More another headache is in store for iPhone app developers, courtesy of Apple.
Over the past few weeks, reports spread iOS 17.4 beta 2 removes progressive web apps (PWAs) and the ability for those web apps to send push notifications like mobile apps.
The tweet may have been deleted
An example of a popular PWA is the Starbucks web app, which works like an app on all mobile platforms, can be saved to the desktop, and allows users to place orders and receive special offers as push notifications, all without the user having to download the app.
Up until iOS 17.4 beta 2, iPhones allowed users to save specific web pages to the iPhone’s home screen in this way, and the web pages could be opened as standalone apps. Apple first launched web app capabilities in the earliest days of the iPhone back in 2008. Showing its continued commitment to web apps, Apple announced in 2022 that web apps will be able to generate push notifications. That commitment now appears to be wavering.
What some initially thought was just a bug, the latest version, iOS 17.4 beta 2, includes new language when trying to open a web app that makes it clear that there something more in the works here.
The tweet may have been deleted
As 9to5Mac reports, some EU users are getting a prompt when trying to open a web app under the new iOS beta that says web apps will “open from your default browser from now on.” This would obviously defeat the entire purpose of a PWA, which should be treated by the user as an app, not a website.
Furthermore, with this change, those websites lose out on web app capabilities like push notifications, a feature that only recently launched on iOS. In addition, the data stored in PWAs is deleted because the web application no longer opens and pushes users to the web browser.
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However, some app developers believe that the situation is not so simple. The developers we talked to AppleInsider he claimed that some PWAs were working, although features like push notifications were no longer available.
What is Apple doing?
Most of the developers reporting these web app changes in iOS 17.4 beta 2 are located in the European Union. This is likely because Apple’s decision coincides with the EU’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA).
As part of the DMA, Apple can no longer require web browser developers to use Apple’s WebKit. Since all of these web apps are based on these rules, Safari and WebKit require them, so these might be temporary changes to be DMA compliant. After all, this is a beta version of iOS.
But that may not be the case either. Just a few weeks ago, Apple was accused of “malicious compliance” in regards to changing certain rules due to DMA.
The DMA Act was intended in part as a consumer protection law, encouraging competition by forcing Apple to allow developers to distribute their apps through alternative marketplaces, bypassing Apple’s strict App Store terms and the company’s revenue share model. When Apple rolled out set of new App Store rules in the EU, they have been sharply criticized by the leaders of companies such as TargetSpotify, Xbox and Epic Games as an attempt to cash in on the changes required by the DMA — creating avenues for developers that make alternative markets cost more than just complying with Apple’s App Store guidelines.
Apple may now face similar accusations over its web app problems — namely that it’s using its former WebKit as a weapon to make developers feel penalized by new EU laws.
Apple has yet to comment on the situation with web apps in iOS 17.4 beta 2, so it’s unclear what the future holds for PWAs and website push notifications on the iPhone. We’ll just have to wait and see.