zlacker

Safari is way faster than Chrome on iOS

>>xkcd19+(OP)
Chrome on iOS is just a skin on top of WebKit.

>>xkcd19+(OP)
Chrome on iOS is Safari but with Chrome skin.

Apple does not allow other browser engines or does not even allow most Safari features to other browsers...

>>sccxy+p2
Chrome and Firefox may use WebKit but have very different looks and feels and some different functionality. They’re not just “skins”.

>>knolan+a2
Try to build a web browser with WebKit. I assure you it’s a lot more work than a skin.

>>xkcd19+(OP)
See, if you had said that Safari was way faster than Chrome on macOS, you would have an argument...

>>parasu+Ck
They use a Cocoa feature called [WkWebView] (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/wkwebview) which is an embedded webkit browser. Any functionality that differs from Safari is not part of the actual "browser". It's just "skin" on top of it. (Bookmark syncing, etc)

>>ezfe+jn
Y just wait until I get 500rep Ive ur name now :p

Edit: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34501173#34504508

>>parasu+Qk
Can you make webkit behave like chrome or firefox behaves on android or desktop?

>>parasu+Ck
Not really different. They even share bugs.

If Safari team messes up their rendering engine, then iOS update, and it is broken for every iOS browser...

>>noblea+yv
WkWebView is a web renderer and partial navigator, it's not a browser.

My point is that people are really stretching the term "skin". Bookmark syncing, tab & window management, history management, security management etc. all are features of a browser, and they have a major impact on the UX of that browser. They are WHY there are still users of Firefox or Chrome on iOS! They're not "skin" features, which typically imply minor look & feel related items.

>>sccxy+DX1
Do you use any of them regularly? I do. They're very different UX-wise.

My point is that users don't really care about the common rendering engine. It doesn't have much impact on the day to day UX.