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Interesting meta-observation - This thread is filled with people satisfied with this new web browser, and not a single mention of the engine. IMHO this apps ex

Interesting meta-observation - This thread is filled with people satisfied with this new web browser, and not a single mention of the engine. IMHO this apps existence proves that you can build a new web browser with innovative features on top of the engine restrictions on iOS, and consumers are not harmed because this runs WebKit.

cole-k 3y ago
If I may offer an explanation, I think it's because the OP is upfront about the browser being about customization and personalization. I clicked on the link first thinking "another reskin" and expecting to see the comments you were probably also expecting. When I saw that being a good reskin was the whole point my attitude changed. (somewhat orthogonal to this post): Although I think your meta-observation is also true for other browsers like Brave (which I've seen gaining traction recently). While I bet a power user on HN could go and make chromium (or firefox) comparable, would it look the same? Would it be as easy as just installing a new one? Although although I think a lot of the "reskin" complainers are sad or upset that chromium is dominating (has dominated?) the web, and I can commiserate with them.
hahn-kev 3y ago
Except it still sucks to develop websites for it and they often get a worse experience because of that.
nckh 3y ago
100% agree. WebKit is incredible, and people underestimate all the great things you get out of the box for free. That means more time to experiment with creating something different around the web views.
- jwells89 3y ago
  Yeah, as someone who’s built a WebKit browser for kicks in the past, WebKit is designed to have applications built around it and you can definitely feel that when working with it. It may have changed since then, but last I knew a good example of this is its multiprocess architecture. In WebKit, that’s part of the engine while with Blink it’s part of the browser. So while using WebKit gets you multiprocess regardless of how your app is built, if you’re using Blink you need to bring Chromium along for the ride or roll your own to get that. And of course Gecko is joined at the hip with XUL, so to do anything with it your only real choice is fork Firefox. Really hoping Ladybird turns out well and/or Servo takes off because there’s a dearth of properly embeddable web engines right now.
Etheryte 3y ago
I'm not sure if this observation is as novel as you make it sound: every product that's successful is so because of what it does, not because of the technology it's built on. Your SaaS/webshop/etc can be powered by scribbles on the back of a napkin, as long as it does what the customers need they don't care.
- madeofpalk 3y ago
  Well, yeah I didn’t think it was particularly novel, and it reaffirmed my belief that iOS restricting non-WebKit browsers isn’t actually a big issue. I was genuinely surprised to find no other mention of the engine restrictions in the comments though!
  - lern_too_spel 3y ago
    The commenters in a story about an iOS app won't know what they're missing by not having access to non-Webkit browsers, which is one reason they use iOS to begin with.

cole-k 3y ago

If I may offer an explanation, I think it's because the OP is upfront about the browser being about customization and personalization. I clicked on the link first thinking "another reskin" and expecting to see the comments you were probably also expecting. When I saw that being a good reskin was the whole point my attitude changed. (somewhat orthogonal to this post): Although I think your meta-observation is also true for other browsers like Brave (which I've seen gaining traction recently). While I bet a power user on HN could go and make chromium (or firefox) comparable, would it look the same? Would it be as easy as just installing a new one? Although although I think a lot of the "reskin" complainers are sad or upset that chromium is dominating (has dominated?) the web, and I can commiserate with them.

hahn-kev 3y ago

Except it still sucks to develop websites for it and they often get a worse experience because of that.

nckh 3y ago

100% agree. WebKit is incredible, and people underestimate all the great things you get out of the box for free. That means more time to experiment with creating something different around the web views.

jwells89 3y ago
Yeah, as someone who’s built a WebKit browser for kicks in the past, WebKit is designed to have applications built around it and you can definitely feel that when working with it. It may have changed since then, but last I knew a good example of this is its multiprocess architecture. In WebKit, that’s part of the engine while with Blink it’s part of the browser. So while using WebKit gets you multiprocess regardless of how your app is built, if you’re using Blink you need to bring Chromium along for the ride or roll your own to get that. And of course Gecko is joined at the hip with XUL, so to do anything with it your only real choice is fork Firefox. Really hoping Ladybird turns out well and/or Servo takes off because there’s a dearth of properly embeddable web engines right now.

Etheryte 3y ago

I'm not sure if this observation is as novel as you make it sound: every product that's successful is so because of what it does, not because of the technology it's built on. Your SaaS/webshop/etc can be powered by scribbles on the back of a napkin, as long as it does what the customers need they don't care.

madeofpalk 3y ago
Well, yeah I didn’t think it was particularly novel, and it reaffirmed my belief that iOS restricting non-WebKit browsers isn’t actually a big issue. I was genuinely surprised to find no other mention of the engine restrictions in the comments though!
- lern_too_spel 3y ago
  The commenters in a story about an iOS app won't know what they're missing by not having access to non-Webkit browsers, which is one reason they use iOS to begin with.