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Comment by zitterbewegung | Hacker News Reader

From the latest WWDC (2023) Apple has actually encouraging web app support. In Safari Version 17:

Added support for web apps on macOS Sonoma. Add any website to the Dock from the File menu or Share Sheet to get to them even faster. Web apps open in their own window, and integrate with system features like Stage Manager, Screen Time, Notifications, and Focus. (68606770) [1]

[1] https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-release-not...

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To me this looks like Apple porting a feature that's existed on iOS for ages. It's one of those features that I imagine is "so obvious, we missed it." It's certainly a much better idea than apps made with Electron.

I mean, "web apps" are just PWAs which iOS, Android(?), and Chrome have all supported for a while now. Still, it's nice to see a better push for web, and it's a bit of a reversal to Apple's historic position on apps (Steve Jobs opposed creating an app store, preferring web apps).

Encouraging support while banning competing browser engines doesn't look like encouraging.

Why? As a web app developer or user, the browser engine is low on my list of priorities.

Browser engine preferences are about far more niche concerns.

As a web app developer your perspective actually makes you desire a monopoly so you only have to test once. But, as a person I don't want that situation at all.

I don’t know a single non-technical end user that even knows what web “engine” powers their browser, let alone cares. This is not something real people remotely think about.

That doesn't mean it doesn't matter or doesn't affect them.

Just because they don’t think about it doesn’t mean it is good for them. (E.g. sugar in almost everything that kids eat).

I didn't say real people...

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