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Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

techcrunch.com

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Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#541

Post by visarga »

the_gipsy wrote: post #504
addicted wrote: post #5

I don’t think Apple’s pettiness is gonna work in their favor. I am not in the EU but my next iPhone is almost certainly not gonna be an iPhone despite me having used a non iPhone for about 6 months in the last 15 years. Their throwing their customers under the bus just to throw a tantrum in the EU does not bode well for how they would treat their customers in other situations.

Im going to ditch my iPhone in favor of a Pixel. This attitude has pushed me over the edge, and the device isn't really any better than Android. Some aspects yes, but other are much worse. Dark patterns like the appstore/web/browsers restrictions and iCloud upselling are a big no-no. Never again.

my last Pixel had shit battery compared to iPhone, buyer beware

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#542

Post by Sabinus »

madeofpalk wrote: post #110
sigmar wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

tbh, I thought the summary in techcrunch was much easier to read and concise. >Browsers also could install web apps on the system without a user’s awareness and consent. Couldn't this be entirely solved with an OS permission-like prompt "are you sure you want [progressive web app name] added to home screen?"

I guess that's why they say that "would require building an entirely new integration architecture that does not currently exist in iOS and was not practical to undertake given the other demands of the DMA and the very low user adoption of Home Screen web apps"

Personally, I'm not concerned with the costs of an EU mandate on Apple for interoperability but that could just be me.

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#543

Post by MrDresden »

visarga wrote: post #541
the_gipsy wrote: post #504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Im going to ditch my iPhone in favor of a Pixel. This attitude has pushed me over the edge, and the device isn't really any better than Android. Some aspects yes, but other are much worse. Dark patterns like the appstore/web/browsers restrictions and iCloud upselling are a big no-no. Never again.

my last Pixel had shit battery compared to iPhone, buyer beware

And all my Pixels (Pixel 1, Pixel 3 and now Pixel 6a) worked flawlessly for years after purchase.

Whereas two separate family members had constant issues with their iPhones.

Beware of anecdotal evidence.

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#544

Post by Dah00n »

_8j50 wrote: post #475

If for example the EU instituted rules in the steel industry that harmed US companies, US politicians would fight back and start a trade war. Why is it not the case with apple? They undermine the entire concept of free market capitalism by forcing companies to do unprofitable things instead of letting consumers vote with their wallets by using alternative products of which there are many. There is no anti-competitive…

>Ferrari can make every part of the car unique and incompatible with other car makers so long as it meets safety standards, so why is apple special?

This is complete nonsense. No-one is forcing Apple to make their screen compatible with a Samsung phone, or a part inside an AirPod fit inside a Bose headset.

The owner of a car can by law use third-party shops and retain warranty 100%. The third-party shops can buy parts for the car. They can access the data of the car with the tools that are needed, and they can install similar parts made by a third-party factory without voiding the warranty. Your example is as far away from Apple ecosystem as you could possibly get.

For an example, I have always used a third-party shop for my cars and when the engine needed to be replaced in one because of a known weakness showing up, I got the new engine as I should even though the car had never seen an authorized dealer since the day I bought it. Try doing that with an iPhone.

What you are describing is the opposite of what you claim. You are describing anti-competitiveness and monopoly abuse.

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#545

Post by pompino »

shuckles wrote: post #340
kibwen wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been asking these people for the merits of Apple's decisions for years, and all I ever get in response is "Apple knows best, I don't need these features."

That seems like a perfectly reasonable argument on the merits. What user actually needs web apps? What's the market for apps whose developers can't stomach a $99 developer fee and/or with functionality not allowable by app review?

I hope you realize the irony that this just your personal view on what is reasonable and what is or isn't a merit. I don't see the point in bullying someone who is simply expressing an opinion - which happens to be anti-Apple - and one which makes a lot of sense to me.

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#547

Post by pompino »

gretch wrote: post #91
luuurker wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the benefit for you as a user to side with Apple on things like this?

Apple has a decade+ track record of making devices that i really like. (At several points I’ve compared solutions across the market). Instead of siding with Apple, why would I side with anonymous and random internet commentators who have never made devices I want to buy?

It is definitely odd to outsource your moral principles based on which mega corp you opened your wallet to.

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#548

Post by anon373839 »

dangus wrote: post #342
thimp wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure this isn't a tech industry viewpoint? I don't know anyone who knows what the difference between an app and a PWA is. I don't think I've seen anyone outside of the tech industry with a PWA active. In context 99% of the users I meet don't even know what USB-C is.

I think PWAs are an outright failure and a technical solution looking for a problem. I don’t even know where to find one. For one thing, if Apple is complying with the EU’s alternative App Store and browser engine mandate, they’re even less useful than before. Why do I as a user want a PWA when I could have a native app?

You think that a technology that allows mobile apps to be developed and distributed in a way that’s secure, free and open, and platform-independent is a solution in search of a problem? Honestly?

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#549

Post by throwaway49850 »

throwaway49849 wrote: post #487
zshrc wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then do it and stop complaining. This isn’t a charity it’s a company. What company doesn’t have their best interest in mind? Don’t even say a FOSS company like Red Hat because that would be bull.

The social contract has been that these big companies benefit from the free work of open source maintainers, and they continue to work together to support open standards. This latest maneuver from Apple, while well within their rights, is a big FU to everyone who builds and maintains the software that they depend on. They've broken the contract by continuing to hobble open web tech.

That has never been the social contract.

I hate this outcome as much as the next guy and I'm sure Apple could have continued to support PWAs if they wanted to. And they should have done it.

That being said, I'm tired of the argument that OSS maintainers are being owed anything (beyond gratitude). They publish their software under licences they themselves choose. As long as someone follows the license, they are good.

If you don't want your work to be used for commercial activities in exchange for nothing, then don't publish it under a license permitting that.

Re: Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

#550

Post by LaGrange »

mantenpanther wrote: post #526
LaGrange wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ROFL. This isn't "unpractical EU regulation" but once again a corporation doing malicious compliance. At some point they really should just get banned from the market with any IP rights getting invalidated.

The EU gave Apple an argument to kill PWAs (because the investment to support them is not worth it for them), while Apple does not like PWAs anyways. Bad for the citizens of the EU.

> while Apple does not like PWAs anyways

[citation needed].

PWAs give Apple an out from having certain apps (for example, FetLife) on the App Store without making the phone a non-starter for people who want to use them. As much as Apple likes its walled garden, it likes the walls just fuzzy enough to not piss people off into migrating.

Apple just want to make the regulation itself annoying.

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