We need to exert more pressure on apple and eu to not remove PWAs. Every signature counts, please sign and share EU has already started a preliminary investigation on this http://archive.today/2024.02.26-223134/https://www.ft.com/content/d2f7328c-5851-4f16-8f8d-93f0098b6adc
Someone fill me in:
Can they really force this once EU opens the gates to the third-party app stores?
Yes because what they are doing is just removing websites from the app-store. Other app-stores might add those websites to their store if they want but for the user it is almost always better to just save the website to their homescreen, which gives the exact same UX as previous web-apps but now you don’t need to go to the app-store to download it, the app takes up no storage on your device and the web app can’t access your privacy sensitive device IDs that might be used for cross-app tracking.
It seems the solution is simple. Don’t use apple products anymore. Windows or linux.
Unlike apple, there’s ways to make windows private and secure and most distros of linux are mostly private and mostly secure
Windows is the one where I need an account to install and that spies on me and throws ads in my face, that one?
Like I said, there’s ways to make it private. And there’s ways to block the ads. There’s ways to use it without a Microsoft account too.
Apple devices have a second network adapter to bypass your VPN and any adblocking software you have to serve you locally relevant ads.
second network adapter
Source? A quick search didn’t turn up anything.
search results are always being tampered with. Which search engine did you use? They may have back-peddled on that due to security concerns…or maybe someone in the executive room has a soul and convinced the others not to do it.
Or maybe they’re already doing it and there aren’t any apple users that know about it, because unlike windows and linux, you have no control and no way of getting control over your apple devices.
I checked too. Can you use your engines to source the claim?
It’s very interesting but I would’ve thought somebody would’ve Wiresharked it or seen the suspicious traffic hitting their router (perhaps).
How is Windows ever an option? What a troll
Although I agree with you it is not a good choice.
Depending on your threat model it is acceptable. Everyone has different trade offs.
Move away from apple products & taste the freedom…
The problem is the only alternative (on phones) is handing over all my data to Google, the world’s largest ad company. I’m not sure that’s better…
Desktop is easy. Install Linux. But on phones, there’s 2 bad realistic choices.
You don’t have to install Gapps though.
If you skip GApps & install a custom ROM, chances are banking & government apps won’t work… & you see some places removing their websites forcing users into the app duopoly… which is why web apps matter.
almost every apple user says shit like this while using Gmail, Google docs, and the Google app on their phone and blindly giving Apple their data. let’s be real for a sec and not pretend most Apple users give a flying fuck that Google tracks them. if a user truly cared about privacy, they would eventually come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter Apple or Google, privacy means not giving your data to ultra mega corps. so owning an iPhone isn’t adequate for privacy either. both googled Android and iOS give your data back to their respective companies. neither are good for your privacy. one day when Apple start changing their tune on privacy policies, Apple fan boys who have put their their whole lives into the apple ecosystem will realize they put all their eggs in one basket.
Have any evidence that both are the same regarding privacy or just your personal feelings?
one day when Apple start changing their tune on privacy policies
I don’t think this is a fair point, unless someone was making the claim that Apple is some benevolent do-good company out of the kindess of their own hearts. No one really makes those claims though, I think most who choose their products for privacy reasons simple thing they are better than the other of the main 2 options, and that like any corporation needs to be watched closely. Just because I chose an Apple device at this time does not mean I advocate that they will always be a better choice for privacy (or any number of characteristics someone may care about when choosing a phone).
almost every apple user says shit like this while using Gmail, Google docs, and the Google app on their phone
Again, just your feelings. Maybe statistically it’s even true that most do, but at least there is a choice on these things. I can and do avoid all of these, the only things I load from google are tracking scripts embedded in websites that make it through several layers of blocking.
privacy means not giving your data to ultra mega corps
Not sure this is true, surely there are large corporations that are at least better than others with regard to privacy. It would be especially foolish to assume the inverse of this, that just because a company is small that they will respect privacy or act better.
They are not sabotaging “web apps” (aka websites), you just need to save the website to the homescreen if you want to use a web app, (this is both quicker and takes up less storage on your device so it is better for the end-user).
They are removing these “apps” from the appstore because they are not native apps.
PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) are their own categories of websites and they do indeed have the ability to behave like an actual app. They are much more than just a shortcut, which apple is reducing them to.
On android, my PWA that I developed for fun can go full screen and appear as though a browser isn’t wrapping the page, I can send notifications, I can access the microphone and camera, I can do nearly everything you could expect an app to do, I can support offline mode, I can store data locally, and I can manage my PWAs permissions as well as uninstall my app at an OS level. My entire family uses my PWA, and they see it as an app.
Are there some things native apps can do that PWAs can’t? Absolutely, but that is not the point. PWAs are an open and clearly defined technology to the web. Windows supports them as well.
Apple is refusing to accept that though. They are removing notifications, badges, etc, and reducing them to what you have described, just a shortcut to a Safari window. They are citing security concerns even though other operating systems are able to implement security around them just fine.
The real issue is Apple wants more control over how you use your device and is acting against the consumer.
On android, my PWA that I developed for fun can go full screen and appear as though a browser isn’t wrapping the page
That is literally how I am using kbin.social right now even though it’s just a website
I can send notifications, I can access the microphone and camera, I can do nearly everything you could expect an app to do
All of those are defined in the web spec as well so you wouldn’t need an app for that (if apple implemented all of them, not sure if they have)
I can support offline mode
Your cached web page can do that too (even though most web pages don’t because it’s not a common usecase)
I can store data locally
Cookies have existed for much longer than the iPhone
uninstall my app at an OS level.
A website added to your home page basically acts like an app: it has an icon on your home screen and you can longpress > delete it just like apps
Badges might be the only valid complaint (I don’t know if they are part of the web spec)
[Apple] is acting against the consumer.
Not sure how this is hurting the consumer. This has been announced many years ago and devs haven’t been able to publish new or update old web apps for ages, so this change only applies to those very old apps still on the appstore.
The distinction is web workers and offline mode.
It means your PWA can preload everything it needs to run offline, and you can actually use it offline. That is different from a “cached website” which can only cache the pages you’ve already visited and otherwise does not allow you to update data locally.
Your website can just preload all pages needed for offline mode
