3 ms·

What was the deal with PWAs?

• lilyball 3y ago
  EU rules say Apple can't prioritize their own browser. PWAs only work with WebKit due to the iOS security model, and the amount of work necessary to try to support PWAs with third-party browser engines securely was way out of scope for the time frame to support the DMA. Because Apple can't prioritize their own browser, they had to remove PWA support entirely in the EU. Naturally there was a lot of backlash, and so Apple reversed their decision and will continue to support PWAs with WebKit in the EU. This suggests that perhaps the European Commission told Apple that it was okay to do this as it does seem to violate the "don't prioritize your own browser" rule, but as of the last I saw on this it was still unclear.
  • PlutoIsAPlanet 3y ago
    I don't really see it as prioritising your own browser. It's a system level feature and uses the system provided web engine. Microsoft doesn't let you swap out EdgeHTML or Trident for applications that use the native OS web frame. But apps shouldn't be forced to use that web frame is the issue the commission had and the DMA attempts to resolve.
    • blibble 3y ago
      > Microsoft doesn't let you swap out EdgeHTML or Trident for applications that use the native OS web frame. I remember quite clearly a gecko (firefox) implementation of the trident COM interface
      • dwaite 3y ago
        However, there wasn't a flag by Microsoft to give applications this implementation rather than the one they requested.
        • blibble 3y ago
          you mean the LocalServer32 value?
    • idle_zealot 3y ago
      Notably, Android does let users swap out the system webview. So clearly such a thing is possible.
      • PlutoIsAPlanet 3y ago
        Yes, but Google did that so they could update the WebView via the Play Store because OEMs were slow to distribute updates. But the system still needed a WebView for when Play Services were not available, so they made a way to toggle between them.
  • EMIRELADERO 3y ago
    > the amount of work necessary to try to support PWAs with third-party browser engines securely was way out of scope for the time frame to support the DMA. Rubbish. The DMA became law in November 1st 2022. A trillion(!)-dollar corporation had approximately a year and a half to work this out.
    • LordDragonfang 3y ago
      I mean, lots and lots of software goes through decades of development and yet still contains major security exploits. A year and a half isn't necessarily a huge amount of time to develop a full sandbox for code you don't even control.
      • bingbingbing777 3y ago
        Apple has had more than a year and a half to work on it, and they didn't.
• w4 3y ago
  Other posters have covered the gist of the events, but what creates the impression of flailing for me is Apple taking a hard stance in one direction, underestimating the backlash, and promptly recanting and changing course in exchange for (as best as I can tell) no advantage or concessions. That happened with PWAs, and now has happened with Epic. Maybe there were behind the scenes concessions made and I'm completely wrong, in which case I owe Apple management an apology. But my impression as an outsider is that there is no real strategy here; executives at the company seem to be throwing their weight around and picking fights at random, getting slapped down, and immediately retreating.
  • albert180 3y ago
    The penalties for Non-Compliance are up to 10% of the global turnover of a company. If you are flexing your muscles and end up loosing, you are probably loosing your jobs, because shareholders and everyone else will be angry with you