You see, there is a rule (graded at Apple’s discretion, of course) that says you cannot make an application for the iPhone/iPod Touch that duplicates native functionality. In the business scope, this makes sense. They don’t want their work duplicated as it would deter people from using their stuff. From a developer’s standpoint, it’s a very frustrating rule – it minimizes the ability for the software concepts to evolve.

However, as of late, Apple has quietly started allowing browsers to be added on their catalog. What’s the catch? Oh… well you see… the browsers must be based on the Safari codebase. Simply put, it basically must be an extended version of safari made by the developer. There are a few browsers already, for example Cognito, which allows you to browser the internet without leaving a local history.

Apple might be doing this so it does not lose any market share. So for now, no firefox, chrome or opera functionality.

Baby steps, I guess.