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Not sure if I understand the issue (or it’s just been poorly explained): last time I checked I can still install alternative browsers like Chrome and Firefox. A
by vincentmarle 5y ago
Not sure if I understand the issue (or it’s just been poorly explained): last time I checked I can still install alternative browsers like Chrome and Firefox. And I can still save web apps as “bookmarked app icons”.
- paulryanrogers 5y agoThey're crippled by Safari's WebKit, not truly independent.
- mysterydip 5y agomy understanding is all other browsers on ios are just safari rendering wrappers with various skins, menu bars, and addons
- relyks 5y agoAll browsers on iOS use Apple's WebKit browsing engine. Even alternative browsers like Chrome and Firefox on iOS are using WebKit instead of their own corresponding engines that are used on other platforms like desktop and Android
- saurik 5y agoThis is a point so horribly misunderstood that I seriously had dinner a few weeks ago with someone from the Mozilla Foundation who asked me the same question as they somehow didn't understand that Firefox Focus wasn't actually Firefox. It was in that moment I realized that we're doomed: Apple has managed to control the narrative here so ridiculously well by making it seem like alternative browsers exist, even when they don't, that more time has to now be spent continually re-educating people about what a browser even is than explaining why alternative browsers are important :(.
- aluminum96 5y agoIn addition to being crippled under the hood, as other comments have pointed out, the alternative browsers cannot offer any extra features. Want WebMIDI? Want push notifications? Sorry, you can't have that on iOS, not with any browser.