Google Updates Chrome for iOS with Passbook Support - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Google Updates Chrome for iOS with Passbook Support

by

Google has updated their Chrome for iOS mobile web browser with Passbook support, the ability to open PDFs in other apps and more.

mzl

What's New in Version 23.0.1271.91

- Open PDFs in other apps
- Save your boarding passes and tickets with Passbook
- Seeing garbled characters? Turn on text encoding detection in settings.
- Stability and security improvements
- Many bug fixes

The browser will prompt the user to add a ticket or boarding pass to Passbook if the site supports Passbook and .pkpass file types. Chrome for iOS is the mobile version of their full featured Google Chrome web browser for desktops and is available for free for both iPad and iPhone in the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

KnightWRX Avatar
180 months ago
You know - it's things like this that make me... sad.

Chrome is on the same open source version of WebKit that Apple has funded for the past 10 years.

It doesn't have the nitro engine, which Apple spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars developing - for Safari, not WebKit.

Freeloaders like Google should write their own engine for the app, not ask Apple to give them theirs for free.
3 things :

- WebKit is not an Apple project. It was originally known as KHTML/KJS (http://lists.kde.org/?l=kfm-devel&m=104197092318639&w=2), a LGPL'ed HTML/Javascript engine made by the KDE project (http://www.kde.org). Apple forked the code base around version 3.0.2 and renamed it WebKit (yes, KHTML/KJS was already pretty advanced, and was powering what I considered the best browser at the time, Konqueror).

- Google surpassed Apple for Webkit commits (http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/06/google-apple-webkit/) around 2010. Also, the Webkit team is not "funded by Apple", it's quite evenly distributed (http://trac.webkit.org/wiki/WebKit%20Team) with even outsiders.

- Google has their own Javascript engine in the desktop version of Chrome : V8 (http://code.google.com/p/v8/). Apple doesn't allow 3rd party Javascript/HTML rendering engines in the App store, otherwise I'm pretty sure Google would simply incorporate V8 and let Apple have its little fun time with Nitro on its own. As it stands, Apple is artificially limiting competition in the Browser arena on iOS.

So maybe your vitriol is misplaced here. It is apparently quite ignorant of the reality behind WebKit, the App Store model and development in general too.

The more you know.

----------

Nope, a lot more people use the Chrome app than the YouTube app.
The YouTube app still doesn't support AirPlay or the iPad, why would anyone want to use that?

The Youtube is ranked #3 in the App Store this morning, Chrome sits at #57, the free app section.

However, Google does not share's Apple management policies and has such, doesn't have small core teams that they assign to projects based on priorities. Google has a Chrome team, and they have a Youtube team. Both are independant of each other and are not a single entity where work on one project interferes with work on another.

So "update Youtube first" makes no sense. Why should the Chrome team twiddle their thumbs and not provide updates if they can ? Why should they wait for the Youtube team ?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adcx64 Avatar
180 months ago
Keeps getting better. Now if only Apple would let the 3rd party apps get the same version of WebKit as safari so it's on par with speed.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Prodo123 Avatar
180 months ago
Yeah, a lot more people use the YouTube app than Chrome.
Update that first please.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
a0me Avatar
180 months ago
Yeah, a lot more people use the YouTube app than Chrome.
Update that first please.
Nope, a lot more people use the Chrome app than the YouTube app.
The YouTube app still doesn't support AirPlay or the iPad, why would anyone want to use that?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
VPrime Avatar
180 months ago
You know - it's things like this that make me... sad.

Chrome is on the same open source version of WebKit that Apple has funded for the past 10 years.

It doesn't have the nitro engine, which Apple spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars developing - for Safari, not WebKit.

Freeloaders like Google should write their own engine for the app, not ask Apple to give them theirs for free.
Except this is against apples developer guidelines.
Users must use the built in Webkit UI Webview for any apps that want to display a website.
Unfortunately this does not include the nitro enhancements.

Google and almost every developer ever would LOVE to be able to use their own web renderer in iOS. But they cant.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spyguy10709 Avatar
180 months ago
Keeps getting better. Now if only Apple would let the 3rd party apps get the same version of WebKit as safari so it's on par with speed.

You know - it's things like this that make me... sad.

Chrome is on the same open source version of WebKit that Apple has funded for the past 10 years.

It doesn't have the nitro engine, which Apple spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars developing - for Safari, not WebKit.

Freeloaders like Google should write their own engine for the app, not ask Apple to give them theirs for free.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....