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Firefox for iOS on GitHub

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Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#71

Post by Cthulhu_ »

fekberg wrote: post #25
JoshTheGeek wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have no other choice; Apple won't accept apps with custom web rendering engines.

How can Apple get away with that? I am genuine interested! Sounds pretty much like the same thing Microsoft did with Internet Explore back in the day, except they didn't force you to use their rendering engine, but shipped the OS with their browser as default?

Because their platform, their rules? IDK, I think it's perfectly acceptable to limit what you can do on someone's platform, since after all allowing anything on your platform will cause a lot of crap to appear - like a lot of stuff on the Android platform before it changed to the Play Store and Google started being a bit more strict about using their platform.

Restricting what developers can and cannot do on a platform allows Apple to give more guarantees and reliability in terms of performance and battery usage, as well as security and stability. Those are the primary reasons behind Apple's restrictions on the iOS platform.

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#72

Post by b3tta »

graetzer wrote: post #42

I think it's great that they are going to officially support iOS again. Coincidentally I submitted a new version of my own browser app to the AppStore, on the same day they made the announcement. I added support for the new Firfox sync protocol - it took me forever to get it working and now it's kind of redundant :-/ Anyway, if someone is interested in the source: https://github.com/graetzer/Foxbrowser

It's not redundant. You wrote an awesome browser and many people, including me, a very eager to get their hands on the new version. Keep up with you awesome work! It's not just that competition like this is important, but this project is also something that you can show around and impress people with it (at e.g. job interviews).

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#73

Post by Cthulhu_ »

ZanyProgrammer wrote: post #44

Since one of Firefoxes selling points for the desktop is its plethora of extensions, will those be available on iOS? If not, what's the difference with this and Safari?

Probably not, unless the UI itself is rendered in a webview, and extension scripts can be injected into the page during runtime.

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#74

Post by rimantas »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #46
bla2 wrote: post #20

It's a bit sad that Firefox is caving in and shipping a browser using WKWebView. The rationale is that by using WKWebView they now get Nitro, and they have to "go where the users are" -- but a few years ago, it was a lot less clear that Android would be more prevalent than iOS. Also, iOS seems like a fairly hostile environment for 3rd-party browsers since it's not possible to change the system browser -- that's proba…

Ditto here. But I suppose you have to have something available for the iOS folks who still don't understand that every single browser is Safari with a different UI. I do think they should differentiate it name-wise since this absolutely won't be a real Firefox browser.

By this account Chrome and Opera are also Safari with different UI. (Yes, I do know that engines are really the forks, not the same WebKit). My point is, that we should be able to tell the difference between a browser and a rendering engine.

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#75

Post by acqq »

Refefer wrote: post #18
micampe wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What makes this Firefox? I think that's an interesting question. Is a browser defined by its rendering engine or by its features and UI? When Chrome used WebKit, it was clearly understood by everyone to be different from Safari, even though the rendering engine was the same (I know, the differences were big), but a Firefox browser that uses WebKit seems to not be considered Firefox. Personally, while I understand t…

It's a huge issue on mobile. Multiple rendering engines requiring the world to write software to a spec is what prevents people from writing code dependent on a particular browser or, in this case, a rendering engine. You see it all the time in the mobile web: plenty of sites just plain don't work when using other rendering engines.

And the fact that web developers then actually can't develop just for one rendering engine and claim that "it's enough" is a very good thing for me. I refuse to use Chrome and I'm extremely hit by all the sites developed "for Chrome only" on the desktop. The web shouldn't be "what's on the developer's machine and not more."

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#76

Post by valisystem »

graetzer wrote: post #42

I think it's great that they are going to officially support iOS again. Coincidentally I submitted a new version of my own browser app to the AppStore, on the same day they made the announcement. I added support for the new Firfox sync protocol - it took me forever to get it working and now it's kind of redundant :-/ Anyway, if someone is interested in the source: https://github.com/graetzer/Foxbrowser

Your version is out, their is not, it's whole lot of a difference. Thanks a lot and I'm installing it right away !

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#77

Post by rimantas »

rweichler wrote: post #53
shmerl wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS SDK forbids one even to build any other browser legally (which is glaring example of of lock-in insanity). At least that's how the license looks like. Are there any alternatives way to build code for iOS?

> iOS SDK forbids one even to build any other browser legally Really? Can you provide a link? > Are there any alternatives way to build code for iOS? http://iphonedevwiki.net/index.php/Compiling_iOS_application... No restrictions there.

App Store Guidelines:

  > 2.17 Apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit
  > framework and WebKit Javascript
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#78

Post by rimantas »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #50
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #11

I'm glad Firefox is coming back to iOS. I remember they used to have a similar Safari wrapper supporting sync, but they must've gotten rid of it.

It's still a Safari wrapper with sync support. Not sure what they'll call it yet. I really hope they don't just call it Firefox since it definitely isn't.

Is Chrome on iOS Chrome? If it is, why Firefox cannot be Firefox? Or should they ditch "Firefox" and just call everything Gecko, because you think that's the most important?

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#79

Post by colordrops »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #71
fekberg wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can Apple get away with that? I am genuine interested! Sounds pretty much like the same thing Microsoft did with Internet Explore back in the day, except they didn't force you to use their rendering engine, but shipped the OS with their browser as default?

Because their platform, their rules? IDK, I think it's perfectly acceptable to limit what you can do on someone's platform, since after all allowing anything on your platform will cause a lot of crap to appear - like a lot of stuff on the Android platform before it changed to the Play Store and Google started being a bit more strict about using their platform. Restricting what developers can and cannot do on a platfo…

You are only partially correct in your analysis. Yes, controlling the platform can lead to a better user experience. But how does banning browser engines lead to better app quality? It doesn't. If you look at the history of app store restrictions, you'll find that any app that provides an open platform or programming environment has been banned. That is because it takes the control out of apple's hands. It's a power grab.

Re: Firefox for iOS on GitHub

#80

Post by shmerl »

rimantas wrote: post #77
rweichler wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iOS SDK forbids one even to build any other browser legally Really? Can you provide a link? > Are there any alternatives way to build code for iOS? http://iphonedevwiki.net/index.php/Compiling_iOS_application... No restrictions there.

App Store Guidelines: > 2.17 Apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit > framework and WebKit Javascript https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

This is not about the store guidelines but about the license of the SDK itself really.
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