Mozilla has said that it has no plans to bring its Firefox browser to iOS as long as Apple’s brazen attitude toward third-party developers continues. This piece of news comes from the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference going on in Austin, Texas, where developers get together to share ideas and talk of things to come.
Speaking at a panel at SXSW Interactive, Jay Sullivan, vice president of products at Mozilla said that the company isn’t currently developing a version of its browser for iOS. It should be noted that Mozilla Firefox Home disappeared from the Apple app store in September last year, and as it stands, there is nothing that will encourage the company to build a version for said OS.
The main reason is that the developer is being denied the ability to use its sophisticated rendering and javascript engines for the platform. The key factor that has contributed to this breakdown is that the folks at Mozilla don’t think they can create the browser experience they want to, with all these restrictions being levied.
CNET is reporting that this might prove to be a risky decision as the company already has less than a 1 percent share of the mobile browser market. In contrast, Apple commands 55 percent of said market with its Safari. The website goes on to note that the Cupertino-based giant hasn’t created a conducive environment for third-party browsers.
To that effect, people using iOS are not allowed to set any other application as their default browser and must use Safari instead. But it’s not like other browser developers are complaining. And both Sullivan and Mike Taylor of Opera Software shared the view that choice is better for everyone, both in terms of browsers and the Internet in general.
And for now Mozilla has other things to keep it busy. An OS is in the works for lower-end phones. This platform is to ‘unlock’ certain limitations of web development on mobile. There will be an environment where HTML5 applications will be able to make use of system resources.
So, considering that Apple is highly unlikely to change its philosophy, we probably won’t see Mozilla Firefox on iOS anytime soon. A quick poll of the audience at the panel showed that most iOS users don’t feel restricted in practically being forced to use Safari.