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It's probably easier to disable PWAs than to add the necessary APIs (probably most importantly: the ability to add new app icons on demand). If only Safari can

It's probably easier to disable PWAs than to add the necessary APIs (probably most importantly: the ability to add new app icons on demand). If only Safari can "install" an app, the EU no doubt has an opinion about that. Interestingly, Android has the same problem. Non-Chrome browsers can add PWA shortcuts through widgets, but they can't add items to the app drawer like Chrome can. I wonder how the EU will look at Google in this regard. Another issue: Apple's implementation of web notifications requires websites sending notifications to be installed as a PWA. I wonder what happens to these applications now.

AnthonyMouse 3y ago
> It's probably easier to disable PWAs than to add the necessary APIs Apple is not a resource-constrained company. None of these decisions have to be made in terms of developer time etc., because they're being amortized over so many users that the cost is negligible. It's only a question of what they choose to do.
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  Apple has more money than they can spend, but you can only get so much done within a given timespan. Designing and developing an API in which an app can safely add launcher icons is quite a challenge, but I imagine Apple may have missed this problem up until now. Plus, they probably don't want to add the necessary API. The law says to treat other apps equally, not to provide the user with a good experience.
  - AnthonyMouse 3y ago
    > Apple has more money than they can spend, but you can only get so much done within a given timespan. This applies to attempts to do things that take around six months and can't be compressed into one second by hiring 16 million programmers for one second, not attempts to do things that take around six months in around six months. > Plus, they probably don't want to add the necessary API. The law says to treat other apps equally, not to provide the user with a good experience. This is the actual reason, and thereby the criticism.
stop50 3y ago
I have an workaround for that: in nova launcher i can add folders from the appdrawer to the homescreen and move the pwa icon there. Now i have the pwa in the folder of the appdrawer.
sccxy 3y ago
I am waiting for fix in Safari PWA only bug for over a year now. (Bug is not present in browser Safari). In webkit bugtracker I can see that bug is fixed but it is waiting for Safari teams approval for a year now. @apple.com developers are saying just report feedback assistant and it might get fixed...
jwells89 3y ago
If notifications are ever opened to regular Safari there needs to be a toggle added in settings to globally disable requests, effectively restoring current behavior. It’s bad enough being pestered to enable notifications on desktop Safari, I don’t want random sites doing that on mobile Safari too.
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  I agree. On Android, Chrome has this setting (Settings > Site settings > Notifications > disable the toggle to disable them, or enable the "don't get annoying popups" setting). If you use the checkbox rather than disabling notifications completely, you can still whitelist a website through the menu in the address bar, which is probably the best of both worlds. All desktop browsers I know have a similar setting, so I'm sure that whatever is annoying you on desktop Safari can be turned off!

AnthonyMouse 3y ago

> It's probably easier to disable PWAs than to add the necessary APIs Apple is not a resource-constrained company. None of these decisions have to be made in terms of developer time etc., because they're being amortized over so many users that the cost is negligible. It's only a question of what they choose to do.

jeroenhd 3y ago
Apple has more money than they can spend, but you can only get so much done within a given timespan. Designing and developing an API in which an app can safely add launcher icons is quite a challenge, but I imagine Apple may have missed this problem up until now. Plus, they probably don't want to add the necessary API. The law says to treat other apps equally, not to provide the user with a good experience.
- AnthonyMouse 3y ago
  > Apple has more money than they can spend, but you can only get so much done within a given timespan. This applies to attempts to do things that take around six months and can't be compressed into one second by hiring 16 million programmers for one second, not attempts to do things that take around six months in around six months. > Plus, they probably don't want to add the necessary API. The law says to treat other apps equally, not to provide the user with a good experience. This is the actual reason, and thereby the criticism.

stop50 3y ago

I have an workaround for that: in nova launcher i can add folders from the appdrawer to the homescreen and move the pwa icon there. Now i have the pwa in the folder of the appdrawer.

sccxy 3y ago

I am waiting for fix in Safari PWA only bug for over a year now. (Bug is not present in browser Safari). In webkit bugtracker I can see that bug is fixed but it is waiting for Safari teams approval for a year now. @apple.com developers are saying just report feedback assistant and it might get fixed...

jwells89 3y ago

If notifications are ever opened to regular Safari there needs to be a toggle added in settings to globally disable requests, effectively restoring current behavior. It’s bad enough being pestered to enable notifications on desktop Safari, I don’t want random sites doing that on mobile Safari too.

jeroenhd 3y ago
I agree. On Android, Chrome has this setting (Settings > Site settings > Notifications > disable the toggle to disable them, or enable the "don't get annoying popups" setting). If you use the checkbox rather than disabling notifications completely, you can still whitelist a website through the menu in the address bar, which is probably the best of both worlds. All desktop browsers I know have a similar setting, so I'm sure that whatever is annoying you on desktop Safari can be turned off!