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Google Chrome now works on iOS

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Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't UIWebView a component written by Apple? Why not include Nitro in it? Why would it be a security issue on Chrome but not on Safari? Do people have access to the UIWebView source code? If not, this "security" reason is BS.

Third-party processes on iOS cannot mark data pages as executable, which is a great security feature but it prevents JIT compilers or any other technology that dynamically generates machine code. Apple's built-in apps have an exception to this security mechanism, presumably because Apple is more confident in their own security auditing of those apps. Perhaps with some sandboxing mechanism and/or code auditing process…

> Third-party processes on iOS cannot mark data pages as executable

Doesn't the UIWebView do that for you? And isn't it written by Apple? Why couldn't Apple make it use Nitro? Not sure where the security risk would be.

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#112
post #4

The "Request Desktop Site" button is the killer feature for power users.

I like how it doesn't just refresh the page, but the original you requested. So if you get redirected to a mobile subdomain and check "request desktop site" you'll get the original domain. Killer!

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#114
post #108

The icon is similar to Gmail on iOS - "wide" black margins. Any idea why? Everything else seems to be working just fine, not slow or anything. The omnibox is really nice.

Your icons _must_ be (rounded) squares. You can't use transparency.

  (rounded) square side = 114px = 2*57
  tau=2pi
  area:= tau*r*r/2
  Chrome:    margin: 16px; radius: 41px = 57-16; area:=  840.5*tau
  Wordpress: margin: 12px; radius: 45px = 57-12; area:= 1012.5*tau
  Clock:     margin:  9px; radius: 48px = 57- 9; area:= 1152.0*tau
  Circle:    margin:  0px; radius: 57px = 57- 0; area:= 1624.5*tau
  
(Measurments taken from a screenshot on iPod touch "retina" resolution.)

So Chrome's circle area is 73% of Clock's and only 52% of the theoretical limit.

While I was playing with this I got inspired by Google+ for iOS and Metro and asked "What if it doesn't fit, but insead fills the (rounded) square?"

See for yourself. http://biserkov.com/pics/Chrome-on-iOS-icon-ideas.png

Blue circle radius: 21px; White circle radius: 25px

Disclaimer: I used the svg Chrome logo from Wikipedia. I'm no designer.

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#115
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me preface this with IANAL, just a very interested person. It may very well be, but having a monopoly alone isn't not a crime. A crime in this case would be abusive practices of the monopoly. What makes United States v. Microsoft different is a number of factors but the main factor was its restrictive licensing agreements with other OEMs. You could buy a computer from a variety of makers, but no matter what, this…

> It may very well be, but having a monopoly alone isn't not a crime. A crime in this case would be abusive practices of the monopoly. Like not allowing third-party browsers to compete with your own on anything remotely resembling a level playing field? That's what we were talking about here, remember? Apple won't allow alternative browser engines at all, and if you decide to build a browser using the engine Apple pr…

Again though, Apple is one manufacturer. They make a device and supporting software for that device. Unlike the situation with Microsoft where they were licensing software to multiple device makers. It was the OEM agreements that led to them running afoul of antitrust.

Since Apple sells a hardware device with software they are entitled to do whatever they want with it. This is true of Android of course too, as we know device manufacturers often modify Android to suit their needs or the needs of their networks, why else do people speak of having to root their devices?

That's what makes it an non-abusive monopoly, they aren't dictating the rules for the vast majority of device makers, and doing so in a way to benefit their products unfairly.

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#116
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a bunch of walled-garden bullshit. It's not even clear that having a full featured Chrome would hurt Apple in anyway

>It's not even clear that having a full featured Chrome would hurt Apple in anyway Perhaps this is how Apple sees it: The browser might create a SDK that makes web apps work more like native apps thus resulting in reducing Apple's control over apps. Also, look at things like NaCl and how plugins like Flash might be enabled by browsers with rendering engines.

Fragmentation lowers the quality of the product. Apple has consistently made a design choice with the iPhone to shoot for quality rather than freedom, and evidently a lot of people like that tradeoff.

Maybe it doesn't have to be a tradeoff. But until all major carriers are selling an unlocked, rooted Android phone with guaranteed long-term OS updates with build quality and software stability as good as the iPhone, I'm going to continue to defend the idea that Apple's design choices are a perfectly valid set of tradeoffs to bring to market.

Some people (myself included) love Apple products because Apple's abstractions don't leak (much). If my grandmother has to be aware of the fact that she's using a "browser" with a "rendering engine," much less understand which one or which version, Apple has no UX advantage.

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#117
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people keep bringing this up? The situations are completely different. Microsoft bundled IE with Windows at a time where the internet was still painfully slow and it was difficult to download a different browser. They also allegedly put IE-specific APIs into Windows, giving it an unfair advantage. However, neither of these would have been enough to convict, if Microsoft hadn't also had a monopoly over the PC.…

> Like many others have said here before, if you don't like what they do with their platform you can choose not to buy apple products. And also like many others have said before, that's not a difference. You could choose not to buy Microsoft products in the '90s. I did it. The place I worked did it. Most people and places simply didn't make that choice because Microsoft seemed like a safer purchase. Also, Apple has p…

>Also, Apple has pretty much the same position in the tablet market that Microsoft did in the PC market. I can't remember the last time I saw someone holding a non-Apple tablet who wasn't trying to sell me one.

Rather than blindly speculating, we can look at actual facts.

Today Microsoft has 93% of the desktop OS market.[1] Considering the recent rise in popularity of both OS X and Linux I would guess that was higher in the 90s, but I have not done enough research to be sure

Apple's iOS today has 63% of the mobile market.[2] While that is still the majority it is not close to Microsoft's desktop dominance even today.

So maybe you only socialize with Apple fans but your circle does not represent the market as a whole.

[1] http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-shar...

[2] http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-shar...

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Third-party processes on iOS cannot mark data pages as executable, which is a great security feature but it prevents JIT compilers or any other technology that dynamically generates machine code. Apple's built-in apps have an exception to this security mechanism, presumably because Apple is more confident in their own security auditing of those apps. Perhaps with some sandboxing mechanism and/or code auditing process…

> Third-party processes on iOS cannot mark data pages as executable Doesn't the UIWebView do that for you? And isn't it written by Apple? Why couldn't Apple make it use Nitro? Not sure where the security risk would be.

The restriction on executable pages is enforced by the kernel at the process level. This particular mechanism won't allow for enforcing diffeerent policiees for UIWebView code running in the same process as app code. If UIWebView could run JavaScript code in a separate process like Chrome then it might be possible.

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#119
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like many others have said here before, if you don't like what they do with their platform you can choose not to buy apple products. And also like many others have said before, that's not a difference. You could choose not to buy Microsoft products in the '90s. I did it. The place I worked did it. Most people and places simply didn't make that choice because Microsoft seemed like a safer purchase. Also, Apple has p…

>Also, Apple has pretty much the same position in the tablet market that Microsoft did in the PC market. I can't remember the last time I saw someone holding a non-Apple tablet who wasn't trying to sell me one. Rather than blindly speculating, we can look at actual facts. Today Microsoft has 93% of the desktop OS market.[1] Considering the recent rise in popularity of both OS X and Linux I would guess that was higher…

Mobile market != tablet market

Re: Google Chrome now works on iOS

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Third-party processes on iOS cannot mark data pages as executable Doesn't the UIWebView do that for you? And isn't it written by Apple? Why couldn't Apple make it use Nitro? Not sure where the security risk would be.

The restriction on executable pages is enforced by the kernel at the process level. This particular mechanism won't allow for enforcing diffeerent policiees for UIWebView code running in the same process as app code. If UIWebView could run JavaScript code in a separate process like Chrome then it might be possible.

I thought Safari implemented multi-process a long time ago, not on mobile?
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