Comment by zak-mandhro

Just to clarify a bit on browser engines: - Safari runs on WebKit, an independent rendering engine maintained by Apple. - Firefox runs on Gecko (specifically the newer Quantum version), which is fully independent and maintained by Mozilla. - Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera, and most others run on Blink, which is Google’s fork of WebKit.

So while it’s true that many browsers today are Chromium derivatives, Safari and Firefox are not — they operate their own engines and could, in theory, push independent privacy standards without Google’s blessing.

Also important to note: Because Apple requires all iOS browsers to use WebKit under the hood (even "Chrome" and "Firefox" on iPhone), any browser-native privacy feature Apple implements through WebKit would effectively apply to all browsers on iPhones and iPads by default.

That’s a much bigger user base impact than just Safari desktop users.

That said, you’re absolutely right about the broader market power problem: - Chrome controls ~65% of browser usage worldwide. - Many web developers treat Chrome as the de facto standard when building sites. - Anything Safari or Firefox introduce has a harder uphill climb unless it becomes incredibly popular with users and gets picked up by regulators.

The fight here isn’t just technical — it’s economic and cultural too.

Still, I think it’s worth trying. Even small pressure can move norms over time, especially with user frustration around tracking being so high right now.

Appreciate you raising it — it’s a critical part of the puzzle.