4 ms·

(Mobile) Safari is well under way to become the new IE6, especially for older iOS devices that do not receive further updates. :(

by 0x0 12y ago

TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
"New IE6"? It gets new features.
- FreakyT 12y ago
  As that comment pointed out, once Apple decides that your device is "obsolete", it stops getting updates, so there are plenty of still-used iOS devices that will never have their Webkit versions updated. Personally, I suspect this lack of updates has less to do with actual obsoleteness and more to do with ensuring that you always buy the latest device. (Note that this isn't a problem unique to Apple -- many companies, including many Android OEMs, are even worse about it. I honestly feel like it should be illegal to sell hardware and never update it, but I'm really not sure how something like that could be enforced.)
  - thisjepisje 12y ago
    It's not unique to mobile devices either. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
    - melling 12y ago
      And desktops. IE8 still has almost 20% market share. https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=2&qpcustomd=0 https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qpr... XP looks like it will be with us long after people have upgraded to newer iPhones.
      - teamhappy 12y ago
        IE 8 has less than 5% in pretty much every other statistic. http://www.w3counter.com/trends http://www.w3counter.com/trends http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser-ww-monthly-201401-201501 http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser-ww-monthly-201401... https://www.stetic.com/market-share/browser/ https://www.stetic.com/market-share/browser/ http://clicky.com/marketshare/global/web-browsers/versions/ http://clicky.com/marketshare/global/web-browsers/versions/
        melling 12y ago
        So, there's still an "IE6" effect, right. More so than an iOS 6 effect? Web developers must test and fix for IE8.
        pjmlp 12y ago
        Those statics don't cover company internal websites.
  - yoz-y 12y ago
    This can be turned around and say that it is actually the progress of the web which is obsoleting the devices. Device manufacturers can not update the devices forever, although they could keep them updated a while longer.
    - smackfu 12y ago
      I can run modern Chrome on Windows XP despite Microsoft dropping support for that OS. I can't do the same for iOS 7. I can't even install a third-party browser engine due to Apple's rules (only a skin over WebKit is allowed.)
  - TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
    To be fair on Apple, they usually only drop devices once the OS wouldn't run performantly on them. The issue of non-updated devices used to plague Android far more than iOS. Also, you aren't describing IE6, then. You're describing IE. The issue of obsolete OSes not having new features? IE6/7/8/9/10 gave us that. But calling Safari IE6 is weird, there's no specific version. Apple didn't ever stop work on Safari.
- s_kilk 12y ago
  I think the point is that whatever features it doesn't get will be a millstone around developers necks for years to come, much like the situation with IE6. You'll be held back from using new web features widely because a significant chunk of the audience has a browser which won't support them.
pjmlp 12y ago
Pretty much it. Basically it is history repeating itself. Companies embraced IE 6 because it was quite good when it came out, they love to target single browsers and thus we deserved what we got. Younger developer generations bashed about IE6 all the time, embraced the Webkit gods, with the excuse that it is open source, forgetting that it doesn't matter if the user cannot update the browser. So here we are, with Webkit being the new IE 6.
- taf2 12y ago
  Thanks to Google and Android it's not anywhere near as bad as IE6. Apple is not 99% of the market and that is exactly what Android was designed to ensure.
  - pjmlp 12y ago
    No, exactly thanks to Google and Android is just as bad as IE6. When I do web development projects, most customers think Safari and Android use Webkit based browsers, so mobile === Webkit. Whithout understanding that Safari and Chrome aren't really 100% equal, that Chrome is no longer Webkit based, or that there are actually other alternatives. Thus making on their eyes Webkit the new IE6. Just as side note, on my home country, with a minimum wage of 450 euros, there are more Windows Phone devices than iOS ones.
JohnTHaller 12y ago
But, just like on Windows, you can install an alternative brows... oh... right.
legulere 12y ago
This is a pretty ridiculous claim considering that iPhones get updates for four years while android devices get updates for less then two years.

(Mobile) Safari is well under way to become the new IE6, especially for older iOS devices that do not receive further updates. :(

by 0x0 12y ago

(Mobile) Safari is well under way to become the new IE6, especially for older iOS devices that do not receive further updates. :(

TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago

"New IE6"? It gets new features.

FreakyT 12y ago
As that comment pointed out, once Apple decides that your device is "obsolete", it stops getting updates, so there are plenty of still-used iOS devices that will never have their Webkit versions updated. Personally, I suspect this lack of updates has less to do with actual obsoleteness and more to do with ensuring that you always buy the latest device. (Note that this isn't a problem unique to Apple -- many companies, including many Android OEMs, are even worse about it. I honestly feel like it should be illegal to sell hardware and never update it, but I'm really not sure how something like that could be enforced.)
- thisjepisje 12y ago
  It's not unique to mobile devices either. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
  - melling 12y ago
    And desktops. IE8 still has almost 20% market share. https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=2&qpcustomd=0 https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qpr... XP looks like it will be with us long after people have upgraded to newer iPhones.
    - teamhappy 12y ago
      IE 8 has less than 5% in pretty much every other statistic. http://www.w3counter.com/trends http://www.w3counter.com/trends http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser-ww-monthly-201401-201501 http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser-ww-monthly-201401... https://www.stetic.com/market-share/browser/ https://www.stetic.com/market-share/browser/ http://clicky.com/marketshare/global/web-browsers/versions/ http://clicky.com/marketshare/global/web-browsers/versions/
      - melling 12y ago
        So, there's still an "IE6" effect, right. More so than an iOS 6 effect? Web developers must test and fix for IE8.
      - pjmlp 12y ago
        Those statics don't cover company internal websites.
- yoz-y 12y ago
  This can be turned around and say that it is actually the progress of the web which is obsoleting the devices. Device manufacturers can not update the devices forever, although they could keep them updated a while longer.
  - smackfu 12y ago
    I can run modern Chrome on Windows XP despite Microsoft dropping support for that OS. I can't do the same for iOS 7. I can't even install a third-party browser engine due to Apple's rules (only a skin over WebKit is allowed.)
- TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
  To be fair on Apple, they usually only drop devices once the OS wouldn't run performantly on them. The issue of non-updated devices used to plague Android far more than iOS. Also, you aren't describing IE6, then. You're describing IE. The issue of obsolete OSes not having new features? IE6/7/8/9/10 gave us that. But calling Safari IE6 is weird, there's no specific version. Apple didn't ever stop work on Safari.
s_kilk 12y ago
I think the point is that whatever features it doesn't get will be a millstone around developers necks for years to come, much like the situation with IE6. You'll be held back from using new web features widely because a significant chunk of the audience has a browser which won't support them.

pjmlp 12y ago

Pretty much it. Basically it is history repeating itself. Companies embraced IE 6 because it was quite good when it came out, they love to target single browsers and thus we deserved what we got. Younger developer generations bashed about IE6 all the time, embraced the Webkit gods, with the excuse that it is open source, forgetting that it doesn't matter if the user cannot update the browser. So here we are, with Webkit being the new IE 6.

taf2 12y ago
Thanks to Google and Android it's not anywhere near as bad as IE6. Apple is not 99% of the market and that is exactly what Android was designed to ensure.
- pjmlp 12y ago
  No, exactly thanks to Google and Android is just as bad as IE6. When I do web development projects, most customers think Safari and Android use Webkit based browsers, so mobile === Webkit. Whithout understanding that Safari and Chrome aren't really 100% equal, that Chrome is no longer Webkit based, or that there are actually other alternatives. Thus making on their eyes Webkit the new IE6. Just as side note, on my home country, with a minimum wage of 450 euros, there are more Windows Phone devices than iOS ones.

JohnTHaller 12y ago

But, just like on Windows, you can install an alternative brows... oh... right.

legulere 12y ago

This is a pretty ridiculous claim considering that iPhones get updates for four years while android devices get updates for less then two years.