iOS Needs Default Apps

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High on my iOS wishlist is an Android feature I absolutely love: default apps. I’ve switched from Safari to Firefox, as it’s incredibly fast and has a ton of customization options. Right now, I’m using a browser add-on to add a “night mode” to all of my pages (as I’ve already been up too late writing this), and my Refined GitHub add-on is a lifesaver at work. I use Firefox on all of my devices, my Mac at work, my Mac at home, my Moto G4, my Samsung Galaxy S8… just not on my iPhone or iPad. Make no mistake, I’ve downloaded the app, it allows me to send tabs from Safari over to Firefox on one of my more liberated devices, but I don’t make use of it as an internet browser. This is extremely frustrating. I can share tabs, bookmarks, add-ons, and more seamlessly through all my devices… except for my iOS devices. It’s a poor user experience that makes my iOS devices the odd ones out. Honestly, it could push me over to the dark side.

No, not a night mode add-on, I’m talking about switching to Android.

Ok, probably not. But if I didn’t have a small fortune invested in iOS app purchases, it could be enough to push me over the edge. For many, this is more than enough reason to leave iOS and never look back.

Apple needs to bring default apps to iOS, or they’ll lose users.

Browsers, Mail, & Calendars

Browsers were the first and primary reason iOS users asked for third party apps set as default apps. Users wanted everything from the customization of third party browsers to ad blockers. Apple gave us ad blockers through content blockers, but only allows them on Safari. None of your other iOS apps can use them. It’s as though Apple has gone out of their way to disable the competition. Unfortunately, they’re also pushing away users.

It’s more than third party browsers that we’re missing out on. There’s far more to consider. For example, I use Fantastical 2 for all of my calendars and reminders. That means, effectively, I need neither the Calendar nor the Reminders apps from Apple. But I still have to keep them on my device, because third party apps can’t use Apple’s smart links, which turn ordinary text in messages like “Ok, see you at 5!” to a link that, when tapped, opens your calendar and creates an event at 5. Apple won’t let me do that with anything but their own apps. While I’m happy with the Apple Mail app, other people prefer Spark or Gmail. However, tapping on a mailto: link in their browser (which is, let’s face it, Safari), will open Apple mail instead of their preferred email client. There’s no way to get away from Apple’s default apps, even though—for some people—there are many better options available. Personally, I’d love to be able to replace Safari, Calendar, and Reminders with Firefox and Fantastical. But I can’t.

Android Users Love Customization

Without third party default apps, convincing Android users to switch to iOS would be insurmountably difficult. Android users love customization. iOS users aren’t accustomed to it, but Apple has given us a few tastes of the good life. We’ve got app extensions now, share shortcuts, and, you can add widgets in one of the confusing navigation panes that Apple never can figure out what to do with. We can even delete some of Apple’s apps now, though, it’s really just disabling the features they provide; each app resides on your phone after you’ve “deleted” it. It’s something though, isn’t it?

Of course it’s something, it just isn’t enough. Android users have their home screen widgets, their notification preferences, their customization home screens with blank spaces, and, most importantly, their default apps. If I tap a link in Twitter for Android, it opens in Firefox. It’s reliable, it’s convenient, and it’s exactly how I like it. And that’s the problem: iOS’s method isn’t how I like it. Such a little thing shouldn’t be a reason to leave an operating system behind, but Apple is giving users little choice.

Why is Apple Doing This?

There are three reasons Apple hasn’t opened iOS up to more third party customization through user selected default apps. The first two are obvious to anyone who has been following the company. Apple sees it as a security risk, and wants to protect users. There’s not a whole lot that could be done with proper protection at the OS level though, so this can’t possibly be a primary motivator. The second reason is likely more Apple’s style. Apple likes to control the user interface. This means every bit of iOS is hand selected by Apple. They dictate what software you can use and how you use it in order to provide—what they think is—the best experience imaginable. They think that, by controlling this, they can give you the best user experience and therefore lock you in to their ecosystem. But seeing as fewer people use Safari on the desktop than they do on iOS, Apple can’t possibly be delivering the best experience to anyone except those who use only Apple software on their Macs and their iOS counterparts, which is the minority of Apple users. By now, Apple has likely realized that they’re providing a subpar experience and fighting a losing battle, though they may be okay with this. If not, that brings us to the third possibility: Apple simply can’t do it.

One of the big aspects of iOS is its tight integration with software and hardware. However, did you know the software is deeply integrated with other software as well? Safari, Mail, Calendars, and other Apple apps aren’t like third party apps. They’re baked into the OS. Safari isn’t a separate web browser from any other web view you see on iOS. The same web view is displayed by Safari as is within a third party app. It’s just a Webkit view, but it is a core part of Safari. Every Apple app isn’t really an app so much as it’s a collection of operating system features that were given an icon and compiled together to make an app. You can’t replace Apple’s apps because, unlike other third party apps, these are part of iOS. The operating system relies on these features, which have been bundled up and a label slapped on them to make the user think they’re dealing with an app that’s no different from any third party app. Even third party apps, like Firefox on iOS, are build on the Apple apps. Firefox for iOS doesn’t use its own Javascript engine, it uses Safari’s. Essentially, Firefox for iOS is Safari without the content blockers, iCloud integration, bookmarks, or Apple Pay.

What Can Be Done?

This is the bit where I tell you there’s a workaround. And, yes, there is! Since users are now able to “delete” apps, Apple could, in theory, just do the same across the board. This would be a better experience for iOS as well. Instead of just removing the iOS functionality, all it would do is hide the icon and allow you to set another app to be responsible for its tasks. So, yes, Firefox will still be using Safari at its core. That’s ok. The user doesn’t have to know that. All they’ll see is they tap on a link and iOS shows them Firefox instead of Safari. It’s all the same underpinnings. The user would never know that they’ve done little more than replace the paint on Safari. Users get to have their default apps and Apple gets to control the security and stability of those apps. Win-win, right?

And this is the bit where I tell you Apple likely isn’t planning on giving us what we want. It’s true, few users on the Mac are using Safari. Apple would rather tack on Apple features to Safari to entice you to use it on the Mac. They tried extensions, but didn’t make development and submission as easy as other browsers do, and, therefore, no one made the extensions. They’ve made Safari fast, given it great battery life, tied it closely to the OS, and even added Apple Pay, but it still can’t beat the versatility of third party browsers. Besides, Apple would have to find a way to compete with every third party. It seems impossible. And it is. Apple could make their users happy by opening up iOS to third party apps, but they’ll risk opening up the walled garden, and Apple’s afraid users won’t come back once they’ve been outside of it. Putting all your bookmarks in apps like Firefox make it easy to switch from iOS to Android, and Apple’s not about to let anyone make that switch easier. Let’s face it, as long as Apple has a strategy of keeping users locked into their platform by any means possible, we’re stuck with a subpar operating system for customizations and third parties.

That is, until we abandon ship.