Mozilla is planning for the day when Apple will now not require its opponents to make use of the WebKit browser engine in iOS.
Mozilla carried out related experiments that by no means went anyplace years in the past however in October 2022 posted a problem within the GitHub repository housing the code for the iOS model of Firefox that features a reference to GeckoView, a wrapper for Firefox’s Gecko rendering engine.
Beneath the present Apple App Retailer Pointers, iOS browser apps should use WebKit. So a Firefox construct incorporating Gecko reasonably than WebKit at the moment can’t be distributed via the iOS App Retailer.
As we reported last week, Mozilla is just not alone in anticipating an iOS App Retailer regime that tolerates browser competitors. Google has begun work on a Blink-based model of Chrome for iOS.
The key browser makers – Apple, Google, and Mozilla – every have their very own browser rendering engines. Apple’s Safari relies on WebKit; Google’s Chrome and its open supply Chromium basis relies on Blink (forked from WebKit a decade in the past); and Mozilla’s Firefox relies on Gecko.
Microsoft developed its personal Trident rendering engine within the outdated Web Explorer and a Trident fork referred to as EdgeHTML in legacy variations of Edge however has relied on Blink since rebasing its Edge browser on Chromium code.
Browser rendering engines render textual content and pictures on display. When browser engineers add new options or assist new APIs, they typically achieve this via rendering engine code additions, as may be seen from numerous Blink enhancements.
Generally Apple, Google, and Firefox agree on new options and work collectively and repair the difficulty, as with popover menus. Different instances, the browser makers disagree and sulk as their codebases diverge.
Safari developed a fame for lagging behind Chrome and Firefox. Apple, nonetheless, seems to concentrate on the chance posed by regulators and has added extra workers to the WebKit staff to close the capabilities hole.
If Apple does enable different browser engines inside iOS ecosystem, Google and Mozilla will be capable of compete with Safari via technical differentiation that is already evident within the desktop variations of those browsers.
Open Net Advocacy, a developer lobbying group, final yr issued a Walled Gardens report elaborating on the consequences of Apple’s WebKit requirement. It described Apple’s restrictions as anticompetitive self-preferencing.
“Apple is stopping the interoperable, standards-based net from turning into a viable different to the native proprietary ecosystems on supply from Apple and Google,” the group’s report argues.
“Within the absence of competitors, the poor state of Apple’s personal browser and integration of webapps has the impact of pushing builders and customers in the direction of the gated ecosystem of the App Retailer.”
Whereas the requested Firefox for iOS settings web page for toggling GeckoView could possibly be for inner browser testing, it seems to be one thing extra. The transient public dialogue of the GitHub concern suggests Mozilla has anticipated that Apple’s guidelines might change – one thing sought by Mozilla and others via ongoing regulatory lobbying.
Requested on December 12 by an open supply contributor what launch that is for, Laurie Marceau, senior software program Developer at Mozilla, answered that it is “for a secondary venture not on this repository.”
The open supply contributor then replies, “Thanks, cannot wait till [the] EU clarifies [the] state of affairs and we are able to have correct Gecko Firefox on iOS.”
Marceau responds with a thumbs-up emoji. We requested Marceau to elaborate however we have not heard again. Mozilla didn’t instantly reply however mentioned it might need one thing to say later. We’ll replace this story if that’s the case.
On December 13 final yr, it was reported that Apple was getting ready to permit third-party app shops in iOS 17 – anticipated in Q3 2023 – to adjust to the European Digital Markets Act. These guidelines – and associated issues raised by different regulators – look prone to pressure Apple to drop its iOS WebKit requirement.
Apple, nonetheless, has made no public dedication to that impact and didn’t reply to The Register‘s request for remark.
This isn’t the primary time Mozilla has ready a Gecko-based model of Firefox for iOS. Ted Mielczarek, a former platform engineer at Mozilla, noted via Twitter that he has twice earlier than been concerned in Gecko ports to iOS, in 2010 and 2015.
Mozilla by no means pressured the difficulty by asking a courtroom to pressure Apple to distribute Gecko-based Firefox on iOS – a expensive battle it may not win. However lately it showed public concern in regards to the anticompetitive penalties of Apple’s WebKit rule in a September 2022 report titled “5 Walled Gardens: Why Browsers are Important to the Web and How Working Techniques Are Holding Them Again.”
If the EU Digital Markets act has the impact that has been predicted, there will likely be fewer walled gardens by the tip of the yr. However primarily based on previous expertise do not maintain your breath. ®
