Chrome browser to debut on iPhone and iPad today
Summary: Chrome for iPhone and iPad was announced today at Google I/O 2012 and is now available for download in the App Store.
Chrome Vice President Brian Rakowski announced (and Tweeted) Chrome for iPhone and iPad (free, App Store) at Google I/O 2012 today in San Francisco.
According to reportage by The Verge Chrome for iOS will require iOS 4.3 or higher and will support Chrome sync. Blurry photos of the slideware don't provide many more details other than the fact that it's strikingly similar to Chrome for Android. No surprises there.
Possibly the most newsworthy part of the announcement is the fact that Chrome for iOS is available today.
Although it has a lot of potential for Chrome users on the desktop, I primarily use Safari on OS X and like its iCloud bookmark syncing. Plus iOS 6 is adding iCloud tab syncing which will be an added bonus.
Mashable notes that Chrome for iOS is basically a skinned version of Mobile Safari (UIWebView) minus the Nitro JavaScript engine -- which Apple restricts to Mobile Safari for "security reasons." Also since Apple doesn't provide an option to select default apps in iOS touching links in apps (email, messages, etc.) only opens them in Safari.
Chrome Apple: rockrgrl4ever15
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Talkback
What is the javascript performance like?
Has Google found a way around this or can we expect this to be unusable because Apple uses secret APIs to disadvantage 3rd party developers?
Proof?
Thanks!
Here
[i]In iOS 5, Apple solved the security issues that prevented earlier releases from running full screen web apps using Nitro, although security measures still prevent [b]apps that use UIWebView to present a web view from invoking Nitro[/b].[/i]
So far, if any 3rd party app displays a web page in iOS, it is either rendering it on a server and sending a picture (Skyfire) or it is rendering it in a UIWebView control. There are no 3rd party HTML or Javascript engines allowed in iOS. So if Chrome is using UIWebView to display web pages, it is not allowed to use the same Nitro speed enhancements that Safari is allowed to use. That is why Safari is so much faster than any other browser in iOS. Apple uses secret APIs in order to give Safari performance improvements. Those secret APIs are not available to any 3rd party app.
Easier to read this link
[i]Update: Sadly, while Web.app got Nitro so Home screen web apps enjoy the faster JavaScript rendering, UIWebView did not. That means [b]web pages contained in apps are still using the slower version[/b].[/i]
Thanks!
Even more
If you don't want to use Safari, there is another option
I got it...
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chrome/id535886823?ls=1&mt=8
drew
It's not real Chrome
Chrome already uses webkit
Thank you Captain Obvious
Ah did I mention iPhone and iPad are only Smart(!) devices in the world that can not do a "basic html (since 1990) single file upload" from their browser? Because Apple thinks it is best for you? In other words, what you see there is your safari with Chrome skin and chrome bookmark sync, not real Chrome that gives you extra browsing, javascript performance more or functionality...
baggins: Chrome on Windows uses Nitro javascript engine?
I downloaded iOS Chrome browser for my iPad and found it - OK.
But after a few moments at a particular web site, the background processes are finished and the scrolling becomes smooth.
I downloaded it for my iPhone
But like you, I found it to be slow. I know it would be so much better if Google had access to the same APIs that Apple has access to. But no, Apple has access to secret APIs that no one else has access to.
Do you get paid by the post?