Hacker News Reader

Comment by brunoborges | Hacker News Reader

Can you be more specific on how iOS blocks other browsers? You mean for embedded browser engine in apps?

"Apps that browse the web must use the appropriate WebKit framework and WebKit JavaScript." https://open-web-advocacy.org/blog/tim-berners-lee-on-apples...

iOS does not allow third party browser engines. Every browser you download from the iOS App Store is using 'Safari Lite' under the hood. It's ostensibly for security, but it's more about control.

I would bet the security claim holds up, I have definitely seem more RCE mentioned from Chrome than from Safari.

I would bet Google's track record would easily allow them to defend this in court. More an issue with Google though.

I guess that might have something to do with the fact that Chrome is vastly more popular than Safari, and also available on many more operating systems.

No, it's definitely about control. Allowing an arbitrary browser means allowing access to platform stuff from portable (gasp!) APIs. And Apple doesn't want that. They want an iOS app to be the primary face of everything important, and the other stuff to be an expensive port.

And the problem isn't abstract. Safari lacks a ton of very useful API implementations. Like, try programming a QMK keyboard on an iPhone: it's literally the only platform in the whole world unable to run the Via web app.

You're probably going to lose your first bet.

> It's ostensibly for security, but it's more about control.

The security angle is easy to understand.

Not sure why Apple cares about control.

But it easier just to want to make Apple seem bad, so there's that.

It's not that easy to understand.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com