[muglo] Mozilla Planning to Release Firefox iOS App in the Future
- From: Frank <fbirch@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipients:;
- Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2014 05:45:15 -0500
Tuesday December 2, 2014 3:25 pm PST by Juli Clover
Mozilla's Firefox browser may soon make its way to iOS, according to a
statement made by Firefox VP Jonathan Nightingale at an internal Mozilla event.
Relayed by Firefox release manager Lukas Blakk and shared by TechCrunch,
Nightingale reportedly told Mozilla employees "We need to be where our users
are so we're going to get Firefox on iOS."
The statement about releasing Firefox for iOS marks a major shift in ideology
for Mozilla, as the company has, in the past, repeatedly said that it would not
offer a version of Firefox for iOS because of Apple's refusal to allow
third-party browsers to use their own web engines. In 2013, then VP of product
Jay Sullivan said that Moziila didn't "feel like it could build the browser it
wants" on Apple's platform, and that it had "no plans" for an iOS version of
Firefox.
One of the major points of contention for Mozilla was Apple's refusal to allow
the Firefox browser to carry over its rendering and JavaScript engines to iOS,
as Apple imposes strict restrictions on third-party browsers and limits them to
the company's own JavaScript engines. Prior to iOS 8, this meant that
third-party browsers were slower than Apple's Safari, but with iOS 8, Apple
began allowing third-party browsers to take advantage of previously unavailable
features like the JavaScript Nitro Engine.
An inability to provide custom web engines along with the lack of an option to
set a third-party browser as the default browser makes it difficult for
companies like Chrome, Opera, and Firefox to create satisfactory browsing
experiences on Apple's platform. Though little is known about Firefox's plans
for iOS at the current point in time, it is likely Mozilla will need to
continue to work within Apple's limits.
Though Mozilla's Firefox browser for iOS will be subjected to Apple's
restrictions, key Firefox features like accounts, customizable home panels, and
data syncing will translate to iOS, helping Firefox users achieve a more
seamless browsing experience on a range of devices.
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