Even if they find a technical workaround, Apple will just reject the app though. Not sure there is a workaround for that.

I'm given to understand that it's not even a technical issue; you can build an iOS app that uses a real browser engine of your choice, it's always just been that Apple by policy won't let you publish it. (This is all second-hand, though, so take with a grain of salt.)

You're correct, no need for grains of salt. Hence why some apps that are in jailbreak "stores" can do things apps from the store can't.

Yeah, I was pretty sure but I don't actually operate in that sphere at all so I'm working completely from random stuff I remember reading:) Thanks for confirming.

My jailbroken iPhone 3GS was the best mobile experience I've had. Used that thing for 5 years.

Does iOS allow creating new executable pages?

Nope. (Well, maybe iOS would allow it with the correct entitlements but apple won’t let you publish an app that can.)

You can run a browser in an interpreter but anything modern would be very unpleasant to use that way.

I expect there are 2 options: Either you can make a good (fast) browser without it (unlikely or everyone would do it), or it is possible to do because Safari has to work somehow.

> apple won’t let you publish an app that can

Agreed, but we're talking about whether you can technically make such an app, say to run in dev mode on your own personal device.

Dev mode is still limited and doesn't grant root access to the device. In dev mode there's still an app certificate, and Apple still signs it, and still prohibits escaping the app sandbox. There are also JIT specific entitlements to allow an app to dynamically load or generate code. Without those, it's unclear how feasible a developer-signed version of Firefox on iOS is.

https://siguza.github.io/psychicpaper/ is a recent writeup that includes more details on (escaping) the limitations.

> it is possible to do because Safari has to work somehow.

Safari is a special case. It is allowed to use JIT and writable executable pages, but this is not allowed for third party apps.

It is definitely technically possible on iOS, but a significant challenge for third party developers unless using a jailbroken device.

Safari might be special cased though.

I believe jailbreak or those other "developer" methods (certificates/enterprise?) are still available.

Yeah, both of them will see mozilla kicked out of App Store

Same here. I was hoping that since these are "recommended" addons, perhaps they had negotiated with the developers to make them freely available and just included them in the build as features the user can enable if desired.