European Commission officials are investigating Apple’s decision to remove web apps from the home screen on iPhones and iPads in Europe. The European Commission has confirmed it is seeking information from Apple and app developers affected by the change, setting in motion a process that could lead to an official investigation.
“We’re really looking at the compliance packages of all the gatekeepers, including Apple,” a European Commission spokesperson told Ars. “In this context, we are specifically looking into the issue of progressive web apps and can confirm sending information requests to Apple and app developers, who may provide useful information for our assessment.”
Apple is removing the ability to install web apps on the home screen in Europe when iOS 17.4 is released, arguing that it is too difficult to continue offering the feature under the European Union’s new Digital Market Act (DMA).
A Financial Times report yesterday said that European “competition regulators sent questions to developers last week seeking to determine the impact of Apple’s decision to block so-called ‘progressive web apps’ in the EU, in a move seen as a precursor to an in-depth probe.”
“EU officials said formal proceedings could be prevented if Apple made further concessions,” the FT wrote.
Compliance deadline March 6
Apple and other companies have until March 6 to comply with the DMA. European officials will assess whether Apple’s compliance plan meets the requirements. “The DMA team is ready to act if and when necessary after the compliance deadline,” an EC spokesperson said.
The DMA provides for fines of up to 10 percent of the company’s “total worldwide annual turnover” and up to 20 percent for repeat violations.
After the changes in iOS 17.4, it will still be possible to add web page bookmarks to the iPhone and iPad home screens. But those tags would take the user to a web browser instead of a separate web application.
The Digital Market Act targets the “gatekeepers” of certain technologies such as operating systems, browsers and search engines. It requires gatekeepers to allow third parties to cooperate with the gatekeeper’s own services and prohibits them from favoring their services over competitors.
Group criticizes Apple’s “attack on the open web”
Open Web Advocacy, which describes itself as “a non-profit organization made up of a loose group of software engineers from around the world,” called Apple’s decision “a direct attack on the open web, its users and developers.”
“This is clearly not required by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). It is a circumvention of both the spirit and the letter of the Act, and if the EU allows it, then the DMA will fail in its goal of enabling fair and effective competition in browsers and web applications.” , the group said.
Open Web Advocacy says Apple’s move appears to be designed to prevent web apps from becoming a viable competitor to the App Store model, in which developers pay Apple commissions of up to 30 percent. “Significantly, this is a feature that Apple has refused to share. And it makes sense: the idea that users could install safe and secure apps that Apple can’t tax, block or control is terrifying,” the group said.
The group is also collecting signatures for an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook. “Apple’s justifications are about security and privacy, but they are baseless at best,” the letter said. “Web apps provide secure computing that puts users in control through their browsers, and opening up iOS to competing browsers will enhance, not undermine, security and privacy.”
Apple cited “complex security” concerns.
Apple claims in a Q&A for developers that it would be too difficult to guarantee the security of web apps on the home screen in alternative browser search engines. Apple is removing the ability to install these web apps with Safari, which means they won’t be available either through Apple’s browser or through alternative engines.
“Addressing the complex security and privacy issues associated with web applications using alternative browser engines would require building an entirely new integration architecture that does not currently exist in iOS and was not practical to undertake given other DMA requirements and very low adoption users of web apps on the home screen. And so, in order to meet the DMA’s requirements, we had to remove the web apps feature on the home screen in the EU,” Apple said.
According to the Financial Times, Apple declined to comment on the EU investigation, but pointed to an earlier statement that said: “We expect this change to affect a small number of users. However, we regret any impact from this change—which was made as part of on DMA compliance—may have on home screen web application developers and our users.”
We’ve reached out to Apple today and will update this article if it provides additional comments.