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My experience on iOS was that many application specific links were forcing the use of apple's apps, even if you have a third party app installed.

by beart 5y ago

dijit 5y ago
That only applied to the browser, calendar (and maybe the mail app, but I think that was always overridable), but this has changed now so you can choose default apps for all Apple built-ins. Most Apps seem to implement their own in-app browser (LinkedIn, Apollo) too.
- Steltek 5y ago
  So is the browser stuff fixed then? IIRC, "default browser" was left to individual apps and it was implemented as the app requesting a URI of https:// https:// or chromeHttps:// (or something like that. It was total Apple bullshit.
  - zagrebian 5y ago
    From my experience, it works well. I’ve set my default browser to Firefox, and links do open in Firefox indeed. Even when I’m in an in-app browser, and there’s a little Safari icon in the lower right corner, when I tap that icon, the link opens in Firefox. So the Safari button does not mean Safari but default browser. Pretty good.
    - toyg 5y ago
      Usual reminder that Firefox in iOS still means "Safari with a Firefox skin". But yes, it's an improvement, after "only" a decade of complaints about a clearly anticompetitive restriction.
      - dijit 5y ago
        isn't that just the JS engine though? And isn't that mostly because native access to the FPU in silicon is not made use of properly in V8? I remember someone had Chrome working on iOS but it was painfully slow. Apple has allowed arbitrary code execution before (Pythonista) so it's possible I guess. You can do your own rendering for sure.
        Steltek 5y ago
        Arbitrary code execution fell under an "educational" exemption, I think. Also, the app store review process is highly variable based on the reviewer. I'm not an iOS developer but I bet your paths into the JS engine API depends a lot on the web engine you're using. I know the in-app browser had two flavors of UI component with drastically different capabilities.
        zagrebian 5y ago
        > isn't that just the JS engine though? Mozilla develops the Gecko browser engine, but Firefox on iOS uses the WebKit browser engine provided by the system. If Mozilla were allowed to use Gecko on iOS, they would, trust me.
  - wlesieutre 5y ago
    Yes, iOS has default settings for http and mailto links as of iOS 14 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336

My experience on iOS was that many application specific links were forcing the use of apple's apps, even if you have a third party app installed.

by beart 5y ago

My experience on iOS was that many application specific links were forcing the use of apple's apps, even if you have a third party app installed.

dijit 5y ago

That only applied to the browser, calendar (and maybe the mail app, but I think that was always overridable), but this has changed now so you can choose default apps for all Apple built-ins. Most Apps seem to implement their own in-app browser (LinkedIn, Apollo) too.

Steltek 5y ago
So is the browser stuff fixed then? IIRC, "default browser" was left to individual apps and it was implemented as the app requesting a URI of https:// https:// or chromeHttps:// (or something like that. It was total Apple bullshit.
- zagrebian 5y ago
  From my experience, it works well. I’ve set my default browser to Firefox, and links do open in Firefox indeed. Even when I’m in an in-app browser, and there’s a little Safari icon in the lower right corner, when I tap that icon, the link opens in Firefox. So the Safari button does not mean Safari but default browser. Pretty good.
  - toyg 5y ago
    Usual reminder that Firefox in iOS still means "Safari with a Firefox skin". But yes, it's an improvement, after "only" a decade of complaints about a clearly anticompetitive restriction.
    - dijit 5y ago
      isn't that just the JS engine though? And isn't that mostly because native access to the FPU in silicon is not made use of properly in V8? I remember someone had Chrome working on iOS but it was painfully slow. Apple has allowed arbitrary code execution before (Pythonista) so it's possible I guess. You can do your own rendering for sure.
      - Steltek 5y ago
        Arbitrary code execution fell under an "educational" exemption, I think. Also, the app store review process is highly variable based on the reviewer. I'm not an iOS developer but I bet your paths into the JS engine API depends a lot on the web engine you're using. I know the in-app browser had two flavors of UI component with drastically different capabilities.
      - zagrebian 5y ago
        > isn't that just the JS engine though? Mozilla develops the Gecko browser engine, but Firefox on iOS uses the WebKit browser engine provided by the system. If Mozilla were allowed to use Gecko on iOS, they would, trust me.
- wlesieutre 5y ago
  Yes, iOS has default settings for http and mailto links as of iOS 14 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336