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Sleipnir Mobile and 360: Two New Web Browsers for iOS

Sleipnir Mobile and the 360 Browser have joined a growing group of alternatives to Mobile Safari, the web browser that comes with the iPhone and iPod touch.  Tabs, data sync with Firefox, download management, and access …

GigaOM Charles Hamilton

Context & Ripple Effects

Third-party browsers on iOS have been inching through Apple's review process all year — most visibly when Apple approved Skyfire's Flash-to-HTML5 video converter for the iPhone in November 2010. Sleipnir Mobile and 360 Browser arriving together extends that opening from media handling into everyday browsing features like tabs and downloads.

The timing matters because Apple has been upgrading its own default in parallel: Safari's iOS 4.2 update added accelerometer access, WebSockets, and better HTML5 support weeks earlier. The contest is therefore not over the rendering engine — which Apple does not license on iOS — but over the feature layer wrapped around it.

First-order effects

  • iPhone and iPod touch users gain real alternatives to Mobile Safari for the first time at scale, with Sleipnir Mobile bringing tab management, download handling, and data sync with Firefox.
  • Apple's App Store review team is now routinely approving full browsing apps, confirming the Skyfire precedent was policy rather than a one-off.

Second-order effects

  • Firefox gains a mobile distribution channel it cannot build itself on iOS — Sleipnir's sync makes Mozilla's desktop user base a ready-made audience for a browser Mozilla does not ship.
  • Mobile Safari faces feature-gap pressure from apps that can move faster than Apple's annual OS cadence, pushing Apple to fold popular third-party features into future iOS releases.

Third-order effects

  • If the approval pattern holds, iOS browser competition settles permanently around features layered on Apple's WebKit rather than independent engines, making App Store review the effective gatekeeper of mobile browsing capability.

The trend: Mobile browser competition is migrating from rendering engines, where Apple permits none on iOS, to feature layers built on its WebKit, with App Store approvals setting the pace.

Related: Mobile Safari · Sleipnir Mobile · Firefox · Skyfire iOS browser approved by Apple