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On iOS, Chrome is Safari. Apple outright bans competing web browsers on its platform; what they allow is reskinned versions of Safari, which is basically a way

On iOS, Chrome is Safari. Apple outright bans competing web browsers on its platform; what they allow is reskinned versions of Safari, which is basically a way to allow Chrome and Firefox to save face and support bookmarks-syncing, but not a genuine alternative browser.

CharlesW 4y ago
That's like saying games that use Unreal Engine are basically reskins of each other. Yes, they both use WebKit, but as browsers they're quite different, and the data that Google collects when you're using Chrome is quite different than what it gets when you're using Safari.
- cassianoleal 4y ago
  I'm not sure to what extent this is true but here's an anecdote. The other day I was at the local climbing gym where they have a "Moonboard"-clone - basically a spraywall with LEDs so you can program different boulder problems by selecting holds and having their LEDs light up to indicate which are part of the problem. The application to control it is a web app. It didn't work for me on Safari, but it did on Firefox. I thought it could be some difference in configuration but another iOS user confirmed it worked for him on Firefox but not Safari on his phone either.
  - copperx 4y ago
    You need stronger evidence than an anecdote to suggest Gecko is running on iOS.
    - cassianoleal 4y ago
      Please point where in my post I made this claim before making accusations. I know for a fact that Firefox uses WebKit as a rendering engine on iOS. I'm just responding to the claim that "On iOS, Chrome is Safari" and "what they allow is reskinned versions of Safari, which is basically a way to allow Chrome and Firefox to save face and support bookmarks-syncing". I have given one example where Firefox behaves differently than Safari on iOS, and my experience was further validated by another iOS user who had never been able to use the system until I suggested they try Firefox. I have seen other websites that behave subtly different between the browsers. Orion is another example of a browser that behaves quite differently on iOS despite also using WebKit - which they also use on the desktop apps and those also behave differently from desktop Safari.

CharlesW 4y ago

That's like saying games that use Unreal Engine are basically reskins of each other. Yes, they both use WebKit, but as browsers they're quite different, and the data that Google collects when you're using Chrome is quite different than what it gets when you're using Safari.

cassianoleal 4y ago
I'm not sure to what extent this is true but here's an anecdote. The other day I was at the local climbing gym where they have a "Moonboard"-clone - basically a spraywall with LEDs so you can program different boulder problems by selecting holds and having their LEDs light up to indicate which are part of the problem. The application to control it is a web app. It didn't work for me on Safari, but it did on Firefox. I thought it could be some difference in configuration but another iOS user confirmed it worked for him on Firefox but not Safari on his phone either.
- copperx 4y ago
  You need stronger evidence than an anecdote to suggest Gecko is running on iOS.
  - cassianoleal 4y ago
    Please point where in my post I made this claim before making accusations. I know for a fact that Firefox uses WebKit as a rendering engine on iOS. I'm just responding to the claim that "On iOS, Chrome is Safari" and "what they allow is reskinned versions of Safari, which is basically a way to allow Chrome and Firefox to save face and support bookmarks-syncing". I have given one example where Firefox behaves differently than Safari on iOS, and my experience was further validated by another iOS user who had never been able to use the system until I suggested they try Firefox. I have seen other websites that behave subtly different between the browsers. Orion is another example of a browser that behaves quite differently on iOS despite also using WebKit - which they also use on the desktop apps and those also behave differently from desktop Safari.