Google is developing a new experimental Chromium iOS browser with its own Blink engine
CTOnews.com, February 4 (Xinhua)-- Google Chromium developers are developing an experimental Web browser for iOS that will break Apple's App Store restrictions on browser engines, The Register reported.
Google developers are actively building experimental browsers that use Google's Blink engine. However, if Google tries to publish it on App Store, it is expected to fail Apple's App censorship process.
Apple's App Store rules stipulate that browser applications on iOS and iPadOS must use the Apple WebKit browser engine. This means that while browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are built using Chromium on macOS and Windows, their iOS platform counterparts will be forced to use Apple WebKit, which makes them behave like Safari browsers.
CTOnews.com learned that, based on visible code submissions, the application allegedly looked like the beginning of an alternative browser build, and that some key features were still missing in the early stages. Google claims that the app is "an experimental prototype [...] to understand some aspects of iOS performance" and that "users will not be able to use it and we will continue to abide by Apple's policies."
Even so, Google's experimental iOS browser project may indicate that the company is looking to change Apple's platform rules to enable it to release a true prototype browser. Apple's browser engine restrictions are subject to increasing antitrust censorship, and the current US government recently proposed new legislation banning gatekeepers like Apple from using alternative browser engines on their platforms.
Antitrust authorities in the UK, Australia and Japan have made similar proposals. The EU's digital market bill is expected to force Apple to allow third-party app stores and lift restrictions on its browser engine as early as next year. At the very least, the active project means that Google will have a considerable lead in developing Blink-based browsers for iOS and hopes to hit App Store ahead of Apple's rule change.
