Comment by SllX

2 years ago

Yeah but browser ≠ rendering engine. I know they get conflated a lot in tech, but when I’m using e.g. Arc on my Macintosh, I’m not using Chrome despite using the same rendering engine.

8 comments

SllX

Reply
TheDong  2 years ago

The extension ecosystem of browsers is pretty important though, and that is tied to the rendering engine.

On Android, I can install firefox-for-android and run ublock origin to no longer see ads on websites.

On iOS, that's not possible. Apple prevents mozilla from shipping a browser capable of running firefox addons.

This is a case where Apple's policies are hampering security since, well, blocking ads on the web is the thing has had the single largest positive impact on security for my elderly relatives. Giving them ublock origin stopped them from clicking on a ridiculous number of scammy ads and popups.

crabmusket  2 years ago

Note that the "rendering engine" on iOS also takes care of JS, implementing web standard APIs, etc. And it is tied to the OS version.

So, something like WebUSB comes out? Gotta wait for Apple to implement it, and also for your customers to upgrade their devices.

  • SllX  2 years ago

    Correct. Except the part about waiting for Apple to implement WebUSB because they’re not going to.

micromacrofoot  2 years ago

ehhhh kind of, what's a browser without a rendering engine? just a fancy bookmark manager?

  • SllX  2 years ago

    Most browsers don’t have a rendering engine unique to them. Apple made that a policy for iPhones and its derivatives, but a browser is more than its rendering engine.