Does Google Chrome use WebKit?
Does Google Chrome use WebKit in their browser? It's not that simple as all the versions of Google Chrome are not using the same engine.
The web browser Google Chrome is now using the rendering engine Blink for the PC release. But for some others, like the iOS release, Google Chrome is using the WebKit rendering engine.
What is Blink ?
Blink is a rendering engine for all Chromium-based web browsers. A rendering engine is a component used by the web browser to render the web page, so the user can read the content properly, instead of just showing the code.
Blink is a fork of WebKit, it has been developed by Google since 2013.
Has Google Chrome always used Blink ?
No, as said before, Blink is a fork of WebKit and have been created in 2013. But Google Chrome has been released for the first time in 2008. So until 2013, Google Chrome was using WebKit as its rendering engine.
What is WebKit ?
WebKit is an open-source rendering engine created by Apple in 2005. It is now mainly used by the Safari web browser. But due to the iOS specificities, all the iPhone and iPad web browsers are using WebKit as their rendering engine.
Does Google Chrome use WebKit for iOS?
Yes, because they have no other choices. iOS does not allow using another rendering engine in web browsers. Google released the first version for iOS in 2012, and since this first release they have always been using WebKit.
Why web browsers have to use WebKit in iOS?
All the web browsers in iOS have to use WebKit as their rendering engine to get accepted by Apple on the Apple apps store. By doing this, Apple can continue to provide the best user experience possible no matter which web browser the users are using, they can develop new versions of iOS without caring about web browser compatibility.
Does Google Chrome use WebKit for macOS?
No, Google Chrome for macOS is using Blink as their rendering engine, as for any other platforms. Unlike iOS, macOS does not require that the web browser use WebKit to render the web pages.
Blink versus WebKit
While Blink has been forked from WebKit years ago, there are two different rendering engines now. It’s difficult to say exactly which one is better, the main difference is about the operating systems they support today. Blink is compatible with all the OS except iOS, while WebKit is compatible with all the OS except Windows.
Which browsers use Blink ?
All the chromium-based web browsers use Blink. Chromium is the open-source part of Google Chrome. Among all the most famous, these web browsers use Blink:
- Google Chrome
- Microsoft Edge
- Opera
- Vivaldi
Author
Maxime Levesque is a technical engineer with more than 5 years of professional experience. He is an expert in computer and phones, mostly on Apple products. Maxime is also the founder of TechBrowser.
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