Hey, Google fans: Chrome is about to get a whole lot faster on iOS

After artificially dominating the iOS browser war for years, Apple just leveled the playing field.

Two years ago, Google launched Chrome for iOS. Yet, despite topping the charts in free app store downloads, Google hardly left a dent in the iOS browser market; that’s because Apple requires all iOS browsers to use WebKit — the backbone of Safari — but does not allow third-parties to take advantage of its improved Nitro JavaScript engine.

For the upcoming launch of iOS 8, Apple has reversed this restriction, reports 9to5Mac. And for Google, that’s huge. There’s no reason why Google would not choose to adopt Apple’s Nitro JavaScript engine and significantly improve Chrome’s performance — particularly because Google still can’t port its own V8 JavaScript engine to iOS.

Although Safari’s fate is not yet sealed, Chrome is poised to improve significantly on iOS. Additionally, a new window has opened for other third-party browsers. Thanks to iOS 8, the mobile browser war is about to heat up.