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So exactly which festures would be needed in a PWA that’s not currently available in iOS? It’s just a meaningless talking point without specifics

beeflet 1y ago
I have looked into developing a PWA. For starters: 1. Decent storage API. Last time I checked, there were serious limitations on the amount of storage you can use, especially in iOS 2. Mechanism for the user to save a certain . Analogous to saving and running a .exe and being able to compare the file hashes and run different versions of a file without the app developer's intent. This would include the ability to write and edit web apps from your device. 3. Some way of sending TCP/UDP packets directly, and doing port forwarding through UPnP. 4. Mechanism to run processes in the background, and for inter-app communication. For example, you could not make a decent bittorrent app as a PWA. This is an example of an app which is prohibited on the app store despite having Apple having no legal basis for doing so. I've often wondered if it would be possible to make some sort of "PWA Browser" that would give web apps hooks to some of this functionality, but it would probably get banned (There are no real rules on the app store, they can just ban you for whatever they want).
- scarface_74 1y ago
  And this has nothing to do with my question - what features are lacking that would prevent this particular app from being a web app?
  - lukeschlather 1y ago
    Looking at the changelog, ICEBlock uses push notifications, background jobs, and networking. https://www.iceblock.app/ https://www.iceblock.app/ There's also mention of a GPS fallback which doesn't sound like something you could do in a PWA.
DaiPlusPlus 1y ago
PWAs can’t use Sockets, for one thing.
- mdhb 1y ago
  What on earth would you need that for in this instance? As a side note, when Apple finally gets their shit together WebTransport is excellent for most socket like use cases.
  - fruitworks 1y ago
    web transport requires HTTPS, which requires a domain name and PKI for everyone you connect to

beeflet 1y ago

I have looked into developing a PWA. For starters: 1. Decent storage API. Last time I checked, there were serious limitations on the amount of storage you can use, especially in iOS 2. Mechanism for the user to save a certain . Analogous to saving and running a .exe and being able to compare the file hashes and run different versions of a file without the app developer's intent. This would include the ability to write and edit web apps from your device. 3. Some way of sending TCP/UDP packets directly, and doing port forwarding through UPnP. 4. Mechanism to run processes in the background, and for inter-app communication. For example, you could not make a decent bittorrent app as a PWA. This is an example of an app which is prohibited on the app store despite having Apple having no legal basis for doing so. I've often wondered if it would be possible to make some sort of "PWA Browser" that would give web apps hooks to some of this functionality, but it would probably get banned (There are no real rules on the app store, they can just ban you for whatever they want).

scarface_74 1y ago
And this has nothing to do with my question - what features are lacking that would prevent this particular app from being a web app?
- lukeschlather 1y ago
  Looking at the changelog, ICEBlock uses push notifications, background jobs, and networking. https://www.iceblock.app/ https://www.iceblock.app/ There's also mention of a GPS fallback which doesn't sound like something you could do in a PWA.

DaiPlusPlus 1y ago

PWAs can’t use Sockets, for one thing.

mdhb 1y ago
What on earth would you need that for in this instance? As a side note, when Apple finally gets their shit together WebTransport is excellent for most socket like use cases.
- fruitworks 1y ago
  web transport requires HTTPS, which requires a domain name and PKI for everyone you connect to