iPhones being dipped into an iCloud.

iOS9 further diminishes the web as we know it

In a recent slightly sprawling article I wrote a few weeks ago, I attempted to argue that the web browser is literally on its last legs.

Apple’s announcement of iOS9 has edged the browser ever closer to the edge of a cliff and is brandishing a hammer which which to start nailing the coffin closed.

Ok, enough terrible metaphors.

Apple heralded a number of new features that will see the typical user reaching for Safari less and less.

1. Searching via Spotlight and Siri is getting more powerful. Apple are trying to offer services that are the first place you go when you need something, rather than heading to Google.
2. Searching within iOS9 will search for results within your installed apps.
3. iOS9 is getting proactive. Apple want to offer you suggestions before you even realise you need them, let alone before you head to your browser to find whatever that may be.
4. iOS9 will feature a News app. There’s nothing new to this idea (see Flipboard), but seeing as it comes bundled with the OS, Apple are hoping users will start using it over visiting their usual news websites. Furthermore, Safari will allow blocking of ads — a blow to publishers who make their revenue via ads.

Of course a lot of these changes can be seen as an aggressive move on Google, their primary competitor. Apple are attempting to remove the need for visitors to visit Google search or view Google adverts on websites and thus kill Google’s revenue stream. But at the same time, they are reducing the need to visit a web browser at all.

Today’s users already expect to be able to perform tasks and find information and entertainment within the confines of their smartphones and tablets. Although websites are not going to go away tomorrow, they will very soon become a secondary experience.

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