Other Browsers on iPad are Inferior to Safari?

[PadMan99]

In 2014, Chris Hoffman (the How-To Geek) wrote a post called "Why Third-Party Browsers Will Always Be Inferior to Safari on iPhone and iPad." The reason for this, he explained, is that Apple’s App Store policy states that apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript. That means third party browsers on iOS can't use their own rendering engine, instead they have to use Safari's rendering engine, so third party browsers are little more than different interfaces for Safari.

He went on to say that third party browsers have to use an older JavaScript engine while Apple’s newer JavaScript engine is reserved for Safari alone. That means that Safari will always render faster than third party browsers on iPhone and iPad, if I understand this correctly.

Is this still true in 2015?

 

[LannyC]

Dunno, probably. But you seem to be basing your opinion of browsers solely on speed. On a device with limited input options, that seems to miss the point of "different interfaces," which can genuinely improve the browsing experience.

Apple's recent operating systems--both iOS and OS X--have lost their way, abandoning the human-interface breakthroughs that got Apple off the ground in 1984. Both suffer from inconsistencies and mystery meat navigation. A browser that addresses interface shortcomings can make one's day flow more smoothly, saving much more time than they lose from using last year's Javascript.

The only real advantage of Safari is its fixed position as the default app for opening web links in email and other apps.

 

[NSquirrel]

>> Apple's recent operating systems--both iOS and OS X--have lost their way, abandoning the human-interface breakthroughs that got Apple off the ground in 1984.

Quite agree.

 

[BobbyBoomer]

In one of my businesses, I sell data files for a music app. Mac users are about 5% of my business. In the uncommon cases where they are having a download problem, about 50% of those are Safari browsers. Almost all of the time, if I suggest another browser, they can download just fine.

They are just plain old zip files (sgu, ls3, and sty extensions), with no malware inside (tested daily), and drag-and-drop instructions on an rtf file. I don't know why that is, but I would say Safari is lacking or over-zealous downloading files with extensions it doesn't recognize.

BTW, due to advice on another thread here, I tried Mercury Free, and I like it a lot.

Bob

 

[PadMan99]

FYI: I got a reply, not from Chris, but from someone who works with him. He thinks Safari is and probably always will be faster. That said, your point about the UI experience is well taken.

I'm thinking of switching from Android to the iPad and, honestly, it's coming down to a matter of whose disrespect of user preferences I can tolerate easier.

 

[s2mikey]

I'd love to use a different browser but I'm so used to the gestures that you simply can't use with other browsers that I always come back to Safari. Honestly, with the latest OS updates Safari is better than its even been. Still a tad quirky at times but it gets the job done.

 

[BobbyBoomer]

They all have their pros and cons. There is no best or worst.