remember internet explorer?
They want you to use “apps” even if said “apps” don’t need to be more than a website
That’s largely because the companies want to grab all of your telemetry data, which they can’t do in a browser. Putting it in an app allows them to gather whatever info they want, instead of being siloed inside of a browser.
Also because most phones have operational system’s that are more secure than Windows, so a app is a easy way to block everybody that don’t fit a profile of optimal users and avoid problems/hacking.
Companies dream of a closed internet accessible only from a controllable environment.
You can’t datamine everyone and sell it off as completely as you can with an app running locally on the device. Browser apps are far less profitable across the board. It’s all about money.
Been happily using Firefox and Firefox focus on Android for years. With unlock Origin on Firefox.
Libre wolf version is underway too!
Ironfox is the hardened FF/mobile librewolf
Recently moved to fennec, is ironfox better?
Yes, fennec is nowhere near as hardened/privacy/security focused
Thanks! I will swit h to ironfox.
Really? The FAQ on their page states otherwise :(
maybe? I read it was being worked on. I’m maybe a bit too optimistic
I remember reading an article in .net magazine (now apparently defunct) about IE6 and how it was holding back the web. This sort of thing has been going on for ages the problem isn’t crap browsers the problem is crap browsers being dominant. Equally dominant browsers aren’t a problem unless they’re also bad.
So I’m not really all that bothered about Chrome, it’s fairly feature complete and although there are other reasons to not like it, lack of support for the latest standards isn’t one of them. Safari however has been truly awful for a very very long time now. They’ve been memes about how bad it is for well over a decade.
IDK if Firefox is better or worse to use, I just know I don’t want to use a Google browser. So I use Firefox, like on my desktop.
Firefox, which has most of the desktop extensions also working on mobile.
Except for iOS
That is on Apple, unfortunately. Every browser on the App Store is a safari engine with whatever browsers skin on top, essentially.
I thought they lost the court battle about that and were told that they had to actually allow other engines, but I haven’t heard anything else since then.
You might be thinking about the EU court battle, and I believe they did finally allow other engines. I also haven’t kept up with it, so that could be outdated information!
I believe that apple restricted other browser makers to using safari mobile as a base. Not sure if that’s true/changed, but I’m too lazy to look it up. So maybe take that with a helping of salt.
This is true in America. In the EU, Apple was recently forced to allow third-party browsers. But even in the EU, developing those third-party browsers will take time and money.
Thanks! I knew about the EU rule, and I’d heard they’re basically maliciously complying?
Also, off topic, funny that you replied to this at probably the exact same time I was reading one of your comments in a different thread. Was a really well thought out comment, and I appreciated your take. 👍
Hah yeah, Lemmy is a much smaller community than Reddit. I have started tagging users, and it’s surprising how often I see the same tags in the comments sections.
It’s kinda nice, we’re big enough to have a fair amount of content, but small enough that it still kinda feels like a community.
They have.
Cool, rare instance of my memory not being completely shot 👍
Orion browser on IOS is compatible with firefox AND chrome extensions
Maybe, maybe not – but I’m discounting anything the UK government says on Internet-related issues, so long as they’re trying to insert encryption backdoors into everything. For all we know, this is just an attempt to blackmail Apple and Google over the encryption thing.
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Apple only allowed browsers on ios to use webkit, so they quite literally were holding back browser development.
This has only recently been changed, and it appears you can only use an alternate browser engine in the EU, so they are still holding back mobile web browser development for people in most countries.
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It has nothing to do with usage. It’s a restriction that’s imposed on the browser developers.
Mozilla themselves claim that this makes development harder for them.
By forcing developers to have the same limitations as their own browser, apple has made it difficult for competitors to gain an edge over safari.
Safari definitely gets more hate than it deserves. I find it to be perfectly acceptable.
I would prefer more competition though, even though I know today it’ll be a ton of “cram some AI into it” slop.
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I get your point that it’s not specifically Chrome or specifically Safari that are holding other browsers back, but Apple and Google own the vast majority of market share in mobile devices and by extension, browsers used in mobile devices. I think that’s the crux of what the investigation is getting at
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