WebRTC Community Update - Reverts and non-Webkit browsers on iOS
Welcome to a new edition of our WebRTC Community update!
Short and sweet post this time, but some interesting stories nonetheless!
If you have questions, please ask in the comments!
[REVERTED] GetDisplayMedia now requires a user action to activate in Chrome, improving privacy
In our last Community Update, we wrote about how GetDisplayMedia would now require a user action in Chrome M111. However, it was discovered that this broke some applications, which triggered Chrome to roll back the change. No further details on which applications broke for now, but we assume it was enough to easily warrant rolling this back.
The breakage seems to have been limited to the beta releases of Chrome, and did not make it to Stable in M111 as planned. We expect a PSA with another “Intent to Remove” before this is landed again. For the time being it’s hidden behind a feature flag.
Chrome and Firefox working on non-Webkit versions of their browsers for iOS
The story of WebRTC on iOS has been long and arduous. Still to this day, as avid readers of this update know, we see fundamental issues running in-browser video calls on iOS, but the situation has gotten a lot better.
Still, users on iOS have no choice but native applications, as Apple traditionally has limited browsers to being skins on top of their own browser engine, WebKit. That now seems to change, as the antitrust issues are starting to pile up, and browser vendors are gearing up to release proper versions of their browsers to iOS.
Both Google and Mozilla have announced working on non-Webkit versions of their browsers, and while we have no information on when Apple will finally bow to the legal pressure, it’s comforting to know we might see browser competition finally pick up on iOS.
You can read more about this story on 9to5mac.
We hope these updates are useful for you! Is there anything in particular you would like to see us talk about next time, or do you have any questions? Let us know below!
This tech update is based on information from WebRTC Insights, a biweekly newsletter that provides information on things happening in the WebRTC ecosystem. Learn more about WebRTC Insights.