# Reynard browser

12 Hacker News commenters recommended Reynard browser and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free Gecko-based Firefox browser for iOS 13 and later, giving modern web standards beyond Safari's WebKit. Caveat: needs sideloading and JIT workarounds for good performance.

## Why people recommend it

- Modern web standards via Gecko (3 comments): "Thankfully we now have the Reynard Browser (sideload/trollstore) that uses GeckoView so supports more modern web standards." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49867966)) "the only actively maintained way for older versions of iOS to use modern js" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48929911)) "ships up-to-date Gecko instead of relying on outdated system WebKit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49417488))
- Works on older iOS devices (2 comments): "With a modern browser engine, those old devices can be used for valid browser usage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48932096)) "it's already working really well on my iOS 13 iPhone SE" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48950151))

## What people warn about

- Needs JIT workaround for performance (1 comments): "it's not ready for prime time yet, and to get good performance you'll have to resort to some workaround to get JIT enabled" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47950163))
- Hard to install via AltStore (2 comments): "So close to something you could install in Japan via AltStore" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48935166)) "I tried to install this the other day with Altstore and gave up after 30min." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49417852))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Firefox for iOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-for-ios.md): 18 recommend
- [Firefox Mobile](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-mobile.md): 10 recommend
- [Kiwi Browser](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kiwi-browser.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Reynard browser", https://hackerapproved.com/p/reynard-browser/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).