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iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

macrumors.com

1–10 of 37 posts

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#3
post #2

Can someone help me understand what the strategy is here? As an outsider, it seems like Apple is just defying the EU for spite. How does this change contribute to Apple’s bottom line?

A crack in the app store walled garden would be an existential threat because it's their fire hose of cash. It's the whole reason they make so much more money than other hardware manufacturers. They will defend it aggressively.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#5
post #2

Can someone help me understand what the strategy is here? As an outsider, it seems like Apple is just defying the EU for spite. How does this change contribute to Apple’s bottom line?

This is a beta release—it seems very plausible that it's just a mistake, rather than some sort of elaborate-but-subtle act of defiance.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#7
post #5
post #2

Can someone help me understand what the strategy is here? As an outsider, it seems like Apple is just defying the EU for spite. How does this change contribute to Apple’s bottom line?

This is a beta release—it seems very plausible that it's just a mistake, rather than some sort of elaborate-but-subtle act of defiance.

> There are indications that iOS 17.4 is using SIM carrier information to geo-lock the changes to web app functionality singularly to users in the EU. Web apps in other regions around the world remain unaffected.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#8

This smells like malicious compliance. It’s also possible that given the timeline, this was the only way to comply with the law and allow a different default browser and it’ll be fixed in the future?

It's not even like Apple is hiding that they hate their DMA when they're announcing their compliances with it.

Looking forward to the EU Commission taking Apple to the ECJ over this, I strongly suspect the EU Commission will win, because even if it doesn't, it will just propose legislation changes to outlaw Apple's behaviour anyway.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#9
This does not seem to be accurate - see https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1755411290107863429

(I have not personally verified the behavior described in that tweet, but if it's true then a lot of the reporting and commentary around this story has left out important details and the actual change is positive for users. Intentionally configured PWAs still work; everything else opens in your default browser, without any potentially unwanted magic.)

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#10
Hoping it's just a beta issue. Otherwise there goes the "for the user" pretense, reminding us that there are no "trustworthy" companies, only temporarily aligning interests.

Edit. Links below suggest a less than nefarious explanation but the reality of the point above stands.

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