Third-Party Mail and Browser Apps Able to Be Set as Default in iOS and iPadOS 14

[biffuz]

What about forcing third party apps to offer an option to always (as in never ask again) use the default browser instead of some integrated one? Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, just to name a few...

 

[Agit21]

Just moved to Edge on all my devices. This change is great for me. Can't wait for iOS 14.

 

[ojfl]

Safari is much better than Chrome or Firefox on iOS, but having the choice is good. As for Mail, that is an interesting possibility.

 

[Lozza013]

This is great however I'd like to be able to set Google Maps as my default Maps app, Spotify as my default music player and while it's great I set Firefox as my default browser in iOS 14, I agree with others when they say let them develop their own engines on iOS and iPadOS.

 

[LiveM]

I saw it mentioned in the keynote...

 

[martin2345uk]

I saw it mentioned in the keynote...

Saw what..?

 

[rikscha]

We need to be able to set default apps for everything like in Android, not just the mail and browser apps.

no we dont

 

[ShinConker]

no we dont

Of course we do. Wtf, why wouldn't we want more choice?

 

[Bandaman]

no we dont

Yes we do. Disagreeing with that is incredibly silly.
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Of course we do. Wtf, why wouldn't we want more choice?

My mind is baffled there.

 

[tranceking26]

I'll keep Safari as default browser but will likely change email to outlook and maps to google maps, until the UK rollout of Apple maps is complete.

 

[aaronhead14]

This is amazing! Now we just need this same ability with Maps apps such as Google Maps and Waze!

 

[opiapr]

Except for "Hey". Because Apple secretly has an evil grudge against Hey for some reason, right?

Hey was approved already.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Hey was approved already.

1. was a half joke
2. not any updates were approved which would probably be required to support default email

 

[Populus]

Hey @ChristianSelig does this mean we will be able to set Apollo as a default Reddit client? That would be awesome.

Enjoy the WWDC!

 

[macduke]

Useless. They should let developers use their own engine. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, they’re all Safari with a skin

Nice! Would be even better if other browsers could bring their own engines in with them, but this is good to see. Quite a day for announcements. Really feels like Apple is firing on all cylinders as far as focusing on all these different OS's at once. (I also expect them to be rough with bugs because of the amount of changes, but these changes are fantastic)

Genuinely curious why you guys want this? You get the user experience without any downsides of those engines, such as slow JS rendering and poor battery life. This has been proven in many tests.

 

[LogicalApex]

The big question is will this allow a third party default mail application to support exchange push properly? Or will it still need to use the push notifications work around.

 

[gplusplus]

Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely happy for this change. But...

1. Why did it take so long?
2. It’s still not enough.

 

[ipponrg]

Who would have thought Apple being consumer friendly?
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The big question is will this allow a third party default mail application to support exchange push properly? Or will it still need to use the push notifications work around.

If you use gmail app, it pushes. I got off Mail long ago in favor of the Gmail app

 

[ErikGrim]

I have never use a third party browser or email client that wasn’t terrible, so this is a big whatever feature for me. However CALENDAR needs to be set by default as there are several options that are all superior.

 

[LiveM]

Saw what..?

Third-Party Mail and Browser Apps Able to Be Set as Default in iOS and iPadOS 14

 

[BvizioN]

Will use safari for a browser and Gmail for email. Options are nice. Do you think Apple eventually will give these options to Maps also? Happy with Apple maps but as I said, options are good.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I won’t use this but it’s good to have as many have wanted to be able to do this for years.

 

[dhruveonmars]

What about forcing third party apps to offer an option to always (as in never ask again) use the default browser instead of some integrated one? Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, just to name a few...

That's up to the app to support and add that feature. For eg, if you look at Spark, they allow you to choose an in-app browser, Safari, Chrome or Firefox to open links.

 

[steven3130]

Anyone know how to set the defaults in the beta?

 

[RollTide1017]

When they say, they'll allow third party browsers as default do they mean that we can have non webkit browsers? Currently all the alternative browsers available for iOS or iPad OS are just wrappers for Safari.

Honestly, I don’t care that they are Safari wrappers. My work computer and laptop are Windows. To be able to use convienet features like bookmark, history and tab syncing on all my devices (Laptop, work PC, iMac at home, personal iPhone and work iPhone) I need to use Chrome or Edge since there is no Safari for Windows. Not being able to set those browsers as default on iOS has been very frustrating.

Same goes for email. Outlook has better exchange features than the built in Mail app, especially searching my work GAL. I also love Spark and find it much easier to use for email than the built in Mail app.

Changing these default apps is huge, a feature that should have been added many years ago. I thankful and glad Apple finally made this decision.

Now, maybe one day the same thing can happen for maps but probably not. Apple has most likely sunk a whole lot more money into Apple Maps and probably doesn’t want to make it too convenient for people to switch.