How Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari Works
The latest release of Apple’s web browser, Safari 12, will provide “Intelligent Tracking Prevention” (ITP) 2.0, which aims to reduce the ability of third-parties to track web users via cookies and other methods.
Privacy and Security a Top Priority in macOS Mojave and Safari 12
At their annual Developer Conference WWDC Apple previewed macOS Mojave, the latest version of the company’s desktop operating system, and Safari 12, the updated web browser. Apple has stated that enhanced privacy and security are a top priority with these releases.
Service Workers Now Supported across All Major Browsers
With the Windows 10 April 2018 Update released on April 30th, and the Safari 11.1 release on March 29, Edge and Safari join Firefox and Chrome in enabling Service Workers by default. Developers can now develop Progressive Web Apps providing offline functionality and expect them to function across all browsers except Internet Explorer and Opera Mini.
Safari 11.1 in iOS 11.3 Enables Payment Request API
In the 11.3 version of iOS, released Thursday, March 29, Apple included version 11.1 of Safari which enables the Payment Request API. This allows web developers to allow users to make payments with saved credit cards and mobile wallets, streamlining payment and checkout flows. With Android already supporting it, the Payment Request API is now available for 98% of the US and UK mobile markets.
W3C Releases HTML 5.2 As Official Recommendation
The W3C released the HTML 5.2 update to the HTML specification as an official recommendation on December 14, 2017. This update adds new features like the dialog element, obsoletes old ones like the HTML plugins system, and integrates work from other W3C committees such as support for the Payments Request API and the Presentation API.
WebAssembly Now Supported across All Browsers
With releases on September 19 for Safari and October 31 for Edge, Apple and Microsoft join Google and Mozilla in providing support for WebAssembly in production browsers. All four companies’ browsers can now run code compiled to the wasm binary format.
Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla Urge Site Operators to Replace SHA–1 Certificates
Following their SHA–1 deprecation plans announced last year, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla detailed recently their timelines to remove support for SHA–1 certificates from their flagship browsers. Researchers at security firm Venafi found however, that 35% of analyzed websites are still using SHA–1 certificates.
Apple's Safari 10 Pretends Flash Doesn't Exist
Apple has announced that the next version of Safari will block Flash and other legacy plug-ins by default. The browser will trick websites into thinking that Flash isn't available resulting in a user prompt to install Flash.
Service Workers Promise to Make Web Apps Feel Native
The service worker browser feature holds promise for developers looking to make their web apps feel more like native apps. Running in the background and without user interaction, service workers enable advanced scenarios such as offline functionality, cache, background sync, geofencing, and push notifications.
Chrome 38 Supports Art Direction through the picture Element
Google has added support for the
Microsoft WinJS 3.0 Now Supports Multiple Platforms
Microsoft has enhanced WinJS by adding support for multiple platforms and several major browsers, has modularized it and made it work with other JavaScript libraries.
Updated, Open Sourced Status.IE Site Boosts Multiplatform Web Development
The Status.IE project provides compatibility information for 4 major web browsers, allowing developers to see which features are available based on the browsers they need to support. Microsoft has open-sourced both the code serving the project and the data it offers, making it easy for developers to further their own development projects.
Apple Speeds Up WebKit’s JS Engine with LLVM JIT
Apple has improved the speed of Nitro with 35% – Safari’s JavaScript engine – by converting JavaScript into LLVM IR code which is then subject to heavy optimization.
jQuery Mobile Beta 1 Supports Many Browsers and Platforms
jQuery Mobile has reached the Beta 1 milestone with support for all major browsers and mobile OSes. A final release is expected by the end of the summer.
Google Explains Chrome Dropping H264
After last week's announcement that the Chrome team was dropping support for H264, Mike Jazayeri has posted a more detailed explanation of the rationale behind the decision. Others, like the Free Software Foundation, have added their support to the decision.
