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Apple limits third-party browser engine work to EU devices (www.theregister.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The Register has learned from those involved in the browser trade that Apple has limited the development and testing of third-party browser engines to devices physically located in the EU. That requirement adds an additional barrier to anyone planning to develop and support a browser with an alternative engine in the EU.

It effectively geofences the development team. Browser-makers whose dev teams are located in the US will only be able to work on simulators. While some testing can be done in a simulator, there's no substitute for testing on device – which means developers will have to work within Apple's prescribed geographical boundary.

... as Mozilla put it – to make it "as painful as possible for others to provide competitive alternatives to Safari."

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think many Firefox users are tech savvy enough to know that Firefox for iOS is just a reskinned Safari. They know that it isn't the real-deal and so any stats on who uses Firefox on iOS are kind of misrepresenting the situation.

[–] dojan 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah. The main reason I could think of is if you use Firefox Sync. I actually do have that on my iPad, though it’s rare that I’ll ever open something on my PC and then resume it on my iPad.