WOW! That's a very interesting perspective I hadn't considered. You really may be on to something there. I never considered that might be the driving force behind Apple providing a handicapped browser.
And when it comes to Android, Google's sole strategy is to datamine the crap out of you with their OS, so rather than focus on 3rd party apps like Apple does, Google does its best to make sure that every built-in phone feature works the way people would like because every built-in feature is connected to Google in some way. When you use the built-in apps, you're putting your entire life on Google's cloud, and Google knows that most people will want to use the phone's built-in features first. That's why the built-in mail app for Android sucks but the Gmail app is great, for example. The mail app works with non-Google servers, so they don't give a rat's ass about that.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Google treats 3rd party apps as an afterthought to merely look like they're competing with Apple, which is why the look and feel of their apps generally suck compared to Apple's 3rd party apps.
Furthermore, Android is completely open-source not because Google is so loving and giving. It's because Google simply wants to a) get it into as many hands as possible so people can enter their lives into Google's servers b) let the countless numbers of tinkerers do the remaining stability work for them and distribute ROMs to people, who meanwhile still tend to use a Google account to get the most out of their phone.
So it comes down to this between iOS and Android, would you rather have a product that is artificially dumbed down so that you're forced to use apps to get things done and thus benefit Apple and whoever works with Apple, or would you rather have a product that has all the features you want so that all your personal info is consolidated with Google and only Google? Both companies have their agendas here.
Let me put this in further perspective. Do you really think Google isn't using that sync data between your phone and your desktop Chrome browser (syncing tabs and such) to further create a profile of you with that handy little Google account you logged into when using that feature?
The browser that is making you excited enough to make this thread is great and feature rich because there's a LOT of delicious data for Google to gobble up by attracting you to it with those shiny features.
