We have seen Apple release the Safari web browser for Windows in the past, but they have stopped developing it a few years ago. Right now, only Mac, iPhone, and iPad users can use Apple’s Safari. However, there is a report circulating on the internet about a Chromium-based Safari web browser that Apple is planning to release for Windows users.
Here is why this report is fake.
Apple’s Chromium-Based Safari Browser for Windows 10 Is Just a Fake Rumor
Around 80% of the market is held by Google Chrome and other browsers that are Chrome derivatives, such as Opera. Only Firefox is an independent web browser that can be used on all platforms.
Microsoft ended the development of the engine ‘EdgeHTML’ and switched to Chromium last year.
According to a Russian news outlet, we learned that Apple could also make the switch and rebuild Safari on the Chromium platform.
There’s a bug post on Chromium that shows Safari could use Chromium instead of Apple’s homegrown rendering engine:
Right now this bug post is hidden, but we managed to get a couple of screenshots with it, where an Apple engineer requested ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention) to be activated in Chromium 80. Apple uses ITP to stop ad tracking through their browser and uses it in their products.
The engineer also revealed a screenshot we saved below that shows the Chromium-based Safari browser while running on Windows 10. The photo has been named safari-on-chromium-alpha, which meant it was in the early development phase.
However, Apple’s WebKit team member Maciej Stachowiak stated that Apple is not going to choose the Chromium platform over WebKit and the report is incorrect and fake:
“This is completely fake. No such plan. The supposed email address isn’t anyone on the Safari/WebKit teams, there is no ITP code in Chromium that could be enabled, and the screenshot is not a real Safari design,” he said on Twitter.
Why we think this is great news? Google needs to continue addressing privacy concerns within its browser and keep improving Chromium, but without competition from Safari and Firefox, the company wouldn’t have to worry about all of that since it would have the upper hand on the market.
