No, they are using this to get through with their own agenda. At least when it comes to PWA.
Once again, I find it difficult to accept how brazenly Apple is exploiting its monopoly power and giving the Open Web another kick in the ass using false arguments. And we “little ones” suffer. Because we usually can’t afford our own apps in the App Store (through which Apple makes a lot of money - even if only through the developer account which is needed to place (free) apps there). And also because we try to keep our offer as low-threshold as possible in order to be able to compete as good as possible global services such as Discord, Facebook groups and so on.
Btw, if PWA really fall, is there a cheap way to put an own app in the store which basically has the functionality like PWA at the moment - own icon, own browser data storage, maybe notifications? Sure I know there’s the Discourse app, but in my eyes this app is more for bundling several Discourse forums in one app. Also it is not so low-threshold as an own app.
We have received requests to continue to offer support for Home Screen web apps in iOS, therefore we will continue to offer the existing Home Screen web apps capability in the EU. This support means Home Screen web apps continue to be built directly on WebKit and its security architecture, and align with the security and privacy model for native apps on iOS.
Developers and users who may have been impacted by the removal of Home Screen web apps in the beta release of iOS in the EU can expect the return of the existing functionality for Home Screen web apps with the availability of iOS 17.4 in early March.
No, that is another battle. That fine is for Apple not allowing Spotify etc to link to their other (often cheaper) online services in the iOS app. Apple already signed up appeal to that, so a battalion of lawyers will live on this for the next 4 years.
We’re getting a little off-topic now. The good news is as @david wrote that the (limited) support for PWA’s in iOS remains intact… for the time being. Many other battles between monopolistic Big Tech and legislation to ensure fair competition will remain.
