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Google Inc’s Chrome, the world’s top internet browser, is now available on the iPhone and iPad, as Apple Inc finally granted access to its arch-foe’s more popular Web-surfing app.
However, Safari remains the default browser used in Apple gadgets and the ‘engine’ that Chrome or other web-surfing applications has to rely on.
“It is obviously not what powers Chrome in Windows and Android,” Chrome senior vice president Sundar Pichai said in an interview at Google’s annual developers conference in San Francisco.
“I think we were able to get it working well, but we had to make some trade-offs.”
The news came last week alongside the revelation the company will also be launching a limited cloud-computing and hosting service to take on Amazon.com’s thriving web services arm.
Pundits have been quick to suggest that both moves underscore Google’s attempt to safeguard its dominant internet presence.
However, Mr Pichai said the move had been in the making for a long time. “People have been asking us for this for a long time, but we wanted to make sure we got it right.
“No matter which device you’re using, we are working really hard across all important software platforms. We want to make sure it’s about the user.”
Chrome is currently the most popular browser in the world according to analytics company StatCounter. It has 310 million active users, and a growing number of them are mobile. Google’s Android mobile operating system began using Chrome as its primary built-in browser in its most recent version.
Chrome’s portability and constant updates have made it a hit, but it hasn’t been available on the world’s most popular smartphone and tablet until now.
Google also made its Drive online data storage service available on iPhones, iPods and iPads, joining Microsoft’s SkyDrive and others as competition to Apple’s iCloud.
Cloud-based ‘lockers’ allow users to store documents, images or other digital files at data-centres and then access them from whichever internet-linked devices they wish.
Improving and expanding Chrome appears to be part of a shrewd strategy to keep Google woven into people’s internet activities no matter what gadgets they use, according to Forrester analyst Frank Gilette.
“Google wants to be in as many places as their customers are,” Gilette said. “Google is making it so that no matter what device an individual picks up, their stuff and what they were doing (on Google previously) is right there.”
Google’s strategy includes making Chrome ubiquitous and, where needed, making its own hardware.
Last week, Google also unveiled its own Nexus branded tablet computer which can be used for streaming movies, music and other content from online shop Google Play to televisions or speakers.
