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Apple Walks Back Decision to Disable Home Screen Web Apps in the EU (www.macrumors.com)

submitted 5 months ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Following the release of the second beta version of iOS 17.4, it emerged that Apple had restricted the functionality of iOS web apps in the EU. Web apps could no longer launch from the ‌Home Screen‌ in their own top-level window that takes up the entire screen, relegating them to a simple shortcut with an option to open within Safari instead.

The move was heavily criticized by groups like Open Web Advocacy, which started a petition in an effort to persuade Apple to reverse the change, and it even caught the attention of the European Commission. Now, Apple has backtracked and says that ‌Home Screen‌ web apps that use WebKit in the EU will continue to function as expected upon the release of iOS 17.4.

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[-] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

No one is saying you should have to. Any site that forces you to download an app on mobile is shitty.

They're saying there should be an option for devs and users that want to use it. Web apps shouldn't be the only way of reaching the smartphone audiences if you don't want to go through the Apple App Store.

higher complexity, devs have a bit more freedom I guess

That isn't a minor thing.

[-] fatalError 3 points 5 months ago

I wasn't saying it shouldn't be an option. I do believe in third party app stores, which is why I have an Android and I download many of my apps fron f-droid.

It just feels like every other website I browse to on the phone has at least an annoying popup asking me to download their app... And at the worst it won't let me browse at all, unless I switch to desktop mode and get full functionality, but UI doesn't scale well.

What I am saying is, I don't need an app for facebook, reddit, lemmy, youtube, spotify, uber, carrefour and the list can go on and on... If it doesn't work offline, I don't want an app for it. And yes, I know you can download music and videos for offline use, but I don't, so just let me use the webapp... I undertand the benefits of an app, I just don't feel like keeping an app for that once a week I open reddit to look up some niche sub.

this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024

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