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Try shipping a web browser not based on Apple’s browser functionality on iOS. See how free of gatekeeping the internet is.





I’m not convinced opening up the platform to Chrome skins is good for the web, we’ll just end up with one browser that much faster

Are Safari skins any better? If they opened it, you could run Firefox.

In practice I think he is right unfortunately. Most people would just run Chrome and more websites would require Chrome since they could just tell Apple users to deal with it, making the mono-culture even worse.

Less sites would do this is Safari wasn't the last non evergreen browser lagging behind everybody else.

Maybe the answer from Apple should be to improve Safari instead of restricting competition.


I support Safari on a web app and have very rarely run into issues. It’s nothing like supporting even IE11 was.

I've also worked during the IE11 days and while Safari is indeed better, I'd only put it marginally better.

Whatever that means. Do you have specific complaints about Safari?

FYI:

...fewer sites...

...if Safari were...


Yes I have, I worked with it for years, there's the officially supported standards and then there's the buggy reality you have to deal with. I've encountered bugs with backgrounds, zIndex, videos, forms, localStorage, SVGs, all basic browser features.

Then Safari also is the last non-evergreen browser so it's the slowest to update compared to all the other browsers. If you have a bug, there's a good chance you'll have it for years


OK, that's much more informative.

But "non-evergreen" doesn't mean anything.


Evergreen refers to the speed of update, your average iPhone user takes one year and half to update. Your average Chrome user is updated within 3 weeks, your average Firefox user within 4 weeks.

Call it with another word if you want but Safari is on a league of its own.


Totally valid gripe. I agree.

Yep. We're going right back to "This site works best on Internet Explorer."

Sad to see supposedly technically-knowledgeable people cheerleading for regression.


But you wouldn't. Look at desktop browser share.

iOS is not the Internet anymore than Jitterbug is telephones.

Nobody made such a claim.

If you serve web pages, you likely serve many of your users on their Apple devices. And you can’t support features of the web for those users if Apple doesn’t want them to have those features, and prohibits browsers with other engines that do support them on their App Store, and prohibits other sources of web browsers.

That’s called “gatekeeping”.


Apple is not the Internet, stop allowing your friends, family and colleagues to treat it that way.

Meanwhile, I can't convince my dad that he doesn't need to pay for AOL anymore...

Yes you did: "Try shipping a web browser not based on Apple’s browser functionality on iOS. See how free of gatekeeping the internet is."

And no, it isn't. Not supporting certain browser features does not direct traffic or even deny access. So you obviously don't know what gatekeeping is.


Apple is denying access to browsers that support web features they don’t support themselves.

Your argument, or attempt to make an argument, somehow neglects this obvious Apple created and enforced barrier.


It "neglects" a universe of equally irrelevant observations.

A) it’s not irrelevant at all. Perhaps you don’t do web design, or perhaps you restrict your designs to functionality Apple doesn’t actively or passively prohibit.

Then you might not be aware that Apple does not support everything other browsers support. Or takes longer to support some things.

The internet has two ends (at least), media source and media user. Both ends require compatible software for any connection to work or work fully.

B) Of course I omit other irrelevant issues. No need for argumentative non-points.

A suggestion that would help me understand you better:

Instead of simply dismissing points out of hand, respond with reasoned thoughts.

Maybe you have a sensible viewpoint?

I have no issue learning from you.

If you can communicate how Apple blocking alternate browser engines doesn’t actually block other browser’s additional web functionality, please explain your work around.

I would appreciate any solution you have. So would many others.

—-

Apple also prohibits (via there App Store) non-browser apps based on how they use the Internet. So that’s additional gate keeping of Internet functionalit.

—-

Read Apple’s App Store guidelines for developers. Apple is up front and clear about all these restrictions and prohibitions.

I am lost as to what you are trying to claim they allow, that they openly document they don’t allow.

—-

Perhaps you have confused internet functionality with Internet addresses.

Indeed, Apple doesn’t block IPs.

But some kind of software at both ends is still required to communicate across the Internet. And blocking specific kinds of Internet functionality at one end, effectively blocks it from both ends, on their locked down devices.


You have confused "Web functionality" with gatekeeping.

You can use WebKit to visit any site you want; whether it supports every technical feature you might encounter on a site is irrelevant. I'm not arguing that it's a good engine or even competitive. I don't question your objections to missing functionality, and probably agree with all of them. But that is not gatekeeping. That's like saying black-&-white TVs were "gatekeeping" by not showing color, or some Bluetooth speakers are "gatekeeping" by not being stereo.

Anyway, the point is moot because Apple has to allow other browser engines now. If you think it through, this will simply allow Chrome to completely dominate the Web and take us backward to the bad old days of "this site works best on..."

WHEEEE!


How is that gatekeeping? Does Webkit prevent you from visiting certain sites, or funnel you to others?

No.

And the browser-engine ban is being lifted; something that sounded good at first, until you realize that Chrome is already a cancer on the Web that is only held back to the dominance of Safari on mobile. Cheerleading for a total takeover by Chrome isn't smart if you think it through.




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