3 ms·
This is an unfortunate Safari limitation that Apple has intentionally put in place. We'd like to be able to use temporary storage space on the user's device (wh
by feross 6y ago
This is an unfortunate Safari limitation that Apple has intentionally put in place. We'd like to be able to use temporary storage space on the user's device (which can be automatically cleared as soon as the user or another app needs it). But Safari gives web apps a 1GB limit after which the app must prompt the user for an additional allocation of 200MB.
So if the app needs e.g. 5GB of space the user will need to click "okay" on twenty prompts for 200MB more space to make the app work. Needless to say, this is totally ridiculous and definitely not an API that Apple would ever find acceptable to ship for native iOS apps.
It's hard to see Apple's decisions here as anything but outright hostile to the web and designed to push developers into making native apps.
It's especially ironic given that Apple recently suggested [1] to Australian authorities that they can't possibly have a monopoly on app distribution since they have no restrictions against developers distributing PWAs which "have the look, feel and functionality of a native app". But what they fail to mention is that they control exactly what functionality is actually available to web apps. And right now it's A LOT less than what is available to web apps.
Furthermore, most users are not aware that other iOS browsers like Chrome, Brave, and Firefox are actually just "light UI skins" on top of the Safari browser engine, Webkit, because Apple refuses to allow third party browser engines on iOS. So this means that it's not possible for users to just switch to another browser in order to use more powerful web apps. They're literally prevented from doing so by Apple's policy to ban browser competition on iOS.
[1]: https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Apple%20Pty%20Limited%20%2810%20February%202021%29.pdf https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Apple%20Pty%20Limited%2...