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Google already does this in its iOS apps. When tapping a link in e.g. Gmail, it won’t just open your default browser, but instead open a menu asking you to choo

Google already does this in its iOS apps. When tapping a link in e.g. Gmail, it won’t just open your default browser, but instead open a menu asking you to choose your default browser or Chrome. It has a “remember this choice” toggle but it shouldn’t be there at all… just obey the OS default browser setting.

bushbaba 4y ago
Worse they don’t open the link in safari. Instead it’s a view in the gmail app so they can continue tracking your engagement.
- criddell 4y ago
  But the view is Safari, isn't it?
  - kitsunesoba 4y ago
    I just checked and yes, the "Safari" option pushes an SFSafariViewController onto the navigation stack, which is for all intents and purposes proper Safari. Google cannot see anything you do in it because it's handled entirely out-of-process and even uses a different container (cookies, etc) than the main Safari browser.
- SSLy 4y ago
  Facebook with all their apps and discord are guilty of this too
joshstrange 4y ago
Every single google search now has a modal that slides up from the bottom begging you to login to google. It's incredibly frustrating.
InitialLastName 4y ago
FWIW, Google apps also ignore the default browser setting on Android in favor of their embedded Chrome instance, and consistently "conveniently reset" the internal setting that would make it use the default browser.
concinds 4y ago
That's good. Choosing a default iOS browser is completely undiscoverable to average users, and unlike on Mac, can't be done within the browser itself. Try installing Chrome/Brave/Edge on iOS. They'll suggest setting them as default, and kick you to the Settings app. It's supposed to bring you to the Chrome/Brave/Edge app settings within Settings.app, where you can set the default browser; but 50% of the time, it'll fail, and will just open the Settings app without bringing you to your browser settings (you'll just be staring at whatever you were last doing in Settings.app, whether that's iCloud settings, manage storage, whatever you were last looking at). That bug has been there literally since Apple introduced default browser settings on iOS; maintaining it is clearly deliberate. It would be great if Apple built an identical menu to Google's into iOS when it detects multiple browsers are installed, and let users easily choose their default browser. Even better would be Windows XP-style "browser choice".
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  It's bad because it means that the moment that third party engines are allowed on iOS, Google apps are going to be strongly accelerating Blink/Chrome hegemony. Apple should be required to fix problems with the default browser settings pane while Google should be barred from promoting or favoring Chrome with its other apps and services.
  - concinds 4y ago
    > Google apps are going to be strongly accelerating Blink/Chrome hegemony Because they give the user choice? Again, this isn't just a problem with the "default browser settings pane". The first time an iOS user clicks a link, the OS should give them a list of all major browsers (like Windows XP was forced to by the EU) so that no browser is favored over another. That would be fair. Google's browser menu isn't a response to Apple's unfair default browser setting practices, but to Apple bundling Safari with iOS and unfairly advantaging it. Platform owners' browsers should ideally not be inherently favored, regardless of the platform's marketshare.
    - kitsunesoba 4y ago

bushbaba 4y ago

Worse they don’t open the link in safari. Instead it’s a view in the gmail app so they can continue tracking your engagement.

criddell 4y ago
But the view is Safari, isn't it?
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  I just checked and yes, the "Safari" option pushes an SFSafariViewController onto the navigation stack, which is for all intents and purposes proper Safari. Google cannot see anything you do in it because it's handled entirely out-of-process and even uses a different container (cookies, etc) than the main Safari browser.
SSLy 4y ago
Facebook with all their apps and discord are guilty of this too

joshstrange 4y ago

Every single google search now has a modal that slides up from the bottom begging you to login to google. It's incredibly frustrating.

InitialLastName 4y ago

FWIW, Google apps also ignore the default browser setting on Android in favor of their embedded Chrome instance, and consistently "conveniently reset" the internal setting that would make it use the default browser.

concinds 4y ago

That's good. Choosing a default iOS browser is completely undiscoverable to average users, and unlike on Mac, can't be done within the browser itself. Try installing Chrome/Brave/Edge on iOS. They'll suggest setting them as default, and kick you to the Settings app. It's supposed to bring you to the Chrome/Brave/Edge app settings within Settings.app, where you can set the default browser; but 50% of the time, it'll fail, and will just open the Settings app without bringing you to your browser settings (you'll just be staring at whatever you were last doing in Settings.app, whether that's iCloud settings, manage storage, whatever you were last looking at). That bug has been there literally since Apple introduced default browser settings on iOS; maintaining it is clearly deliberate. It would be great if Apple built an identical menu to Google's into iOS when it detects multiple browsers are installed, and let users easily choose their default browser. Even better would be Windows XP-style "browser choice".

kitsunesoba 4y ago
It's bad because it means that the moment that third party engines are allowed on iOS, Google apps are going to be strongly accelerating Blink/Chrome hegemony. Apple should be required to fix problems with the default browser settings pane while Google should be barred from promoting or favoring Chrome with its other apps and services.
- concinds 4y ago
  > Google apps are going to be strongly accelerating Blink/Chrome hegemony Because they give the user choice? Again, this isn't just a problem with the "default browser settings pane". The first time an iOS user clicks a link, the OS should give them a list of all major browsers (like Windows XP was forced to by the EU) so that no browser is favored over another. That would be fair. Google's browser menu isn't a response to Apple's unfair default browser setting practices, but to Apple bundling Safari with iOS and unfairly advantaging it. Platform owners' browsers should ideally not be inherently favored, regardless of the platform's marketshare.
  - kitsunesoba 4y ago