One important thing not mentioned here: Apple should make sure to keep up Safari Development. It's by far the worst browser available and the web platform is only growing.
The web is too bloated as it is, I feel that Apple is on my side putting a damper on that.
Safari is powerful enough as it is. You want voip, notifications, codecs and so on - do the work and learn to write a native app. I'd rather pay for that than paying with my attention to ads in your "free" web app.
Like CSS containment is feature that was shipped in Chrome in 2016, Firefox 2019 so how many years have to pass for Safari to implement it so it isn't just 'some new shiny' feature anymore?
Like how Safari doesn't support WebP?
The first one that comes to mind is the <input> select method doesn't work[1], although MDN claims it does. It works _sometimes_, for reasons I couldn't discern. I'm not sure about you, but I wouldn't call selecting text a fancy or bleeding edge feature.
[1]: https://stackoverflow.com/q/3272089 Don't miss the comment about an infinite loop hanging the browser
Why? I want it to run on all platforms. That's one of the best things about the web. I'd rather just not support Safari than write and deploy separate MacOS, Windows, and Mobile applications.
My and most user-bases agree.
Web browsers are the best of both worlds, secure enclaved sandboxes, easily reachable by just a link, and powerful enough to do many basic tasks, and cross compatible.
As an user, I do not mind downloading and installing slim and fast native application which take advantage of the hardware my devices provide and integrate nicely with my OS.
What I like about web is how "safer" it is compared to well running binaries on the OS, me visiting a site would not give it access to all my private photos, and potentially allow it to add itself to startup everytime I open the OS without my permission.
Also I came across a few sites that Safari couldn't render it correctly whereas Firefox and Vivaldi show the site just fine. I only use Safari as a last resort and only used it for Zoom/Doxy/Whereby/etc.
(latest webcompat test results were 96/92/92 for Chrome/Firefox/Safari https://paul.kinlan.me/sorry-safari-team/ )
Apple launched the WebKit revolution, but Google grabbed the ball and ran with it, Apple didn't give chase, and now they are behind. A pity.
It only gets updated once a year, so any updates they do make are slow to hit users. This wouldn't be so bad if they were more up to date with Firefox and Chrome.
Why should apple make this choice for me?
My experience from my immediate friends and family support circle is "0%" and "100%", respectively, but I'd be open to data showing that the first number is slightly higher than 0%. The "UX" for this feature for normal users is, as far as I can tell, exactly like the bad old days when people'd accidentally install 3rd party "search bars", then not know how to get rid of them.
Historically, browsers have worked to keep web sites from doing things that affect the machine outside that site's browser pane, that normal users don't want or expect them to be able to do.
If by chance Apple agrees with your stance, a Safari config that disables them is the proper solution, not dragging their feet.
From observing non-geeks use the "feature", I think that's the right call regardless. It needs to go back to the drawing board, or be scrapped. In general, anything that expands the reach & capabilities of websites should be treated with a ton of suspicion, as a likely vulnerability vector (leaking tracking info; social engineering/phishing vector; straight-up exploitable bugs) or simply a net-negative annoyance for most users.
If Apple thinks push notifications are annoying, why does iOS have them? Again, Apple is protecting their walled garden. That's all this is. There really is no other good faith argument for this.
Web notifications are not comparable to app push.
- Not being able to click a tab unless you drag it to the center of the tab bar
- Make a "drag a link/anchor into a new window" feature; except it triggers way too easily from ordinary scrolling, forcing you to spend the next 15-30 seconds figuring out how the FUCK do you close it with an non-obvious swipe gesture. Apparently buttons with "Close" or a big X are too complicated.
It's not