Apple To Allow Third Party Browsers On iPhone

Apple has finally decided to allow third party internet browsers on it’s iPhone, but there’s a big catch – all of the browsers that Apple is approving only provide functionality based on it’s own Safari Webkit. The newly approved applications range in price from free to $1.99. They include Edge Browser, free, Incognito, which costs $1.99, WebMate, for $0.99, and Shaking Web, $1.99. Apple did not officially announce the change in it’s long-standing “duplication of functionality” policy, which says if an application does something that Apple already does, it will be rejected, but the new applications just quietly appeared yesterday.

These newly allowed browsers are considered full applications, which means that you can only run one at a time. Edge browser removes Safari’s address and navigation bars, leaving more screen available for viewing. WebMate:Tabbed browser lines up all of the links you click on, and then displays them in an orderly fashion. Incognito and Shaking Web both offer untraceable browsing.

While it is exciting news to see Apple allowing third parties into it’s exclusive world, other popular browsers such as Firefox and Opera are not expected to be allowed in. Firefox, by Mozilla has more market share than Safari in PC browsing. Opera has it’s own very dedicated user base. Internet Explorer, the most popular and widely used browser on the market, has an even slimmer chance to be included in Apple’s store.