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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[–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

It's guaranteed that Google will create a version of chrome of the EU market as well. Yea it's another big tech, but app devs having the same browser engine working on iOS and droid will be a boon. Since ff has the android app already, it's also not like they will have a new greenfield development for it.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago*

    Google has infinite money to throw at shitty projects, and the more marketshare they control the better for them since that just means more data that they can sell, so I can see that happening. I don't think Mozilla has the same luxury. I'd sooner stick to Safari than use Chrome.

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