Mozilla, the foundation responsible for the popular OS X and Windows web browser, Firefox, have said that they have been working on a brand new web browser for the iPad (via The Verge). The codename for the project is ‘Junior’ and, according to Mozilla’s Alex Limi, the app would offer an entirely reinvented experience for web browsing on the iPad. While the project is still in prototype stage at the current time, the team have been working on it for several months and hope to get users to switch in order that users can avoid the ‘miserable experience’ of using Safari.
Strong words to be sure, and the team is certainly looking to reinvent the browser experience. According to them, a better experience can be found by making the browser full screen, with a button on either side of the screen halfway down. On the left, a back button, and on the right, a launch button to bring up a range of functions used in browsing, such as a URL bar or bookmarks. There’s also no tabs.
There no word on when the app is targeted for release but it does still seem to be in the early stages of development, so the team isn’t expecting to release it any time soon.
If Junior does make it through the App Store review process and on to the iPad, it’s worth thinking about the release schedule for major updates to the Junior app. If they were issued with the same frequency as Firefox, one could expect major updates to appear in the App Store once a month.
Junior V21…