If I'm not mistaken safari is the only iOS browser, all other browsers are just a skin for it. So thanks to apple there is no cross-platform browser that works on all your devices.
Unless you count safari, if they still bother porting that outside iOS/OS X. In which case that wouldn't be preferable anyway.
There is nothing wrong with running different browsers on different operating systems.
It really doesn't matter if Firefox on iOS is just a skin around Safari if it integrates with the Firefox services and syncs bookmarks, history, etc. Right? Isn't that the value you're getting out of the mobile browser, not the rendering engine?
That's the ticket for me. I want a consistent experience. I want the same bookmarks, extensions, and history on all my devices, without worrying about it. And I also want great performance.
It's even worse. There's API for adblock apps and there are good apps, but it works only with Safari itself. Any other iOS browser doesn't support this API (I'm not 100% sure, but I think that it's Apple's restriction, not their choice), so if you want fast browsing experience with iOS, you must use Safari.
Yeah, all the browsers on iOS are reskins of Safari but to an end user that's all that matters since those reskins can bring things like synced bookmarks and history.
Funny, all that matters to me is that I can use the browser without signing in.
Chrome on the other hand, I discovered just yesterday, refuse to export bookmarks from android unless you sync. Yet another reason not to use chrome I guess.
Apple know that MS could steal customers by making a browser that works better than Apple's. Perhaps a built in .doc viewer to get installs from Word users -- then MS have chance to ruin the prejudice that "it's only Apple can make software that looks good and works intuitively".
Unless you count safari, if they still bother porting that outside iOS/OS X. In which case that wouldn't be preferable anyway.
There is nothing wrong with running different browsers on different operating systems.