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WebShield – A new wide-spectrum content blocker for Safari

(github.com)
143 points tW4r | 5 comments | 28 Feb 25 11:21 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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perdomon ◴[28 Feb 25 15:15 UTC] No.43206511[source]▶
I like projects like this since Safari is probably the biggest competitor to Chrome, but historically Apple hasn't been kind to these sorts of extensions. I hope they're able to find a way to make it work, because Safari is well-integrated into the iOS ecosystem.
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wobfan ◴[28 Feb 25 15:24 UTC] No.43206620[source]▶
While everything you're saying is correct, Safari is only the biggest competitor to Chrome because Apple is going out of their way to make it hard or even impossible in the case of iOS for developers to develop well-oiled browsers for their OSes. Just wanted to add that, because I'm pissed.
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1. gjsman-1000 ◴[28 Feb 25 15:30 UTC] No.43206695[source]▶
No; it’s because then, the internet would go from 80% Chromium, to 95% Chromium.

Allowing alternative browser engines does not mean Firefox gets a footing. It means Chromium gets a footing even on iOS, and we start seeing Electron apps on iOS, with every app bundling their own Chromium renderer.

If Apple were forced to allow 3rd party engines on iOS, they might as well shut down WebKit. All hail Blink, the universal engine.

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2. troupo ◴[28 Feb 25 18:43 UTC] No.43208925[source]▶
Yeah, that's the downside. I'm all for Apple to open up their platform. But the browsers will be dead, and everything will be Chrome
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3. gamedever ◴[28 Feb 25 20:48 UTC] No.43210481[source]▶
Good! because people prefer Chrome. People have to go out of their way to install it and they do.

If Safari was better then Safari would stay #1 on iOS. They shouldn't be allowed force this any more than Microsoft was allowed to force IE.

If 3rd party browsers were allowed we'd have had WebGL2 on iOS 4 years earlier. WebGPU 2 years earlier. WebXR several years earlier (Apple is only adding it now and only for Vision Pro), and many other features.

4. wobfan ◴[28 Feb 25 22:06 UTC] No.43212160[source]▶
I'd rather have an open platform with free choice (including the side effect of Chrome taking even more market share) instead of Apple forcing users to use their browser. I definitely dislike Chrome and you may unfortunately be right with your projection, but forcing people to use a different browser does not help the greater cause IMO.
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5. troupo ◴[28 Feb 25 22:44 UTC] No.43212716{3}[source]▶
I agree, I'm just sad it has come down to this