4 ms·

So it sounds like the solution here is to not cater to Open Web Advocacy's particular flavor of advocacy as the article prescribes, but in fact, prohibit apps f

So it sounds like the solution here is to not cater to Open Web Advocacy's particular flavor of advocacy as the article prescribes, but in fact, prohibit apps from using any webview except the official one provided by the OS.

kelnos 4y ago
iOS already does this, and that hasn't solved the problem. The issue is that the system-provided webview (well, on iOS, one of the two of them) allows the native app full control over it. And on Android, that would mean Firefox couldn't use Gecko. Screw that.
- ocdtrekkie 4y ago
  See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32419845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32419845 iOS does have a restricted/safe webview experience, it just currently permits more custom ones. The solution presumably is to ban those.
the_gipsy 4y ago
Why do you come to that conclusion? The users want to open links in their browser - no matter if the link is in an email, chat message, or in an app.
- ocdtrekkie 4y ago
  That's a very large assumption, one I think is outright false considering the discussion I've read about this post. The issue is that apps are allowed to embed webviews to do malicious things.
  - the_gipsy 4y ago
    No, it's a large assumption that users want to open a link in an in-app browser. Why would they? On the other hand, there are clear motives for the app to keep users in the app as much as possible. Because the in-app browser in general is a degraded experience, for example being logged out of habitual websites, the user won't navigate the web as usual, and will soon return to the app. It's nothing but a dark pattern.
    - ocdtrekkie 4y ago
      Your opinion is in the minority, even among the very technical folks I've seen discussing this issue. It's entirely false to reclassify a feature many users want as a dark pattern. Let me give you an example personally: I want my RSS feed reader to use an in-app browser. Because unless I am going to get significantly more in depth, I just want to see the page content, and then swipe or back out to where I was in my feed very quickly.
      - the_gipsy 4y ago
        And I say you're the minority here, with that RSS example.

kelnos 4y ago

iOS already does this, and that hasn't solved the problem. The issue is that the system-provided webview (well, on iOS, one of the two of them) allows the native app full control over it. And on Android, that would mean Firefox couldn't use Gecko. Screw that.

ocdtrekkie 4y ago
See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32419845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32419845 iOS does have a restricted/safe webview experience, it just currently permits more custom ones. The solution presumably is to ban those.

the_gipsy 4y ago

Why do you come to that conclusion? The users want to open links in their browser - no matter if the link is in an email, chat message, or in an app.

ocdtrekkie 4y ago
That's a very large assumption, one I think is outright false considering the discussion I've read about this post. The issue is that apps are allowed to embed webviews to do malicious things.
- the_gipsy 4y ago
  No, it's a large assumption that users want to open a link in an in-app browser. Why would they? On the other hand, there are clear motives for the app to keep users in the app as much as possible. Because the in-app browser in general is a degraded experience, for example being logged out of habitual websites, the user won't navigate the web as usual, and will soon return to the app. It's nothing but a dark pattern.
  - ocdtrekkie 4y ago
    Your opinion is in the minority, even among the very technical folks I've seen discussing this issue. It's entirely false to reclassify a feature many users want as a dark pattern. Let me give you an example personally: I want my RSS feed reader to use an in-app browser. Because unless I am going to get significantly more in depth, I just want to see the page content, and then swipe or back out to where I was in my feed very quickly.
    - the_gipsy 4y ago
      And I say you're the minority here, with that RSS example.