Wasmer 5.0 Brings WebAssembly to iOS with Major Performance Upgrades
Wasmer, the WebAssembly-based runtime, has released its latest stable version, Wasmer 5.0, bringing WebAssembly support to Apple’s iOS for the first time. This update not only expands WebAssembly’s reach into Apple’s mobile ecosystem but also introduces significant performance improvements and a leaner codebase. One notable change in this release is the removal of support for the Emscripten compiler toolchain, which had remained largely unused over the past two years.
Announced on October 29, Wasmer 5.0 enables WebAssembly execution on iOS through an interpreted mode. This is made possible using Google’s V8 JavaScript/WebAssembly engine, the Wasmi interpreter, and the WebAssembly Micro Runtime (WAMR). With these back-end options, developers can now run WebAssembly modules on Apple’s devices, opening new opportunities for high-performance applications within the iOS ecosystem. Wasmer CEO Syrus Akbary emphasized that this marks a major step toward making WebAssembly a truly cross-platform technology.
Beyond iOS support, the Wasmer team focused on streamlining the runtime’s codebase to improve maintainability and accelerate the development of new features. By removing unused dependencies and cutting 20,000 lines of code, Wasmer 5.0 achieves a more efficient and lightweight framework. The update also delivers substantial speed enhancements, particularly in module deserialization, which is now up to 50% faster when using Module::deserialize or running modules via wasmer run.
Another key upgrade in Wasmer 5.0 is the inclusion of LLVM 18, ensuring developers have access to the latest optimizations from the LLVM toolchain. Wasmer reports that both LLVM and the Cranelift compiler backend are approximately 8% faster in this release compared to version 4.4.0. With these enhancements, Wasmer continues to position itself as a leading solution for running WebAssembly applications across a growing range of platforms, now including iOS.