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>probably totally follows apples rules. I've only ever used Android, so I'm ignorant here to how iOS operates and, to a certain extent, the rules Apple has in

>probably totally follows apples rules. I've only ever used Android, so I'm ignorant here to how iOS operates and, to a certain extent, the rules Apple has in place around this sort of thing. I would think, though, that this sentence is key: >The Facebook app gets around Apple privacy rules by opening web links in an in-app browser, rather than the user’s default browser, according to Wednesday’s complaint. If FB is supposed to follow iOS settings by opening links in the default browser set by the user, but is intentionally not doing that here so that they can maximize the data they collect, then yeah they'd be breaking rules.

codazoda 4y ago
I don't think there's any such rule. Ton's of apps open things in their own browser instead of leaving the app.
- jjulius 4y ago
  Thanks for clarifying! :)
- jefftk 4y ago
  I do wish there were such a rule, though, on both iOS and Android!
jclardy 4y ago
The "in-app browser" is Safari, not their own rendering engine (Which is explicitly disallowed.) The difference between in-app safari and external...is that the app can get callbacks for every link tapped within the in-app browser, and the app itself can inject javascript into each web page it loads, which essentially means unlimited perfect tracking for social networks (Since the user is already logged in to the app.) This sounds bad...but the integrated webview is necessary for things like Cordova/Ionic/React Native/etc to exist on the platform. It's also a byproduct of iOS's pre-multitasking days where launching out to Safari was a big context change, vs now where you can just swipe back to the app you were in.
- eclipxe 4y ago
  You’re right but also note that React Native does not render in a WebView like Cordova. React Native renders native components.
ascagnel_ 4y ago
> If FB is supposed to follow iOS settings by opening links in the default browser set by the user, but is intentionally not doing that here so that they can maximize the data they collect, then yeah they'd be breaking rules. Users can't set a default browser on iOS. Apps can choose to open URLs in one of two in-app webviews (the old WKWebView or the newer SafariViewController), or they can use the "universal links" option to allow the system to open a URL (which can be redirected to another native app, should one be available to handle the domain). While SafariViewController is more full-featured (it forces the use of the system default share control and shows the URL), a lot of sketchier apps prefer to use the older WKWebView (where they can better customize the UI, hide system default controls, and hide the URL). Since WKWebView hides the URL, you can somewhat transparently route users through tracking domains (something I already observed Twitter doing), which may also be the vector Meta is using to inject JS. All this said, the visual customization of WKWebView also has a legitimate use: many apps use it for showing regular in-app screens, not just for an internal browser. Well-made third-party apps (Tweetbot for Twitter, Apollo for Reddit) generally let the user choose between SVC or just letting the system handle the URL, because they're not interested in monetizing user data in the same way.
- surewe 4y ago
  > Users can't set a default browser on iOS. Yes they can, starting with iOS 14: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336
  - sologoub 4y ago
    That’s just the app itself, not the actual browser engine - under the hood it’s still WebKit (what Safari uses) and not Chrome or any other browser engine: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit#Use https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit#Use iOS doesn’t allow anything other than WebKit webviews described above. Android does support others, but that’s a different story.
    - surewe 4y ago
      That's not what the question/context was -- it was specifically talking about which app (e.g. Safari, Chrome, Firefox, whatever) is used to open links from apps. No clue why I was downvoted for saying that, which was a perfectly valid answer in that context.

codazoda 4y ago

I don't think there's any such rule. Ton's of apps open things in their own browser instead of leaving the app.

jjulius 4y ago
Thanks for clarifying! :)
jefftk 4y ago
I do wish there were such a rule, though, on both iOS and Android!

jclardy 4y ago

The "in-app browser" is Safari, not their own rendering engine (Which is explicitly disallowed.) The difference between in-app safari and external...is that the app can get callbacks for every link tapped within the in-app browser, and the app itself can inject javascript into each web page it loads, which essentially means unlimited perfect tracking for social networks (Since the user is already logged in to the app.) This sounds bad...but the integrated webview is necessary for things like Cordova/Ionic/React Native/etc to exist on the platform. It's also a byproduct of iOS's pre-multitasking days where launching out to Safari was a big context change, vs now where you can just swipe back to the app you were in.

eclipxe 4y ago
You’re right but also note that React Native does not render in a WebView like Cordova. React Native renders native components.

ascagnel_ 4y ago

> If FB is supposed to follow iOS settings by opening links in the default browser set by the user, but is intentionally not doing that here so that they can maximize the data they collect, then yeah they'd be breaking rules. Users can't set a default browser on iOS. Apps can choose to open URLs in one of two in-app webviews (the old WKWebView or the newer SafariViewController), or they can use the "universal links" option to allow the system to open a URL (which can be redirected to another native app, should one be available to handle the domain). While SafariViewController is more full-featured (it forces the use of the system default share control and shows the URL), a lot of sketchier apps prefer to use the older WKWebView (where they can better customize the UI, hide system default controls, and hide the URL). Since WKWebView hides the URL, you can somewhat transparently route users through tracking domains (something I already observed Twitter doing), which may also be the vector Meta is using to inject JS. All this said, the visual customization of WKWebView also has a legitimate use: many apps use it for showing regular in-app screens, not just for an internal browser. Well-made third-party apps (Tweetbot for Twitter, Apollo for Reddit) generally let the user choose between SVC or just letting the system handle the URL, because they're not interested in monetizing user data in the same way.

surewe 4y ago
> Users can't set a default browser on iOS. Yes they can, starting with iOS 14: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211336
- sologoub 4y ago
  That’s just the app itself, not the actual browser engine - under the hood it’s still WebKit (what Safari uses) and not Chrome or any other browser engine: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit#Use https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit#Use iOS doesn’t allow anything other than WebKit webviews described above. Android does support others, but that’s a different story.
  - surewe 4y ago
    That's not what the question/context was -- it was specifically talking about which app (e.g. Safari, Chrome, Firefox, whatever) is used to open links from apps. No clue why I was downvoted for saying that, which was a perfectly valid answer in that context.