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Comment by tomxor | Hacker News Reader

No it doesn't, because there is no such thing as a non-safari browser on iOS.

Firefox, Chrome, anything Apple will allow is just Safari in a different costume.

Except they use their own browser features, sync, telemetry, privacy practices, business model etc...

All of those things are ancillary except for privacy (even though privacy capability is closely tied to the browser engine these days). It's like saying it must be a Cadillac... "but I can choose the seat colours and stereo so that counts for something!" - i mean sure if you value the stereo that much but you have no choice over the things that makes it what it is, the engine.

DeLorean DMC-12 and Renault 25 share the same engine. By your analogy these would basically be the same cars. Which of course is apsurd.

Engine just makes the car move, everything else defines it. Same with browsers on iOS. Also saying Chrome and Safari on iOS are same browsers because they share WebKit is like saying Edge and Vivaldi are same browsers because they share Blink (they share much more, but still they are very different).

You can pull my analogy to pieces all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that you are using apple-webkit, when you use any browser on iOS, not gecko, not blink... and unlike a car, the browser engine makes up 99% of what the browser does. but if you want to argue that bookmark syncing and shit is a significant feature, i mean sure whatever, i think you need to open your eyes.

So Edge and Vivaldi are same browsers, just 1% different?

yes.

Correct, as Apple forces all 3rd party browsers to use their rendering engine.

It's like using a winforms webbrowser control in .NET and giving the window a title with your own brand name.

Brave and Edge is not Chrome.

Brave and Edge can compile the Chromium code base with any changes they want, including adding or removing features. On iOS that is not something alternative browsers are able to do.

it doesn't matter what it's called, the underlying engine of any "browser" app available on iOS is apple-webkit. Because you aren't allowed browser engines on iOS, Apple rules, it's all a bunch of skins. Apple are so good at selling the lie of diversity that hardly anyone seems to notice this seemingly obvious truth... you aren't allowed to chose a browser on iOS.

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