> No, it isn’t. It’s useless without HEVC, which is encumbered and requires royalties,[0] most of which go to Apple. VP8 is free (as in “free beer,” not as in “freedom”).
HEVC is H265 which is not as widespread. But either way, one benefit to Google I guess is you can avoid the $2.60 device fee. But also scroll down and see how many companies were involved in HEVC vs VP8/9.
> HEVC is not open.[0]
Source code is readily available, codec formats are as well, all that's keeping it from being open is a licensing fee.
> Chrome has its own issues, though, as does Firefox. Safari just seems to have more than the other two. For example, for the longest time, Safari was the only browser to support color() and DCI-P3.
Again, not my experience. I have only had to perform CSS hacks on chrome because chrome adds some CSS features ala IE.
> If you want to cater to an audience that prefers a clean, efficient UI while simultaneously avoiding creating a horrible mess of dark patterns, yes. If you want to run on as many browsers as possible without looking like a Word document, yes. If you want to appease Google so you don’t get deranked, yes.
So using safari I am part of the audience that doesn't want a clean UI? That's the entire reason I use a Mac and Safari. So the question stands. What does CSS have to do with SEO?
How do companies create cross browser experiences these days without making sites look like "word docs"? Apple themselves seem to have quite a design and css heavy site.
Since Safari is such an issue for you, why not just block the sites? Likely because you'll lose market share. So instead you try to demand your customers switch to something you prefer they use to make it easier for you to make money off of them. When will you Google shills leave the rest of us alone? Also how much are they paying you to promote Chrome these days?