Mozilla are not only using the "Firefox" brand for a single application, but also for other solutions which are related to Web browsing in one way or another (e.g. Firefox OS). "Made by the same people who make Firefox" is a great presentation card. You can not expect people to have intricate knowledge of the IT sector before deciding if one add-on is trustworthy or not.
And if Mozilla ever want to include a content-blocker in Firefox proper, well, they already have a name for it.
The faster JS engine was also limited to Safari for a few iOS versions before it was extended to third-party applications, so perhaps they're taking the same approach here.
It's worth noting that they could also integrate their own ad blocking into their custom browser, which other third-party iOS browsers have been doing for years.
"Why doesn't Focus by Firefox work on Firefox?" is an amusing and fair question for Apple.
Microsoft's legal troubles about bundling IE were possible because MS was ruled to have a monopoly position in desktop PCs.
Apple has around 14% of the smartphone market, by no means a monopoly. Their share gets even smaller when you look at the total cellphone market.
To the best of my knowledge, there isn't anything illegal about using product A to promote product B, or having a restricted platform.
You need some other trigger, such as having a dominant market position, or collusion between vendors, etc..
For what? Not writing an API so that their software that runs on 15% of phones works the way you want it to? Good luck.
> Why would anyone even create a browser on iOS with all the restrictions?
The same reason anyone creates a browser for any platform. Because people use it.
I wouldn't use a browser that was crippled like most people... Actually, I'd move to a different platform.
I have no idea. I don't create browsers for that and many other reasons. Any browser on iOS is still using Safari webkit underneath anyway so there isn't much point.
That hasn't been the case for Google...
> I have no idea. I don't create browsers for that and many other reasons. Any browser on iOS is still using Safari webkit underneath anyway so there isn't much point.
That is another ridiculous restriction...
On what platform? Google in web search is a monopoly, Google or Apple in Smartphones are not. That matters for most of these things.
This type of illogical branding is becoming typical of Mozilla these days. It's a shame because the web really needs browser leadership from an organization that isn't a multinational corporation.