After Apple confirmed yesterday that it was suspending web apps for customers in the EU due to compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said: states. Suggest in X post There's another reason behind Apple's decision. iPhone web apps don't make any money for Apple. Sweeney's company is suing Apple over antitrust concerns related to App Store fees, an obviously biased source on the subject, but it raises questions on everyone's minds. are doing. Was Apple breaking his iPhone web app to protect customers from security risks posed by third-party browser engines, as Apple claims, or was it a potential threat to Apple's business? Was the decision made to quell the threat?
In other words, will Apple really go so far as to degrade the consumer experience on the iPhone to protect its bottom line?
The iPhone maker on Thursday detailed DMA-related changes in the EU to address the issue after iPhone Web apps (also known as Progressive Web Apps or PWAs) were recently found to have stopped working. We have published the latest information on our website. Beta version of iOS in the EU. Initially, there were concerns that these issues were just beta bugs, but Apple quickly shot down that theory.
Apple explains on its website that DMA compliance requires support for web browser engines other than WebKit, the browser engine used by Safari. iOS home screen web apps have relied on WebKit and its security architecture to protect users from online threats. This includes enforcing storage isolation and “system prompts to access features that impact privacy,” Apple said.
Without this isolation and enforcement, malicious web apps could read data from other apps and access your camera, microphone, and location information with your consent, the company said. Since Apple is forced by his DMA requirements to allow alternative browser engines, the company chooses not to put users at risk and instead allows users within the EU to use their web apps on his or her iOS. Degraded the experience. From now on, web apps will act as bookmarks for websites without local storage, badges, notifications, or dedicated window support.
Sweeney is definitely unhappy with Apple, but there may be some truth to his claims. In his Apple explanation for why it ended support for his web app in the EU, the company acknowledges that there is a technical solution to the security problem, but simply chooses not to implement it. I just did it.
Apple writes (emphasis ours):
Use alternative browser engines to address complex security and privacy issues related to web apps A completely new integration architecture needs to be built This does not currently exist on iOS and was not practical to do given DMA's other demands and the very low adoption rate of home screen web apps by users.
In short, Apple knows how to solve the problem, but is burdened with having to comply with DMA, which requires “over 600 new APIs and a wide range of developer tools.” He pointed it out and said he decided to skip it. Fix this.
Building an “all-new unified architecture” may be no small feat, but it's not surprising that Apple has been preparing for DMA regulations for years. I had time to prepare this. To further deflect blame here, Apple suggests that people won't care if his web app on the home screen breaks, given the “low user adoption rate.”
But Apple's own moves contradict that explanation. Rather, Apple has been working on making PWAs more useful for years, adding features that make web apps work more like native apps and make them easier to distribute outside of the App Store. I've been doing it. Meanwhile, user adoption is increasing, not shrinking. Analysts estimate that the PWA market will reach $10.44 billion by 2027, and the average annual growth rate will be 31.9%.
It's entirely possible that alternative browser engines could make PWAs even more useful, as Sweeney claims, but given that web apps have nearly the same functionality as native apps, it's unlikely that Apple's App Store It will be a threat to business.
Apple was asked for comment on its decision regarding PWAs, but simply published an explanation on the DMA website in response.