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Comment by shampto3 | Hacker News Reader

Sincere question - why does this matter? From what I understand, all iOS browsers are basically just safari with a different skin on top. I don't see much point to me using Firefox on iOS except for the syncing. I'm probably missing something though.

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They released new APIs and policy yesterday to allow non-Webkit based browsers in the EU, among many other changes to comply with the EU's Digital Millennium Act.

It is hard for me to imagine any browser makers switching to a non-Webkit-based implementation if they can only do it in the EU. They would need to support the Webkit-based code as well for other regions, which seems like a lot of work.

Am I wrong?

With the third-party appstore also being available in the EU, someone will surely roll a non-webkit browser, though I have no idea how hard that is going to be as I don't develop for iOS.

You are not wrong and that's probably what Apple is counting on. Especially since if you rely on services from outside the EU then those people can't really test their website on the non-webkit browser engines. Of course if more countries force Apple to allow 3rd party browser engines the scales could flip.

A lot depends on expectations.

If Google expects these rules to be imitated globally over the next 5-10 years it might make sense to invest in a non-WebKit based implementation.

Because Google pays Apple $20B a year to be the default search engine of the default browser. It's a lot of money.

Also new EU roles force Apple to have other browser engines.

And when lots of people choose Chrome and Google is the default is that a win?

I’d argue a massive step forward and back. People should be able to choose. I want to choose a different search engine than Google or the others, and I want Firefox too here in the US. Chrome as the dominant browser comes with its own issues.

You can have Firefox as the browser and then the bribe would go to Mozilla. But in this case, Apple and Google would not let anyone to choose really.

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