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iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

macrumors.com

31–37 of 37 posts

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#31
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and when you don’t like a workaround, just shift the goal posts once again. Sovereign weasel.

Why are you trying to find a workaround? Circumventing a law is the same as breaking it.

Well, you just made something I have been working on for two decades and told me I need to do it in a different way so what the fuck are you wondering about.

Legal and illegal is a human concept. In Nazi Germany it was illegal for Jewish doctors to treat non-Jewish people.

A workaround isn’t necessarily circumventing.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So much for „free market”. > You can do it your own way > If it’s done just how I say

Yes, that is called regulation. It's the reason why they can't sell you food poisoned with lead in the supermarket. "But but muh free market".

Don’t read about your ground turmeric.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair for the people that live in EU, obviously. "Fair" is not any less weasel than "free" in "free market". There's no free market when monopolistic corporations abuse their power.

There are 450m people in this bloc. How can you confidently say something is equally „fair” to everyone? It’s obviously somewhat „fair” by your definition but that’s just your definition. So then, who’s „fair” and who isn’t. Are you implying that I’m not „fair”? Can you please clarify how am I „not fair”? Tell me where it hurts you. Am I not „fair” because I spent a couple of decades building something and it worked,…

You seem to either not know the definition of the word "fair", or are simply engaging in bad faith. I'll presume cognitive limitations rather than malice for now.

In the context of this thread, this is a good summary of what is happening here:

> Apple's decision to alter the functionality of PWAs specifically in the EU could be interpreted as an attempt to navigate the regulatory landscape imposed by the DMA, but it may simply want to prevent users in Europe from using web apps with alternative browser engines. The company has not yet commented on its motivations.

Using PWA in a different browsing engine could be a viable way to bypass some limitations on the platform. Apple obviously doesn't want that, as it profits from those limitations.

Apple is abusing its power as the owner of the platform to both limit competition (everyone has to pay the rent for being in that platform) and limit user choice. It is inherently unfair.

If Microsoft did something similar on Windows, everyone would be up in arms about it, rightfully so. But when it is Apple there is a very tiresome parade of sycophants white-knighting for a manufacturer of luxury tech toys.

There's nothing else to be said on this matter. I'll not engage on this conversation any further. Feel free to have the last word.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#34
post #24

I think what’s happening here is that the EU mandated browser choice, but Apple hasn’t had enough time to implement APIs for other browsers to handle launching PWAs. So to make things fair and equal between Safari and the other browsers and to ensure that your default browser choice is respected, they disabled the Safari frameless PWA mode. It’s EU mandated browser choice, and hopefully they’ll figure out hooks so yo…

They knew the DMA was coming for years. For a company with the resources like Apple to not have enough time is just a load of crap.

They don't want to, and will go out of their way to make their statement.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#35
post #24

I think what’s happening here is that the EU mandated browser choice, but Apple hasn’t had enough time to implement APIs for other browsers to handle launching PWAs. So to make things fair and equal between Safari and the other browsers and to ensure that your default browser choice is respected, they disabled the Safari frameless PWA mode. It’s EU mandated browser choice, and hopefully they’ll figure out hooks so yo…

The DSA was not written overnight. The agreement was made in 2022, the text is from 2020, preliminary versions probably available years before that. And even without having the exact wording Apple must have known their anticompetitive behavior wouldn’t be tolerated forever way before that. Mandatory Browser Choice exists since when, Windows XP times? There was enough time, there is no excuse.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=COM%3A20...

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#36
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.

> 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.

I was wrong. I still think that this was plausible, but, as a TechCrunch article https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/15/apple-confirms-its-breakin... now on the front page https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39388218 makes clear, it's not true.

Re: iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU

#37
post #25
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> > 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. Right, we know that they're doing things in the EU specifically because they're required to do so; their insistence on using geo-locking for that is grudging but not sinister. It would be sinister to say "…

I don't usually go back into my comment history to reply to someone with new facts, but it took only six days for Apple to tell us how they really feel.

> And so, to comply with the DMA’s requirements, we had to remove the Home Screen web apps feature in the EU.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39388652

They are small minded, they are spiteful, and you are specially pleading on their behalf. I don't blame you for being wrong. I just hope you learn not to trust companies, as their interests will almost certainly never be aligned with yours.

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