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Comment by crakenzak | Hacker News Reader

Is it just me, or does it feel like Apple is putting more effort behind WebKit as of late?

It’s slowly becoming closer to chromium in cutting edge feature support.

If only Apple would free Safari from the OS release cycle, the way Microsoft did with Edge when the latter became Chromium-based.

It's mostly free from the OS release cycle now: They have been shipping major web platform features in Safari versions that ship with their minor OS updates. (e.g. macOS 14.2, iOS 17.1) so every ~3 months, which is a nice cadence.

The major OS release cadence only seems to affect major UI revamps which aren't that frequent anyway, so it's not that much of a limitation.

You can now also update Safari independently of macOS, which is nice for IT environments that restrict major macOS updates until they have been approved.

Hopefully in the future they will also allow that for iOS, so that older devices that can't update have some more longevity for web apps (and so that we as web developers don't need to support as many older versions)

It's not disconnected when it ships with os updates

Apple has released os updates that have specifically targeted Safari issues. Usually point z releases as needed like big bugs and security fixes. Still not as ideal but it’s better than before.

Mind you the version string in Safari might not change as well. Gotta look at the build number.

I'd like to see it extended to all their bundled apps. I don't understand why a new version of e.g. Notes needs to be tied to an OS release.

if you were using updated apps on an outdated OS, then there's that much less incentive for you to upgrade the OS

WebKit is already better than Blink for many cutting edge features, it is just that Apple and Google have different priorities in terms of what cutting-edge means.

Apple simultaneously doesn't want to become a thin client to the browser, yet they also see 3D/GPU/AI as the future and want to be at the forefront. They don't want to cede local compute to cloud and edge services.

This is shaping up to be a fun battle ahead.

I agree. They know their time is coming with being forced to allow other browser engines, and are actually putting in an effort now that there’s competition on the horizon.

They’ve been hiring celebrity developer advocates too like Jen Simmons and recently Nichole Sullivan. But it has improved so much in the past few years too.

This is sort of my sense. It feels to me more like it’s just more people knowing about/noticing it.

As a Safari user since release day I never felt like they slowed development or that they have accelerated it lately.

But people are certainly more aware. Maybe it’s more of an “it’s all coming together” for a number of longer term things just hitting around the same time?

I was thinking the same when I saw the release notes of the latest Safari stable version but wasn't sure if it was just me paying more attention than usual... :)

They probably see the writing on the wall for their current restrictions on third-party browser engines, and are as interested in avoiding a Blink monoculture as the rest of us.

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