Apple has loosened a little bit in their treatment of 3rd party applications that provide ‘duplicate functionality’ (previously a big no-no) and allowed a handful of 3rd party ‘browsers’ to launch in the App Store this week. These include:
Squeaky = a ‘cover your tracks’ browser, with no history, no bookmarks, no cache
WebMate = provides a first step towards tabbed browsing on the iPhone – queues up the links you click on, and lets you view them one by one when you’re ready
QuickSurf = gives you stripped-down pages for faster loading (strips out most images etc.)
Edge Browser = offers no loss of screen real estate to address or navigation bars
It’s been pointed out though that – so far – all the approved pseudo-browser apps are based on WebKit (as Safari is) and they can be viewed as more like browser extensions or add-ons, rather than as full-fledged alternative browsers. The general consensus still seems to be that Firefox and Opera iPhone versions, for example, would have little chance of being approved by Apple.
I can see the usefulness of each of the add-on browsers mentioned above (and others) but personally feel no great need for them just now. I would love to see a Firefox iPhone version though – not because I don’t like Mobile Safari (like it lots), but just because Firefox is my favorite desktop browser (by a looooong way) and I’d like to see what they’d come up with.
What about you all? Would you like to see Firefox / Opera / others come to the iPhone?
Via: The iPhone Blog
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