexus isn't a real luxury car, it's just a re-skinned toyota. Most people don't care- they just want materials, tech, and nice seats. The skin is the car

thereddaikon 5y ago
That's a debatable point but the result either way doesn't change the point of my comment. They were dismissing the parent comment because they didn't understand the true nature of what they were talking about.
mywittyname 5y ago
In this case, it's more like telling people that a particular Toyota was built by BMW. It might not seem relevant on the surface, but the underlying technical differences could pose an issue for certain user cases, thus it's an important consideration. Not all Firefox addons work with the iOS version just like not every Toyota dealership carries parts for a Zupr4.
suby 5y ago
The engine is a method for apple to maintain control over the entire ecosystem. Is a web standard developing which could threaten native ios apps? By maintaining control of the engine they can prevent the standard from threatening them. Users dont care about the engine until they cant use some web based thing because apple has decided so.