Mozilla CEO: we've been working on iPhone browsers without the WebKit engine.

CTOnews.com, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) upcoming EU regulations may force Apple to abandon its long-standing rule that all iPhone and iPad browsers must use the same WebKit engine as Safari. Mitchell Baker, chairman and CEO of Mozilla, discussed the issue in a recent interview with The Verge.

CTOnews.com learned that Apple currently requires all third-party browsers to use the same WebKit engine as Safari. This means that all iPhone and iPad browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox, are virtually the same as Safari from a performance perspective.

However, Europe's digital market law may force Apple to compromise on this issue. Apple is likely to abandon the mandatory use of WebKit in its iOS 17 system this fall. In fact, it was reported last week that both Google and Mozilla are developing browsers with non-WebKit engines for the iOS / iPadOS platform.

When asked about the reports, Baker explained that a non-WebKit-based iPhone and iPad browser is what Mozilla has been doing: "We have been studying, if we have the ability to provide the product we want, what can we do? so we've been paying attention to this."

Baker didn't say anything specific, but Baker also pointed out that people are "at least more willing" to consider switching browsers on their phones than other platforms.