Mozilla is experimenting with bringing Firefox to iOS

Shawn Knight

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Mozilla has been firm on its decision not to bring Firefox to iOS because Apple wouldn’t let them use their own web engine – or at least, that was the narrative under the former regime.

Following a whirlwind of controversy at the CEO position, Mozilla appointed Chris Beard to lead the way moving forward. Unlike his predecessor(s), Beard seemingly has no qualms with developing a version of Firefox for iDevices.

Mozilla recently hosted an internal event in Portland. During the gathering, Mozilla’s VP of Firefox, Jonathan Nightingale, reportedly told those in attendance that they need to be where users are so they are going to get Firefox on iOS.

mozilla firefox ios apple iphone ipad browser web browser mobile web browser

The admission was later confirmed by Mozilla in a brief blog post in which they said they want to provide an independent choice for users on any platform. The post further noted that they are in the early stages of experimenting with “something that allows iOS users to be able to choose a Firefox-like experience.”

The verbiage used in the post is interesting – they don’t come right out and say it – but was likely chosen due to the early nature of the experiment.

Mozilla’s previous concerns are not without merit as Apple is very restrictive in terms of third-party browser engine use in iOS. Chrome, for example, works on iOS because it uses Apple’s own JavaScript and rendering engines. Opera, meanwhile, renders sites on an external server before sending the results back to the user.

Mozilla promised to provide additional updates when they have more to share.

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"A Firefox-like experience"? Oh, so they mean Chrome? Under the guidance of Beard, who's more obsessed with political correctness than product quality, FF has become totally irrelevant. He's doubled down on slavishly copying a browser that true FF fans despise while also disenfranchising extension developers even more completely than his predecessor. Firefox will be remembered as a brief, bright moment in web history thanks to the myopic stupidity of Mozilla's so-called leadership.
 
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