I've long held that this is one of those areas that if Apple really cared about privacy they'd disallow in-app browsers. They'd add the rule that an app that is not a browser must list in its manifest 10 or fewer domains that its webview is allowed to access. All the rest would be denied.
This would mean many apps like the Facebook App, Messenger, Google Maps, GMail, Line, WeChat, Slack, Discord, etc would effectively not be allowed to open links to the entire internet but only domains directly related to the app and would be a privacy win.
They'd have to have some wording that would have to distinguish between a browser app and a non-browser app but i'd argue that's probably not that hard to do.
adrr · 3h ago
That would make reddit, bluesky, slack etc a miserable experience where you have to switch apps all the time. There’s an option to force it pop out to a browser, go set it. I bet most people don’t want to switch back and forth.
azinman2 · 2h ago
The point of the article is if you use the more modern private API, then it does sandbox the experience and pulls in user privacy preferences while still being an in app browser. There are just older APIs that respect your privacy less.
JohnTHaller · 2h ago
reddit removed the ability to open links in an external browser by default on Android. You have to manually click the 3 dot menu and then Open In Firefox or similar to get into the full browser.
sunshowers · 2h ago
This is an iOS-specific issue, right?
xuki · 2h ago
There in a Safari Controller that’s isolated from the app, but it’s presented within the app. If Apple can just mandate any web browsing activity must go through Safari Controller, it would stop all this nonsense from Facebook.
eru · 3h ago
Couldn't Facebook just proxy external websites through their own domain?
novok · 3h ago
They also know if they did that, they would get even more epic play store style lawsuits from facebook, google and more and be forced to let it happen by law, in an even worse way.
add-sub-mul-div · 3h ago
If they cared about privacy they could also not sell search traffic to Google for billions of dollars a year. But to be fair, for billions of dollars I would stop caring about privacy too.
azinman2 · 2h ago
They sell being the default, but you can change it.
wnevets · 3h ago
Is it that hard believe after Apple & Google conspired to artificially suppress developer wages?
kg · 4h ago
The adventure involved in disabling Facebook's in-app browser is genuinely funny to me. Some people worked hard to bury it like that.
etchalon · 3h ago
Just so I'm clear, this article's contention is that, because Apple doesn't restrict in-app browsers in the same way they do iOS Safari, they're just pretending to be mad at Facebook?
bitpush · 2h ago
Apple has been all about contradictions, and somehow that works for them. They strategically make a big deal about things, and then when silently does what every company is doing. The impressive part is they get away with it.
For instance, everybody thinks Apple hates advertising, esp user-tracking. The interesting thing is Apple themselves run a $6B+ ads businsess, which does first-party user tracking - which is the nuance.
Similarly, if Apple truely wanted user privacy, they'll outright ban Facebook from their platform.
Or most egregious is Apple "stands up to government" (famously with FBI) but is more than happy to bend the knee to Chinese government, or most recently with the gold plaque with Trump.
This would mean many apps like the Facebook App, Messenger, Google Maps, GMail, Line, WeChat, Slack, Discord, etc would effectively not be allowed to open links to the entire internet but only domains directly related to the app and would be a privacy win.
They'd have to have some wording that would have to distinguish between a browser app and a non-browser app but i'd argue that's probably not that hard to do.
For instance, everybody thinks Apple hates advertising, esp user-tracking. The interesting thing is Apple themselves run a $6B+ ads businsess, which does first-party user tracking - which is the nuance.
Similarly, if Apple truely wanted user privacy, they'll outright ban Facebook from their platform.
Or most egregious is Apple "stands up to government" (famously with FBI) but is more than happy to bend the knee to Chinese government, or most recently with the gold plaque with Trump.