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Well, it turns out it’s not a bug that has broken iPhone Web Apps, also known as Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), in the EU. Following developer complaints and press reports about how PWAs are not working in the EU after installing the latest iOS beta, Apple has updated its website to explain why. Not surprisingly, tech giants are blaming the new EU regulation, the Digital Markets Act, for the change and saying the complexities associated with the DMA requirement to allow different browser engines are the root cause.
To catch you, security researcher tommy musk And Open Web Advocacy First noticed that PWA was demoted For website shortcuts with the release of the second beta of iOS 17.4. Initially, it was unclear whether this was a beta bug – stranger things have happened – or if it was intended to weaken the functionality of PWAs in the EU, a market where Apple no longer requires alternative app stores, third-party paid being forced to allow permissions, and alternative browser engines, among other things. In the beta, PWAs, which typically allow web apps to function and feel like native iOS apps, were no longer working. The developers envisioned that these web apps would open like saved bookmarks on your home screen.
As macrumors As stated at the time, this meant no “dedicated windowing, notifications, or long-term local storage”; iOS16.4 also allowed PWAs to badge their icons With notifications, as native apps can do. Beta users of iOS 17.4 reported that when they opened a web app while running the iOS beta, the system would ask them if they wanted to open the app in Safari or cancel. The message indicates that the web app will “open in your default browser from now on”. Later, users said they faced issues with data loss, as Safari website shortcuts don’t offer local storage. Notifications also don’t work anymore.
Still, there was reason to be cautious about whether the change was intentional or not. Multiple TechCrunch staffers repeatedly sought comment from Apple but did not receive a response. (We wanted to know if the company would confirm whether this was a beta bug or an intentional change, and if the latter, what Apple’s reasoning was for it.) After the next beta release is revealed, the verge Ran a report that indicates that Apple ,appears to be, Cracking down on PWAs in the EU after unlikely to get a formal response from the tech giant.
Now Apple has responded in its own way. Today, it updated this Website details its DMA-related changes in the EU To address the matter. In a new update, the company explains how it had to make so many changes to iOS to comply with EU guidelines that it became difficult to continue support for PWAs.
Traditionally, the iOS system provided support for home screen Web apps by building directly on WebKit (Safari’s browser engine) and its security architecture, Apple said. This allowed web apps to align with the same security and privacy models found in other native apps. But with DMA, Apple is being forced to allow alternative browser engines. It argues that without the isolation and enforcement of rules applied to WebKit-based web apps, malicious apps could be installed that could do things like read data from other web apps or gain access to a user’s camera, microphone, or location. . Agreed,” Apple said.
“Addressing the complex security and privacy concerns associated with web apps using alternative browser engines will require the creation of an entirely new integration architecture that does not currently exist in iOS and the other demands of DMA and very few users. Given the adoption it was not practical to implement. Home screen of web apps. And so, to comply with DMA requirements, we had to remove the Home Screen Web Apps feature in the EU,” the website reads.
The company informs EU users that they will be able to access websites from their home screen via bookmarks as a result of the change, confirming developers’ concerns that PWAs are effectively being disabled in the EU.
“We expect this change to affect a small number of users. “Nonetheless, we regret the impact this change – which was made as part of work to comply with the DMA – may have on developers of home screen web apps and our users,” Apple says.
critics say passed argued Apple’s desire to maintain its power in the iOS app ecosystem was so strong that it would break web app functionality for users of its devices. Meanwhile, Apple’s defenders will probably argue that the company’s explanation is reasonable and in line with Apple’s desire to keep iOS safe for its users. The truth, as is often the case, probably lies in the middle.
Apple has still not responded to requests for comment.
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