Apple’s decision to drop iPhone web apps comes under scrutiny in the EU
App developers are fighting back.
I think Apple made a serious miss-calculation there. If they're being honest, and removed web apps because they are technically difficult to implement, they should have said something along the lines of "we are working on this and will disable it temporarily to avoid penalties".
But I suspect it's got nothing to do with that. Web apps can run native code with WASM and it would only be a matter of time before someone (google?) releases a "browser" that allows you to run native Android apps. Or worse, native iPhone apps... bypassing Apple's Core Technology fee since it's "just a webpage".
It would be a massive vector for malware. Without many options for Apple to fix if the users isn't using safari to access the PWA. One that many more people are likely to fall for as they exist outside of any marketplace, even third party ones.
Apple doesn't want to say this, as it makes iOS sound bad and it's users irresponsible.
The fact that they said it's an EU thing made it clear that it was malicious compliance.
I wonder if the EU regulation even dictates that web apps on the Home Screen need to be able to run in third party engines. It was mainly about browsers.
What doesn’t line up is that most other operating systems including macOS support PWAs with different browser engines. That along with the fact that Apple announced this at the bottom of an article hidden under a collapsed menu, it really makes it seem like they’re trying to find an excuse to get rid of them without damaging their brand reputation. It’s no secret how profitable the App Store ecosystem is, and this is one more way they can pressure developers into it while shifting the blame to the EU
FTA: "Introducing web app support for other browsers would require the company to build an entirely new integration architecture" So what? You don't have the money or the talent do to this? Come on Apple. Stop playing the victim here.
