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He doesn't want app store. The whole article is about how the author is forced to submit an app to the store just to allow playing audio in the background. The

He doesn't want app store. The whole article is about how the author is forced to submit an app to the store just to allow playing audio in the background. The author would prefer to just have a web app / website that plays audio, but it is not possible. On iOS, apparently you need to use Cordova and submit an app to the store if you want to play the next song while the app is in the background. And it is not possible to use lock screen controls to control playback (apart from stopping it).

Angostura 9y ago
as an iPhone user, I'm extraordinarily glad that the author cannot play audio at me from a website in the background.
- judah 9y ago
  Author here. I'm with you for random websites. But what about apps that are media players, ala Pandora? My app is a music playlist/radio station hybrid. It's expected to play music; it's the whole point of the app. iOS Safari doesn't let me play audio until user interaction. OK, that's fair. But it also blocks me from playing the next song when the current one ends. That's not cool. It breaks my app. It forced me to bundle my PWA as an app in the store, just to get around this restriction. FYI, I reported this problem to Apple's iOS Safari team. They acknowledged the issue and said they can probably fix it in the future. (That was 2 years ago.)
- jakobegger 9y ago
  I think you misunderstood something. Websites can play audio in the background on iOS. It works great for podcasts — but only as long as you don’t want to control playback. The API is there, Apple didn’t omit it on purpose. But it is broken.
HillaryBriss 9y ago
Also: the author makes the point that mobile users have been conditioned to look in the app stores for stuff to use on their devices. In other words, having a presence in app stores is important to marketing. And indeed, his new users per month rate went up after he listed in the actual app stores.

Angostura 9y ago

as an iPhone user, I'm extraordinarily glad that the author cannot play audio at me from a website in the background.

judah 9y ago
Author here. I'm with you for random websites. But what about apps that are media players, ala Pandora? My app is a music playlist/radio station hybrid. It's expected to play music; it's the whole point of the app. iOS Safari doesn't let me play audio until user interaction. OK, that's fair. But it also blocks me from playing the next song when the current one ends. That's not cool. It breaks my app. It forced me to bundle my PWA as an app in the store, just to get around this restriction. FYI, I reported this problem to Apple's iOS Safari team. They acknowledged the issue and said they can probably fix it in the future. (That was 2 years ago.)
jakobegger 9y ago
I think you misunderstood something. Websites can play audio in the background on iOS. It works great for podcasts — but only as long as you don’t want to control playback. The API is there, Apple didn’t omit it on purpose. But it is broken.

HillaryBriss 9y ago

Also: the author makes the point that mobile users have been conditioned to look in the app stores for stuff to use on their devices. In other words, having a presence in app stores is important to marketing. And indeed, his new users per month rate went up after he listed in the actual app stores.