Yes, they are also as painful as possible for every other browser. That's the point.
this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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Wow, right up front, they're being disingenuous:
“The effect of this would be to force an independent browser like Firefox to build and maintain two separate browser implementations — a burden Apple themselves will not have to bear.”
...No? Apple won't bear that burden because they're going to keep using WebKit. Firefox can keep using WebKit. Not using WebKit is a choice, with pros and cons.
Well maybe Apple shouldn't be so hostile to other browsers. Honestly I don't see why Firefox would bother will web kit. If they might as well not make a iversion.
Lol look at your downvotes!
He is right but people don't like the truth.
Lol nope
Lol look at your downvotes!
But then you read on and it says Apple is allowing the kit to not be used in the EU only. Outside of the EU, presumably, Firefox will still have to use the Webkit or whatever. So, while Apple uses its own engine in both the EU and the US on its phones, Firefox will be able to use its own engine in the EU, too, but will have to continue using Webkit in the US and other markets outside of the EU.
I'm not sure what disingenuous about that.
It’s disingenuous to act like this is some huge burden. You ship two browsers — one for the EU and one for other markets. Firefox already ships on a number of different platforms. Adding one branch isn’t going to kill them.
Or if it’s such a pain, you don’t bother and just ship the WebKit version everywhere.
It’s disingenuous to act like this is some huge burden.
Having to double your software engineers, UI/UX designers, QA engineers, DevOps, and localization/accessibility specialists to handle a second browser is a HUGE burden for a non-profit.
If you don't care about quality, security, or user experience, sure you can just pass a "does it compile" test and push to prod. You'll quickly find that nobody wants to use this under resourced browser.
Or if it’s such a pain, you don’t bother and just ship the WebKit version everywhere.
This is exactly what Apple wants. They don't want to give people a real choice because they're scared of real competition.
Tbf, it would be a completely new & different browser from the ground up since they would have to make it from Gecko and such. And they are already struggling with their Android browser already.
But yeah, they could keep the WebKit version everywhere.
Would it be completely new and different? The only thing that changes is the rendering engine. The UI/windowing stays the same as the other iOS app. And the rendering engine has already been built for MacOS, so it’s not like they have to start from scratch — it’s the same base platform.
Lol just a different rendering engine. So easy!
Wonder if you could get an eu iPhone in the us, or use a vpn, or something else…
Yes you can. I imported my iPhone 15 from Canada because I wanted the physical sim car slot. It costs a pretty penny but if it’s what you value then it’s worth it.
I just bought mine on eBay and it showed up in like 3 days.
Probably ok with VPN if you never allow the phone to detect its location (gps and cell towers) cause Apple would know immediately.
But that begs the question of what happen to EU users traveling outside the EU region?
Features are locked to the region the phone was designed for so nothing software will work.
So theoretically importing a European iPhone can unlock features?
Otherwise a European traveler would suddenly have his apps stop working outside EU
Looking forward to the day I have the cash for Fairphone or some other alt to Android/iOS
Oh I didn't know about fair phone. Thank you for making me aware of this project.
Be aware that their hardware has cross gen problems and their support is very bad. /e/os has implemented tracking id into their update service. They are calling cleanapk, they update OS and Webview extremly slow resulting in a very insecure OS.
they update OS and Webview extremly slow resulting in a very insecure OS.
I've recently got monthly updates. The last one from 2024-01-09 containing Android security patches until 12/2023.
@torbjoern @Undertaker 💡migrate to #grapheneos on a #degoogled #pixel and enjoy lightning fast ⚡ OS updates for #android14 whilst using an excellent piece of mobile hardware without #tracking
Yeah, well, I'm not gonna give up my potentially long-living #Fairphone (due to excellent repairability) for a Pixel crafted from rare-earth minerals of dubious origin, just because you're #shilling it.
Very welcome, my friend.
Do your own research but I've heard they've gotten better.
Apple isn't that much of an asshole, it only does all the dick moves it is legally allowed to.
Can't think of any worse assholes except Google.
Just because they make nice looking hardware, you give them a pass.
Samsung finally ditched the stupid curved glass, so Androidland now has nice hardware too
Good luck with that. Their phones are filled with ads and Samsung’s crappy software that can’t be removed. Apple and Google do the same thing, but their apps are at least good. As good as Samsung’s hardware is, they mess up the package with their hot garbage software.
Yeah I never understood that. Made me stop buying Samsung phones, also because they added a price premium. Turns out that the best Android phones are Motorola phones like the Edge 30. No crapware at all and fantastic battery time.
There are a few phones (I hope there'll be more) that last 2 days with medium use. I'm :) for folks with those phones.
I never understood this
iPhones are fashion accessories before anything else.
Samsung for some fuckdamn reason just copycats everything Apple does.
The curved glass was a stupid, expensive, and failure prone attempt at capturing the fashion accessory market.
All it did was piss off eight years of customers.
It really is amazing how companies with ridiculous amounts of money for research and product testing and they hang on to an abject failure like this for so long.
All it did was piss off eight years of customers.
Yes, curved glass serves no function and introduces a vulnerable point, prone for cracking
And makes it basically impossible to get a glass screen protector.
And makes just holding it normally cause misclicks as the edge of your fingertips brush the curved glass.
Honestly I would be a lot less pissed about it if they just hadn't extended the touch sensitivity all the way around the curve.
No their ads told me they’re the heroic guardians of my privacy.
Which is obviously true, just like everything else you read on the web. If someone wrote it on the web, it has to be true. It’s we well known fact, that it physically impossible for it to be otherwise.
I think they're probably better on privacy than default out of the box Android phones loaded up with Google adware, but that's such an incredibly low bar.
The only way they are better, is the fact there is only one party having access to the data, aka only Apple. On Android you have google + the manufacturer, and in some cases more than those two
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Apple’s new rules in the European Union mean browsers like Firefox can finally use their own engines on iOS.
Although this may seem like a welcome change, Mozilla spokesperson Damiano DeMonte tells The Verge it’s “extremely disappointed” with the way things turned out.
“We are still reviewing the technical details but are extremely disappointed with Apple’s proposed plan to restrict the newly-announced BrowserEngineKit to EU-specific apps,” DeMonte says.
In iOS 17.4, Apple will no longer force browsers in the EU to use WebKit, the underlying engine that powers Safari.
“Apple’s proposals fail to give consumers viable choices by making it as painful as possible for others to provide competitive alternatives to Safari,” DeMonte adds.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called the new terms a “horror show,” while Spotify said the changes are a “farce.” Apple’s guidelines are still pending approval by the EU Commission.
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