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Bloomberg: Apple May Let iOS Users Set Third-Party Web Browser and Mail Apps as Defaults Over Stock Apps
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Given the horrific privacy breaching apps out there today, I rather stick with the Apple stock app when it comes to Email. Its your choice to choose another.
There is a browser that can do more, its called iCab
There is a browser that can do more, its called iCab
So what affects you and is a small inconvenience. Millions shouldn’t have the option. Nice.
As I see it, the end user will have an experience that is somewhat more confusing, but more importantly, a risk for more errors.
I’m relating to my non-tec family members, friends, co-workers.
Apples closed garden and consistent user experience is a big selling point for them. If they have any questions/need for guidens, I can easily help them.
I guess I’m opposite to you in that, to me, Apples none customization options are great!
Why is it that you can’t just use the app?
The competition aspect is maybe just my fear of Google domination the software side even more...
Android fans: Hopefully they copy these things too!
Arranging icons where we want
Widgets on the homescreen
IOS is getting closer and better and better!
Not sure but it’s always good to give users some fair options on what they can set as the standard for their workflows.
That might or might not happen but locking users into a product is not the way to win more users in my opinion. Rather advertise your product and make sure it’s significantly better than the competitors by innovating the heck out of it.
Or maybe it’s tens of millions. Who knows? This is spin on a legitimate concern.
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I wonder how it goes for the web client since Apple has a million dollar deal with Google for using Google search by default on Safari. It'll be nice to change the default app, even though keep gmail from properly opening the link in Safari and not in app.
Internet Explorer as an example proves that a better product will take the place of the crappy one that people were locked in with. Thank god that happened in Windows a long time ago.
And I’m sure you wouldn’t have to touch the defaults if you don’t want to. Consumer choice is usually to be preferred.
I forgot about Maps lol Have used Google Maps exclusively for a while now.
I bounce back and forth between Chrome and Firefox on my laptop - even on my iMac, I've started to use Chrome a little bit. On mobile though it's much less important to me - have thought about it a bit and I'm usually in an app (Facebook or Twitter) most of the time.........I might cut out and open up Safari to get to YouTube (had that app once - refuse to use it now), but that's about it.
To each their own though where that's concerned. Count me as one who thinks that even if Apple opens this up and allows people to set different default browsers, Safari will still remain the top choice on iOS
I bounce back and forth between Chrome and Firefox on my laptop - even on my iMac, I've started to use Chrome a little bit. On mobile though it's much less important to me - have thought about it a bit and I'm usually in an app (Facebook or Twitter) most of the time.........I might cut out and open up Safari to get to YouTube (had that app once - refuse to use it now), but that's about it.
To each their own though where that's concerned. Count me as one who thinks that even if Apple opens this up and allows people to set different default browsers, Safari will still remain the top choice on iOS
There's no point in choosing alternative browsers on iOS as Apple doesn't allow any of the competitors to publish products using their own browsing engine. Every single browser on the App Store is just a wrapper around webkit - the'yre all the same.
Maybe that is a sign that Apple should do better on the software front.
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That’s not entirely true. One example is for those users that sync their Google Chrome profiles, they would definitely prefer this alternate.
Let's be real here. There CERTAINLY is a way to do this so that by default the stock apps are used and you have to purposely go into settings to change them.
There is a way to protect the "grandma cant figure it out/messed it up" issue. That is an apologist excuse that Apple just shouldnt try or give users the option; just not like Android where it pops up what app do you want to use and have to set a default one.
The stock ones can easily be made the default apps and you have to go intentionally change them buried away in settings, otherwise, the end user never knows its an option to mess with it.
There is a way to give choice without compromising the it just works part. Let's not make excuses for Apple being anti-competitive on the issue. (and yes I call out all companies, this isnt an I hate Apple thing and quite the opposite- Google has been anti-competitive in the iOS Gmail app for YEARS until the recent article saying its changing by not letting you attach files from anywhere but Google Drive. That is text book anti-competitive blocking out competing services/apps just like Apple is)
There is a way to protect the "grandma cant figure it out/messed it up" issue. That is an apologist excuse that Apple just shouldnt try or give users the option; just not like Android where it pops up what app do you want to use and have to set a default one.
The stock ones can easily be made the default apps and you have to go intentionally change them buried away in settings, otherwise, the end user never knows its an option to mess with it.
There is a way to give choice without compromising the it just works part. Let's not make excuses for Apple being anti-competitive on the issue. (and yes I call out all companies, this isnt an I hate Apple thing and quite the opposite- Google has been anti-competitive in the iOS Gmail app for YEARS until the recent article saying its changing by not letting you attach files from anywhere but Google Drive. That is text book anti-competitive blocking out competing services/apps just like Apple is)
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There's no Chrome on iOS.
The "Chrome" on iOS is just a re-skined Safari with google sync. Yet a lot of user still using it because they thought it is Chrome.
I do not think changing default browser is a possible setting for apple as they do not even allow real browser in AppStore. I would love to have real Firefox on my phone.
This would be a long-overdue step in the right direction to prevent intentionally anticompetitive practices from Apple.
In my brief forray into iOS, i immediately discovered that all browsers are functionally the same. The reason is because all are required to use the same "api tool kit", i think they call it.
All the behaviors in the browsers are the same, the same radio buttons, the same drop down menus, and format is the same.
I was trying to use an ipad for my job, where i rely on web forms to input data.
But i had problems with the way Safari displayed the forms. And i tried every other browser i could find, but they all were exactly the same.
Contrast this with Android, where there are clear differences between browsers. When entering text, auto zoom, auto centering behavior varies between browsers. Drop down menus behave differently. Apple boxes have round corners that partly obscure the content, same on all iOS. But on android, some do and some do not.
Animations were annoying in iOS...but same on all browsers. I tap a radio button, and it does a little song and dance before i can hit the next one. It rejects inputs while the animation is happening.
But Android doesnt have thus. There are different behaviors of radio buttons, but non were so animated, and none cause input rejection while a previous animation is in progress.
So simply put, apple forces all browsers to be exactly the same, and i found no benefit to changing to any other browser. But outside of iOS, changing browsers can make a big difference.
So the root problem is Apples strangle hold on app development!
Here is an idea, they just don’t download another brewers? Then you can go the extra steps they can’t download anything. I do a lot to tech stuff for family and friends, and I’m not even worried. My mom is in her 70’s, and I’m not worried at all.
Because I’m not an Apple fan boy who uses just Apple stuff. I have Linux, Windows, and Android, along with Mac and iOS, I love being able to use a browsers that is cross platform that syncs all of my bookmarks. As others said, most people just use the default stuff anyways. This is why Google paid a lot of money to Apple to be the default search, because again, most people don’t change the defaults.
This is as bad as when Apple switched to Intel Processors “omg the world is ending, Apple is going to Intel”
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Ok. So if there are 20million. Out of almost a billion phones. Statistically insignificant.
Right but until Apple decides to makes a way to play nice with Windows, since there is no Windows Safari anymore, syncing bookmarks, open tabs, etc is a total nonstarter in iOS Safari with your PC.
Again, like my prior point, they HAVE a way via iCloud but refuse to. Icloud could easily sync a desktop browser tabs and bookmarks with iOS Safari; they are just freaking urls.
So Google Sync certainly has its place for many many people until Apple fixes the problem they caused
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I have an iPad Pro 10.5" running iPadOS 13.3.1. Under Chrome, I generally have no trouble rendering most commercial web sites. As such, I don't mind iOS being limited to using the WebKit rendering engine.