HeadlinesBriefing favicon HeadlinesBriefing.com

Reynard: Gecko Browser for iOS 13+

Hacker News •
×

Reynard is an experimental Gecko-based web browser for iOS 13+ developed by minh-ton. Unlike other iOS browsers forced to use Apple's WebKit engine, Reynard uses Gecko—the same engine powering Firefox on desktop and Android. This primarily benefits users on older iOS versions stuck with outdated WebKit that cannot receive engine updates, often failing to load modern websites. By using independently updated Gecko, Reynard restores compatibility with sites like github.com, chatgpt.com, and apple.com.

Installation varies by iOS version: Troll Store (iOS 14–16.6.1, 17.0) for best performance with automatic JIT enablement; Alt Store or Side Store (iOS 17.0.1+) with Keep App Extensions enabled; or Filza File Manager with App Sync Unified on jailbroken iOS 13. The project also runs on the latest iOS 26.

Building requires Xcode, Python 3, Rust, Cargo, and ldid. The developer notes this started as a curiosity project to run Gecko without Browser Engine Kit, now focusing on engine patches for UIKit integration. Contributions are welcome as the author learns iOS development and Gecko internals. Licensed under GPL v3.0 (patches under MPL 2.0).