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But Apple also thinks the browser is the single most important piece of software on iOS. Because of that, they don't want to be dependent on a third party. They

by ralfd 14y ago

But Apple also thinks the browser is the single most important piece of software on iOS. Because of that, they don't want to be dependent on a third party. They want to have their own optimized webkit engine used, so the users have the best experience. And it worked at least for the last 5 years, I greatly preferred Safari or iCab on iOS to the Android browsers.

revorad 14y ago
If you don't have any real options other than IE, you cannot imagine a Firefox is possible. Microsoft : IE :: Apple : Safari
- Tloewald 14y ago
  Except Safari is built on an open source core that powers Chrome, AIR, Silk, etc.
  - khuey 14y ago
    There are parts of the Safari that ships on iOS that are not open source (e.g. the bits that implement text-size-adjust).
- ralfd 14y ago
  The triumvirat of the future Web: Microsoft : IE :: Apple : Safari :: Google : Chrome It will be a hard place for Firefox and Opera. I read the blog post again, and I understand it so, that Mozilla can make a Windows 8 RT (ARM) version of Firefox, but only in a sandboxed version (no plugins/extensions?) and without access to the classic environment. So Microsoft is more lenient than Apple, but the result is perhaps the same, that it will be too tough to compete with the built in IE browser and its privileged features.
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    Mozilla can't make web applications run fast because they aren't allowed to JIT JavaScript code. That is by far the most important thing (and it's true on both iOS and Windows RT).
pmjordan 14y ago
While Mobile Safari was a trailblazer in terms of mobile browser experience, I get the impression Apple no longer cares about it since doing a 180 from their "no native apps" stance. It's phenomenal how often that thing crashes on my iPad (and just as often, apps displaying web pages inline via a UIWebView). I've had a look around to see if there are any alternatives for jailbroken devices, but all the other "browsers" seem to be UIWebView based. At least, leaving aside Opera Mini, which has its uses, but isn't really a full browser. Having a working Gecko or Chrome port or so would be a reason for me to jailbreak (or install it myself every 3 months via ad-hoc distribution using my developer account).

by ralfd 14y ago

revorad 14y ago

If you don't have any real options other than IE, you cannot imagine a Firefox is possible. Microsoft : IE :: Apple : Safari

Tloewald 14y ago
Except Safari is built on an open source core that powers Chrome, AIR, Silk, etc.
- khuey 14y ago
  There are parts of the Safari that ships on iOS that are not open source (e.g. the bits that implement text-size-adjust).
ralfd 14y ago
The triumvirat of the future Web: Microsoft : IE :: Apple : Safari :: Google : Chrome It will be a hard place for Firefox and Opera. I read the blog post again, and I understand it so, that Mozilla can make a Windows 8 RT (ARM) version of Firefox, but only in a sandboxed version (no plugins/extensions?) and without access to the classic environment. So Microsoft is more lenient than Apple, but the result is perhaps the same, that it will be too tough to compete with the built in IE browser and its privileged features.
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  Mozilla can't make web applications run fast because they aren't allowed to JIT JavaScript code. That is by far the most important thing (and it's true on both iOS and Windows RT).

pmjordan 14y ago

While Mobile Safari was a trailblazer in terms of mobile browser experience, I get the impression Apple no longer cares about it since doing a 180 from their "no native apps" stance. It's phenomenal how often that thing crashes on my iPad (and just as often, apps displaying web pages inline via a UIWebView). I've had a look around to see if there are any alternatives for jailbroken devices, but all the other "browsers" seem to be UIWebView based. At least, leaving aside Opera Mini, which has its uses, but isn't really a full browser. Having a working Gecko or Chrome port or so would be a reason for me to jailbreak (or install it myself every 3 months via ad-hoc distribution using my developer account).