Looks like Apple is going to fix dark mode in iOS 18 by dropping support for PWAs altogether in my part of the world.
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/02/08/ios-17-4-nerfs-web-apps...
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/02/08/ios-17-4-nerfs-web-apps...
I do feel they'll lose this battle eventually, even if it takes a few years. Cross platform apps without a required compile step or walled garden are almost certainly the end state I expect we'll reach within the next decade (probably sooner).
So fuck me I guess :(
https://9to5mac.com/2024/02/15/ios-17-4-web-apps-european-un...
It's now the responsibility of alternative browser engine vendors to integrate with Shortcuts so that you can add PWAs and other web[sites|apps] to the Home Screen using your browser engine of choice. The additional benefit of this is that different PWAs can use different browser engines.
This has yet to be made clear to me.
Could you attempt to convince us?
or just the features they're motivated not to offer a path to using for other publishers?
(Like, webapp support)
I wonder if the DMA contains some sort of requirement that features not be removed. To force Apple to make PWAs interoperable with other browser engines instead of just nuking them.
You emphasized “all” to imply there are so many, but honestly I can’t think of much beyond what they’re already mitigating to comply with the DMA.
You’ll get a browser selection screen now, other engines will be allowed, default browser choice gets further expanded in terms of implementation so it essentially ensures you never have to touch Safari.
The only thing that is being torn out is PWA installation on Home Screen because it would be yet another significant architectural change that comes with some significant engineering effort during a time of crunch, when the install rate of PWAs is abysmal as it is, even on other OSs.
Seems fair to me.
and a dozen other similar questions...
Can you clarify what you mean by this?
If Siri would be the one benefiting (which is what you seem to be saying?) then it wouldn’t give Safari an unfair advantage.
No virtual assistants have been designated as gatekeepers under the DMA so preferential treatment of Siri would still be allowed.
That said, to my knowledge Siri doesn’t “learn” from Safari in the sense that it improves or trains on Safari user data.
Instead Safari, and all other apps, including third party apps, can provide information to Siri to be shown during search as well as providing shortcuts so the app can be controlled via Siri. Users have control over this to a degree so they can exclude information from certain apps.
Alternative voice assistants offer similar APIs to receive information and support voice commands for third party services.
> and a dozen other similar questions...
I’m all ears.
With iOS 17.4 in the EU, you can no longer make a web app (PWA) that uses a full screen window with no browser ui controls. No longer use local storage for the web app's data, and no longer send push notifications and show badges on the home screen icon for web apps.
Third party browsers can't add this functionality back. How do you expect them to make push notifications work with PWAs?
Are you sure? Go to https://sindresorhus.com/screenfull/, tap "Request", and you should see a full-screen website. Any [website|webapp|PWA] can do this with Safari. (Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/CTWFPol) Third-party browsers using their own browser engines can do whatever they like.
> How do you expect them to make push notifications work with PWAs?
Third-party browsers using their own browser engine will have to create their own support for web notifications, just as Apple does for Safari. Presumably, they'll leverage the same infrastructure they use on non-iOS platforms.
But those that are are all claiming that all their PWAs are no longer full screen, lost all their local storage, and push notifications stopped working.
I see that the support for the Fullscreen API isn't available in iOS 17.3 but will be available once 17.4 lands.
"Added support for the Fullscreen API on iOS. (118083593)"
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-release-not...
I use that with a site I make that I want to look and feel more like an app and so I use the PWA fullscreen stuff now.
I have no need for all the browser url bar and buttons and it just wastes precious screen space for my application.
> EU users will be able to continue accessing websites directly from their Home Screen through a bookmark with minimal impact to their functionality.