Pointed out that Apple is trying to shift responsibility for the act of abolishing PWA as ``the EU's fault''



Without any prior notice, Apple has discontinued support for ``

Progressive Web Apps (PWA), '' which reproduce services available on websites on devices. This was to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) enforced in the EU, but Apple's argument is nothing more than an excuse and is aimed at knocking down competitors. Alex Russell, who has been leading the company, strongly criticizes this.

Home Screen Advantage - Infrequently Noted
https://infrequently.org/2024/02/home-screen-advantage/

It was revealed in early February 2024 that support for PWA was discontinued in the beta version of iOS 17.4. Apple later said, ``While DMA allows browser engines other than WebKit on iOS, it is not practical to extend support for PWAs built with WebKit in mind to another browser engine.'' An explanation has been given, and it has been confirmed that support for PWA will end within the EU.

'At first glance, it seems like DMA enforcement forced its demise, but it's an attempt to make the web less of a real threat to the App Store and blame regulators for its own bad choices,' Russell said. 'This is a shocking attempt by Apple,' he said, pointing out that Apple was saying something reckless.

DMA is an EU law that came into effect in 2022, and this law has imposed multiple regulations on several companies, including Apple. The time limit for regulatory compliance is March 6, 2024, and companies are under pressure to respond by this date. Apple has been forced to take measures such as sideloading via app stores other than the App Store, and the introduction of in-app payment methods outside of the App Store, and has almost reluctantly approved browser engines other than WebKit.



However, what Apple actually launched were extremely inconvenient features that were bound by strong regulations. For example, although sideloading is permitted,

strict conditions are imposed on building an app distribution system other than the App Store, and fees of 12% to 27% are collected for in-app payments, which is not friendly to service providers. was.

The same goes for the browser engine, where approval is required after setting a number of requirements as development conditions, and the API is finally released several weeks before the time limit. What's more, these features are only allowed in the EU where DMA is enforced, and in other regions developers will still have to make do with Apple's previous rules.

Browser developers lamented this situation, and Mozilla, the developer of Firefox, said, ``This will force browsers like Firefox to build and maintain two browsers. 'This is Apple's strategy to deny consumers choice by making it as difficult as possible. I'm very disappointed .'



In addition to this, PWA was discontinued as a matter of course because it was said that they couldn't take care of anything other than WebKit. Russell cites Apple's Q&A regarding PWA discontinuation and explains that Apple's answer is nothing more than an excuse that hides its original intention.

In response to the question, 'Why can't EU users access web apps (PWAs) on the home screen?', Apple responded, 'In order to comply with the DMA, Apple provides 600 'We've done some engineering work to add new features, including new APIs and a wide range of developer tools.'

Mr. Russell addressed this and said, ``In response to the question, ``Why did the EU break a feature that has been the backbone of iOS since 2007?'', Apple responded, ``We are being sued to avoid compliance.'' 'I'm completely tired. And on top of that, the mean people in the EU made us do extra work. It's extremely unfair,' he said. This shows that Apple is negligent in not doing what it could have done even before the regulations.



Apple basically maintains strong security by forcing people to follow its own rules, and also says that it imposes restrictions on alternative browsers, saying, ``Malicious web apps can read data from other web apps.'' ``There is a concern that it may take back permissions to access the user's camera, microphone, and location information without the user's consent, and there is also concern that web apps may be installed on the system.'' I am.

However, Russell said, ``Apple has complete control over the system APIs that add icons to the home screen and install apps, so we should know that this won't happen.'' '' and considered this to be another excuse for not taking action.

'Apple's obvious strategy is to increase the cost of porting a browser to iOS and devalue competing browsers, create rules that make other browsers unusable, and implement a series of security falsehoods,' Russell said. 'It's justified with excuses. It's disgusting, brazen, likely in violation of the DMA, and likely to lead to a legal dispute.'

in Software, Posted by log1p_kr