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Alternative browsers can pin web apps, but they can only run within Apple's WebKit.
Apple has changed its stance on allowing web apps on European iPhones and iPads and will release them on iOS 174 Proceed to allow users to put them on the home screen after publishing. However, they must be "built directly on WebKit and its security architecture" rather than run in alternative browsers, which is how the new legislation worked before it was forced to address the issue.
After the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) required Apple to open up its mobile devices to alternative browser engines, the company said it would completely remove the ability to install home screen web apps. In the developer Q&A section, in the Why can't EU users access the home screen web app? Under the heading, Apple said that the "complex security and privacy issues" of non-native web apps and the way to address them required "taking into account other requirements of the DMA and the very low user adoption rate of the home screen web app," which led the company to "have to remove the home screen web app feature in the EU." Any web application installed on the user's home screen will simply lead them back to their preferred web browser.
Apple further warns of "malicious web apps" that could read data, steal permissions from other web apps, and install more web apps without permission, without the isolation capabilities built into the webkit system.
The response sparked an investigation by the European Commission**, who asked Apple and app developers about the impact of the possible removal of the home screen web app. It also prompted the Open Web Advocacy to conduct a survey. Apple has until March 6 to comply with DMA. Apple's move to block web apps is a clear indication that allowing web apps that are supported by Safari instead of other browser engines can violate the rules of DMA. Now, some aspects of this cautious attitude have changed.
Under an updated version of the section's title, Apple reiterates its security and privacy concerns, as well as the need to "build a new integrated architecture that doesn't currently exist in iOS." But due to the requirement to continue to provide the web app, "we will continue to make the existing home screen feature available in the EU," Apple wrote.
A long and strange road to where the web application is now
Apple has long offered web apps (or progressive web apps) as separate apps rather than opening in a browser tab. Web applications installed in this way provide better persistence and access to device features such as notifications, camera, or file storage. The web app was initially touted by Apple co-founder and then-CEO Steve Jobs as "everything you need to write" a stunning app, rather than a dedicated app with its own SDK. Four months later, the iPhone SDK was released, and Apple announced its enthusiastic desire for "native third-party apps on the iPhone."
Although Apple didn't disclose App Store revenue in its earnings report, its services division hit an all-time high of $22.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, including "historical revenue records" for the App Store and other products.
As part of DMA compliance for certain system "gatekeepers," Apple must also allow EU customers to sideload, or allow iOS apps to be installed from stores other than its official App Store. This week, more than two dozen companies have signed a letter to the European Commission lamenting Apple's enforcement of app store rules. Developers seeking to take advantage of alternative app stores must agree to terms that include a "core technology fee" requiring a charge of 0. per app per year after ** 1 million visitsA fee of 5 euros. The letter said that "very few app developers will agree to these unfair terms," which would further "Apple use its dominance over app developers."
In a statement provided to ARS, Apple said its "approach to implementing the Digital Markets Act is guided by two simple goals: to comply with the law and to reduce the inevitable, increased risks that DMA poses to our EU users." It noted that Apple employees "spent months in dialogue with the European Commission" and "in a little over a year, more than 600 new APIs and a wide range of development tools were created". Despite this, Apple said that the changes and protections it has implemented will not completely "eliminate the new threats posed by DMA" and that these changes "will result in a reduction in system security."
That's why it's restricting third-party browser engines, app stores, and other DMA changes in the European Union, Apple said. "We are concerned about their impact on the privacy and security of our user experience.