Third-party iPhone Web browsers turn up on App Store

Damian Koh | Jan 15, 2009

At least three third-party Web browsers have turned up on Apple's App Store January 13, including Shaking Web (US$1.99) which makes viewing of Web pages easier on the eyes while on the move and Squeaky (US$3.99) which won't keep records of your browsing history. The third one that came back in the search results was WebMate (US$0.99) which enables tabbed browsing on the iPhone.

Third-party apps are added to the store frequently, so what's the big deal here? One, Apple typically wouldn't approve programs with duplicated functionality. In this case, these browsers provide an alternative to Safari already on the iPhone. Two, this group of browsers were released on the same day which could mean there was some backend approval queue in place.

Does this mean we'll see full-fledged Web browsers that support Adobe Flash sprouting up? Brian at Gadget Lab thinks it's not likely, as Apple's terms of service for the iPhone SDK have a clause that specifically prohibits that. What do you think? Have you tried any of these new browsers yet?

Via Gadget Lab

Filed under: Mobile Phones
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