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Comment by ksec | Hacker News Reader

When you get 80%+ of your OS updated within 6 months this isn't so much of a problem.

It's interesting to note the unprecedented success Apple has achieved at keeping millions of its users at the very leading edge of Apple OS technologies along with its "difficulties" keeping up with new Web technologies.

And it's amazing how rapidly they are able to invent a whole new programming language, compiler, toolchain, overhaul the OS APIs, add new OS features, and innovate Apple-only "native" technologies on Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even watches, while porting some features from open-source browsers into Safari is so darned "challenging". (I'll bet Apple could get some help from organizations with more resources like, say, Mozilla or Opera, if they just asked.)

I might suspect that they were intentionally impeding the progress of the Web, sabotaging all of us while putting on a great show, if it weren't for the fact that they allow other browsers, such as Chrome, on the iPhone. No, if they wanted to slow the progress of the Web platform, they would slow the development of their own browser as much as they dared and simultaneously cut off all detours around it except the one that goes through their own native apps.

But no, they aren't doing anything like that, because there's Chrome right there in the App Store. As long as it's not some sort of trick, some sort of imposter, there's no reason for suspicion....

I don't think you realize this, but Chrome on the App Store is actually just a shell with the Chrome UI around the embedded Safari browser, rather than the actual Chrome browser, due to Apple restrictions.

Stated more plainly: http://www.howtogeek.com/184283/why-third-party-browsers-wil...

I must say this fact makes reading your last sentence quite humorous.

Thank you. ;-)

Sorry to be a bummer.

Chrome does not run on the iPhone - instead it's a Safari UIWKView (until two weeks ago UIWebView) - the only "Chrome" there is the UI on top of it.

Apple does not actually allow running Chrome on iOS so Google worked around it by giving you a handicapped version of Safari with Chrome UI that lets you share tabs between the computer and the box.

edit: just saw someone else posted a similar comment - so upvoted his - not deleting this since it has some additional info.

> I might suspect that they were intentionally impeding the progress of the Web, sabotaging all of us while putting on a great show

You think they aren't capable of that? Isn't it the same thing they are doing now with not supporting Vulkan and sabotaging open graphics API by pushing their lock-in Metal instead?

That's a real shame because now I'm definitely stuck using OpenGL ES for my cross-platform mobile game instead of a modern stateless API because I just don't have the bandwidth to write my rendering code twice.

You can consider ditching Apple platforms for good. They don't want to support developers? They can get lost. I think it's the only language they understand.

Yes, but that would be a rather poor business decision for us.

Yeah, I understand. You can also take a look at this: https://moltengl.com/metalvk/

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be open source.

6 months? Firefox before auto-updates had faster turnaround for the updates. Not only that iOS still doesn't have auto-updates. The user still has to manually agree to the nag. It's ok when your app is the iBooks. Not so when it is a modern browser.

But it is a problem when you only release 4 or 5 OS updates per year. All the built in apps on iOS require full OS updates to patch. Some iOS minor versions have existed solely to patch Apple Music. It's pretty terrible.

Safari is so far behind every other browser, it's not even funny.

Really? In anything significant that people (more than 5) actually use?

Isn't arguing for adoption as a measure of value rather putting the cart before the horse?

People use things when they have utility. They have utility when developers make something cool that uses them. Developers do this if there's a chance of mainstream adoption...

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