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Developers offering Mozilla-like experience will work on Firefox-like experience for iThings

Moz caves after years of stalling

A software house offering a Mozilla-like experience has confirmed it will end its years-long standoff with Apple – and bring a Firefox-like browser to iPhones and iPads.

"At Mozilla, we put our users first and want to provide an independent choice for them on any platform. We are in the early stages of experimenting with something that allows iOS users to be able to choose a Firefox-like experience," the Mozilla-like non-profit said in a press-release experience

"We work in the open at Mozilla and are just starting to experiment, so we’ll update you when we have more to share."

The move is a surprise in that the Mozilla-like outfit has long refused to meet Apple's strict conditions for developing on its mobile platform. The Cupertino giant has insisted developers who make iOS browsers must use Apple's WebKit engine.

Moz, not wanting to drop its own engine for Apple's, has opted not to write software for iOS.

So, is the entity promising a Mozilla-like experience performing an about-face on its policy and caving in to Apple? The outfit declined to explain further to The Register on what engine the Firefox-like app on iOS would use.

However, the announcement's telling wording of a "Firefox-like experience" suggests users are going to get a bit of a compromise. Most likely, this would mean that the iOS Firefox will be a wrapper around the Apple WebKit engine.

Things at Moz have got something of a shakeup in recent weeks as the org killed off its search deal with Google and switched its US search default over to Yahoo!. ®

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