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Mozilla Shows Off Junior, a Simple Browser Built for iPad

Posted by timothy on from the other-platforms-would-like-this-too dept.

The Verge reports that Mozilla last week showed off a prototype browser built for the iPad called Junior, based on a simplified interface and gesture-based controls. Junior — remember, not a shipping product — is full-screen, and lacks tabs; most controls are off-screen until called up with an on-screen button, to emphasize whatever page is loaded. See the video demo for an idea of what Junior is like in use.

6 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Good, but a little pointless. by Sasayaki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More browser competition on the iPhone is fantastic, but it'd be even better if iOS allowed you to change the default browser so that when you tapped a link in an email it would open in that browser. Currently this is not possible; no matter how many browsers you have installed, you tap a link in an app (such as Mail) it opens in Safari. You can't change that, and you can't uninstall Safari, although you can remove it from your quicklaunch tray if you want and put something else there. Doesn't fix the problem though.

    I don't really care much for being able to remove Safari -- it's probably arc-welded to the OS anyway, and if you take it off your quicklaunch and change the default browser you'll never see it -- but without the ability to make Junior/Opera/Long Awaited Chrome For iOS/etc your default browser, choice is a bit of an illusion.

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    Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
    1. Re:Good, but a little pointless. by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

      it would be even better if they allowed other engines on the app store.

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      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Good, but a little pointless. by MachDelta · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This post gave me deja-vu. I swear it was only a few years ago we were all sitting around complaining about Microsoft "arc-welding" IE to Windows and limiting customers' ability to change browsers. Only difference this time is that Apple doesn't have quite the same market stranglehold that Microsoft did/does. It does make one wonder though - given the mass shift away from desktop PCs towards more portible devices, and if Apple did come to utterly dominate the laptop/mobile market, how long would it take for Apple to wind up in a courtroom? If ever?

    3. Re:Good, but a little pointless. by Nerdfest · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Allowing other browsers doesn't stop people deom using webKit, it just gives them the option. You're disagreeing with giving people the option (and so is Apple).

  2. Mozilla Edsel? by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Like the PC Junior name did so well for IBM.

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    Table-ized A.I.
  3. Finally! by matunos · · Score: 5, Funny

    A browser that can consume all available memory *and* offer a simple UI!