Mozilla Shows Off Junior, a Simple Browser Built for iPad 137
The Verge reports that Mozilla last week showed off a prototype browser built for the iPad called Junior, based on a simplified interface and gesture-based controls. Junior — remember, not a shipping product — is full-screen, and lacks tabs; most controls are off-screen until called up with an on-screen button, to emphasize whatever page is loaded. See the video demo for an idea of what Junior is like in use.
Re:Good, but a little pointless. (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes, if you jailbreak you can do anything, obviously. Removing WebKit would be a *bit* harder, since I assume it's basically built into the OS in a very deep level, but hey. You start the kickstarter to fund having a team look at ways of replacing it with a suitable alternative, I'll throw in some cash. ;)
Re:Good, but a little pointless. (Score:5, Interesting)
This post gave me deja-vu. I swear it was only a few years ago we were all sitting around complaining about Microsoft "arc-welding" IE to Windows and limiting customers' ability to change browsers. Only difference this time is that Apple doesn't have quite the same market stranglehold that Microsoft did/does. It does make one wonder though - given the mass shift away from desktop PCs towards more portible devices, and if Apple did come to utterly dominate the laptop/mobile market, how long would it take for Apple to wind up in a courtroom? If ever?
Re:Finally! (Score:4, Interesting)
A browser that can consume all available memory *and* offer a simple UI!
The anti-M$ people might downvote this on autopilot, but it is interesting how everything called out as new in the summary about this new Mozilla browser is taken from Metro IE10 in Windows 8: "based on a simplified interface and gesture-based controls. Junior — remember, not a shipping product — is full-screen, and lacks tabs; most controls are off-screen until called up with an on-screen button, to emphasize whatever page is loaded" this is all exactly what Microsoft has been showing with Metro IE10 in Windows 8.
Re:Good, but a little pointless. (Score:3, Interesting)
Remember, Apple came from nowhere in these markets. When they launched the iPhone in 2007, they had an ambition to get just 1% of the phone market. A year later when they launched the App Store, there was no predetermined inevitability that it wold work. Smartphone apps had been around for a decade as a tiny niche. When they launched the iPad, various other companies had tried and failed to create a commercially successful tablet.
Yes for sure these markets make them dump-trucks full of money. But there is only one possible reason for that. Because vast numbers of people like what Apple creates, products and surrounding ecosystem. Their "official reason why they do this is because it allows for a uniform user experience without weird bugs caused by strange combinations" is very, very popular. To put it more succinctly "It just works."
For sure Apple won't be allowing any other browser engine on iOS. Because there is no benefit to the consumer in doing so. Browser rendering is a essentially a commodity. But a few trivial differences in browser engines can mean that occasionally a web-site will behave badly on a particular browser. By standardising on a single renderer, the consumer is better served - any web page that is intended to work with an iPad will work with any iPad browser. No incompatibilities. And as Google's Chrome also uses Webkit, essentially any web-site intended to work on mobile devices will always work perfectly. A Mozilla rendering engine would do more harm than good. And for what? The idea of Open Source? Webkit is open source anyway.