Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 194 posts

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#21

Post by rambambram »

> Now, web apps will function as website bookmarks — without support for local storage, badges, notifications and dedicated windowing.

This one is essential, at least to me. Access from the home screen is not completely blocked. I can do without notifications and local storage for my simple web apps.

A lot of other people do need 'progressive' web apps, so I understand these changes are especially nasty to them.

It's crystal clear this is just a d!ck move from Apple, so I guess it's time we need different hardware in our pockets to support fair and friendly software.

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#22

Post by withinboredom »

Ezhik wrote: post #11

Let's say I want to make a little dashboard for a home server that I can view on my iPhone in full screen. If I live in the EU, how am I supposed to add it to my home screen? I can't put it on the App Store even if I wanted to - it's for a local server so it won't pass review. I can't just use a local debug build - those expire after a week or so. What can I even do here?

You can do what I did... disable sign-ups after releasing to the app store. It's private to you, but they'll never know that.

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#23

Post by anon373839 »

Ezhik wrote: post #11

Let's say I want to make a little dashboard for a home server that I can view on my iPhone in full screen. If I live in the EU, how am I supposed to add it to my home screen? I can't put it on the App Store even if I wanted to - it's for a local server so it won't pass review. I can't just use a local debug build - those expire after a week or so. What can I even do here?

You’re out of luck.

PWAs are perfect for private and internal apps. In Europe, apparently quite a few healthcare providers are using PWAs to deliver patient care. Apple will be breaking those apps and destroying the stored user data without notice.

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#24

Post by tempodox »

Gareth321 wrote: post #2

He's right. Apple has been strangling web app progress on iOS for many years. They wanted to ensure that web apps could never compete with native apps on the App Store, because they can extract their 30% fee. Now that Apple are forced to permit third party browser engines, web apps would suddenly be a lot more powerful. Apple just won't have that, so they're disabling a useful feature for everyone. I think this will…

> Within Apple’s explanation of why it has ended support for web apps in the EU, the company admits there’s a technical solution to the security issues problem — but it simply chose not to implement it.

I think this is called malicious compliance. I hope the EU slaps Apple with severe penalties.

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#25

Post by edhelas »

dubcanada wrote: post #20
Gareth321 wrote: post #2

He's right. Apple has been strangling web app progress on iOS for many years. They wanted to ensure that web apps could never compete with native apps on the App Store, because they can extract their 30% fee. Now that Apple are forced to permit third party browser engines, web apps would suddenly be a lot more powerful. Apple just won't have that, so they're disabling a useful feature for everyone. I think this will…

As much as I would love to agree, the general population really does not care about features like "home screen web apps". Nobody outside of HN even knows what they are. Everyone just goes on the app store and downloads random website app. Even if it is just a browser app that renders a website. Apple would have to eliminate something that people actually care about for any boycott Apple to happen.

That's because... everything was made from de beginning to push people to go to the App Store.

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#26

Post by zer00eyz »

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #15
elpocko wrote: post #3

There must be people sitting at Apple HQ whose task it is to come up with ways to screw their customers. I love it.

Only the executives. The lower down managers are focused more on screwing the employees.

I know plenty of people in Apple CS.

Most of them are loyal to apple, and have worked there long term.

Apple takes good care of its "regular people" in the states.

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#27

Post by rambambram »

Ezhik wrote: post #11

Let's say I want to make a little dashboard for a home server that I can view on my iPhone in full screen. If I live in the EU, how am I supposed to add it to my home screen? I can't put it on the App Store even if I wanted to - it's for a local server so it won't pass review. I can't just use a local debug build - those expire after a week or so. What can I even do here?

> Now, web apps will function as website bookmarks — without support for local storage, badges, notifications and dedicated windowing.

If you need notifications and the like, then you're out of luck I guess. If you don't, just add it to the home screen (it's nothing more than a link to a webpage anyway).

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#28

Post by formerly_proven »

edhelas wrote: post #25
dubcanada wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I would love to agree, the general population really does not care about features like "home screen web apps". Nobody outside of HN even knows what they are. Everyone just goes on the app store and downloads random website app. Even if it is just a browser app that renders a website. Apple would have to eliminate something that people actually care about for any boycott Apple to happen.

That's because... everything was made from de beginning to push people to go to the App Store.

No, I use iOS and friends in part because I want good, well-made apps that work well and integrate into the OS well - and not poorly made webapps that don't have an address bar. To that end I dislike all the faux-native iOS apps that are just a webview with a menu. It's always quite obvious when people do that.

So even if I would've known about HSWAs being a thing (and not just "bookmarks on the home screen", which is approximately the exact same thing, but with an address bar), I wouldn't have cared to use them. Like evidently 99.99% of people.

Yes, every thread on this has one or two people saying how badly this impacts them, yet, they are always vague about what these were used for. I have yet to see a single concrete example.

Re: Apple broke iPhone web apps in the EU for anticompetitive reasons – Tim Sweeney

#29

Post by anon373839 »

endisneigh wrote: post #19
Ezhik wrote: post #11

Let's say I want to make a little dashboard for a home server that I can view on my iPhone in full screen. If I live in the EU, how am I supposed to add it to my home screen? I can't put it on the App Store even if I wanted to - it's for a local server so it won't pass review. I can't just use a local debug build - those expire after a week or so. What can I even do here?

Open it up in safari and forgo full screen - add a header so you can scroll slightly and it’s 98% full screen. The real solution is to stop using Apple products and use android which can do what you’re asking trivially.

If you’re going to use an app in Safari, I actually prefer to just restrict the thing to 100svh to force the full Safari UI to stick around. It’s distracting and disorienting to have the tab bar and address bar shrinking and growing at random while using an app, with the app UI wiggling all over the place.
Post reply on HN