How to change the default browser in iOS 10.1.1 to Chome? Links were opening in Chrome, as desired, until recent updates after which Safari now opens instead. I prefer to use Chrome. Thanks.
iPad (4th gen) Wi-Fi, iOS 10.1.1
Vidal S wrote:
Yes, how terribly disappointing. Apple is heading down a very dark path. With decisions like this, Apple has become Microsoft. Shame on you Apple for preventing freedom of user choice!
You have never been able to change the default browser in iOS. I'm not sure why this comes as a surprise to you or why you think it's new behavior on Apple's part. Apple has never been a big fan of customer choice. They're motto has always pretty much been "We'll get the customer what they really need, not what they think they want."
Hey Idris,
I'm already regretting entering this discussion. I wish I'd read the 3 previous pages of comments first and realised that this had become quite a heated debate 🙂
You've made a fair point, but that wasn't what I was trying to say. I was rather carelessly conflating two points because of a general dissatisfaction with Apple's current direction. I've been a fan of Apple and it's products for many years and have used multiple models of multiple devices and still do. I'm no hater. What I am is disappointed. I'd hoped for better.
My point was that it has been perfectly possible for apps to enable links to be opened by other browsers than Safari. Not enabling this to be done at an ios-wide level is a restrictive choice. I just don't buy that this is principally about security. If that's really the obstacle, then why not publish a technical standard that is necessary for third party browsers to achieve, in order to be 'allowed', in the way that they do for products getting into the Appstore? Why not work the problem? This is all perfectly feasible and is what they have done in other areas such as application compatibility. Look at what Apple has done to enable OS X and iOS to support Microsoft Office.
There's no getting away from it, the user base for Chrome is vast and enabling the seamless, cross-device usage of Chrome (with a single set of bookmarks and history etc) is what many people need, not just some idle whimsy they thought of on the train home.
I get that there is choice out there but simply to dismiss people's desire to improve certain aspects of the way Apple's products work, by saying that you can always choose something else, is in my mind a dangerous path. What's the point of having a feedback loop if people are just going to effectively say 'shut-up and buy something else'?
That was my second point. I think there is an increasing slide towards the preachy side of Apple's philosophy. The ridiculous pursuit of a Christmas Cracker keyboard on the Macbook Pro to make the form factor even more unnecessarily thin, greatly reducing the ability to vary the purchase build of its new hardware and completely removing the ability to self-service or upgrade components once you've bought a device and therefore increase the longevity of our expensive and hard-earned purchases.
I agree that this last point was not really relevant to the discussion about iOS, but I'm genuinely, constructively worried and disappointed with Apple's choices at the moment. I think they are changing and for the worst.
Anyway, happy holidays!
Vidal S wrote:
Hey Idris,
I get that there is choice out there but simply to dismiss people's desire to improve certain aspects of the way Apple's products work, by saying that you can always choose something else, is in my mind a dangerous path. What's the point of having a feedback loop if people are just going to effectively say 'shut-up and buy something else'?
I think the point a lot of us are trying to make is this just isn't the place to give feedback. I'm not dismissing or denigrating your choices or desires. But, no one here can do anything about them. And, based on Apple's history, Apple isn't likely to act on some of them. However, you should submit your feedback to them anyway. Sometimes they do change things.
Best of luck.
Swifa13 wrote:
Its not faire that you pay a ship load of money for their devices but can't have full customisation access. This is why Android will remain the people's favorite.
Some people care about customization. Some people care about security.
You are certainly free to submit your feedback to Apple here:
You should always chose the tool that best meets your needs. You can also submit feedback to Apple here:
Please provide links to credible articles that show that Chrome is "far more secure than Safari." I've seen a lot of articles about how Chrome is insecure compared to Firefox.
Hey everyone, just open a new Chrome tab, paste in (the full URL of) www.icloud.com/#keynote, and enjoy! Life's too short to expend so much energy in a negative way.
Yes, how terribly disappointing. Apple is heading down a very dark path. With decisions like this, Apple has become Microsoft. Shame on you Apple for preventing freedom of user choice!
monkeycrayons wrote:
One more reason why I use MacOS for work and Ubuntu for my home machine. Everything is free and open. You control the software, not the other way around.
While I agree you should always use the tool that best meets you needs, I'm not sure how which computer operating system you have is relevant to this discussion of iOS. You are certainly free to change your default browser in MacOS.
Interested in Apple's lawyers' opinions as to how this differs from the ruling that this exact behavior was found to be "'an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive fortune,' and '
the court concludes that Microsoft maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means and attempted to monopolize the Web browser market,'' as well as ''unlawfully tying its Web browser to its operating system'' -- all in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act."
At least there is, and has long been, an option to select a more preferred third-party browser in their products.
You can always use a third party web browser in iOS and MacOS.
Unlike Mac OS, Apple doesn't allow letting you make a third party web browser, the default, automatic launching web browser on iOS.
Probably, part of Apple's security and sandboxing in iOS.
Certainly not in the same vain that Microsoft was doing with Microsoft Explorer.
Swifa13 wrote:
This is why Android will remain the people's favorite.
And why Android is also the hacker's and cybercriminal's favorite. Current Android vulnerabilities: 946 (source: http://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-1224/product_id-19997/Goo gle-Android.html)
Current iOS vulnerabilities in iOS 10.3.2: 0
Swifa13 wrote:
Its not faire that you pay a ship load of money for their devices but can't have full customisation access. This is why Android will remain the people's favorite.
Yup, all 12-15% of them!
fhlunatic wrote:
Wow. Is apple trying to drive me to an android so I can use the apps the way I want to? I've had an iphone since the 3g came out, but this is enough to push me over...
You should always chose the tool that best meets your needs.
I'm curious though, why, after all these years, is this enough to cause you to buy something else? It's always been this way.
The process of replying to this comment is a good case study. I clicked on the link to reply in my phone's email. I was taken to safari, where my passwords are not saved. I was asked to log in. I closed the app and opened my email on my pc so I could use chrome, my app of choice. As with every other human who utilizes technology my demands change along with my knowledge and needs. Restrictive policies such as this one have always annoyed me, but this is close to the last straw. I choose not to use safari for anything. (even though I own a 2016 macbook pro with touch toolbar) Apple is trying to use force to manipulate my choice. I apparently can only choose to switch to android to continue my technological progress.
Btw I'm an electrical engineering PhD student at Vanderbilt University researching surgical robotics, so I'm not a technical ignoramus.
How to change the default browser in iOS 10 to Chome?
