No Firefox for iOS till Apple shapes up, says Mozilla VP

Updated on 12-Mar-2013
HIGHLIGHTS

Mozilla Vice President took the stage at SXSW to speak up against Apple's restrictive policy on third party browsers, and why there won't be a Firefox app for iOS.

All you iOS device users, Mozilla is not in the mood to show you any love, as Mozilla’s Vice President Jay Sullivan asserted that there will not be a dedicated Firefox browser app for iOS unless Apple adjusts its outlook towards third party browsers.

Sullivan isn’t happy how Apple forces developers creating browsers for iOS to use its own WebKit, which takes away from what Firefox is all about. Mozilla Firefox uses its own JavaScript and rendering engines to provide the kind of user experience Firefox is known for, and Cupertino’s rules prohibit a browser app to use anything but its own WebKit. This isn’t the only problem though, as Apple also forces users to accept Safari as the default browser on the iOS devices, with no option to change the default browser to any other, unless you’re Jailbroken, and even then, it’s a buggy solution.

Apple is facing a lot of criticism on its approach to keeping everything as locked down as possible. Besides forcing users to use Safari as the default browser (which could be why the usage numbers are so high).

The fruity giant has also been under fire for creating a monopoly on just where users can download apps from. Many say that it is not fair to pay full price for a device that has intentionally been locked up to get its apps only from one source. While those who are Jailbroken get the added advantage of having the Cydia Store to get system tweaks, it is still not a full-fledged alternative to the iTunes app store.

Swapnil Mathur

Swapnil was Digit's resident camera nerd, (un)official product photographer and the Reviews Editor. Swapnil has moved-on to newer challenges. For any communication related to his stories, please mail us using the email id given here.

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