There seems to be confusion about how, exactly, Apple keeps the web second-class on iOS. Understandable! It's the interplay of several interlocking effects. Let's examine them (thread).https://twitter.com/slightlylate/status/1190665796717957120 …
-
Show this thread
-
First, no matter how app-like it is, Section 4.2 of the App Store Review Guidelines excludes web experiences from being discovered via the search box where users go to add things to their homescreen. Structural prejudice against the web by policy: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#4.2 …pic.twitter.com/SViQETHtUF
14 replies 21 retweets 211 likesShow this thread -
Next, Apple under-invests in Safari's engine (WebKit) in ways that cumulatively make it difficult to do anything new and ambitious. The cumulative effect of the under-investment is hard to overstate, but it can be graphed: https://web-confluence.appspot.com/#!/confluence pic.twitter.com/d6RhoRw0Vz
28 replies 14 retweets 256 likesShow this thread -
On every other OS, the way we have dealt with laggard browsers is through competition. Remember haranguing friends and family to install Firefox? I sure do. Apple broke that too, via Section 2.5.6: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#2.5.6 …pic.twitter.com/D5Eb5uFfSE
10 replies 30 retweets 283 likesShow this thread -
Section 2.5.6 is the Hotel Cupertino clause: you can pick any browser you like, but you can't choose a better web. In fact, iOS prevents other browsers from even replacing Safari as the system default. 2.5.6 caps web progress at the rate that Apple (under) invests.
11 replies 40 retweets 327 likesShow this thread -
All of this has been done to preserve the linkage between proprietary OS/APIs, an exclusive software ecosystem, and the hardware sales that software ecosystem supports. The easiest iOS device sale is the upgrader who is worried about losing their software if they switch horses.
8 replies 15 retweets 205 likesShow this thread -
If you're a web developer, this means that iOS -- the whole OS -- is the new IE6. Your CEO and wealthiest users won't switch off it, so it taxes everything you do. They also can't imagine the web being great because, for them, it isn't.
41 replies 258 retweets 804 likesShow this thread -
If you make your living on the web, it's crucial to understand that Apple is *not on your side*. Every dollar you spend on iOS hardware is a vote against your future.
21 replies 134 retweets 481 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @slightlylate
Ok, but Google is hardly on my side either. Every choice the Chrome team makes has to be filtered through the lens of “does this advance an advertising centred web?”. And yes, I’m sure individual developers (and evangelists) want what’s best, but it’s above their pay grade right?
2 replies 1 retweet 20 likes -
Replying to @robinwhittleton @slightlylate
Funnily enough: You can install other browsers on Chrome OS. I haven't tested performance, but at least both Firefox and Samsung Internet runs well there, with proper window management and all. So still more open than Apple.
2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
They can replace Chrome as the default browser too.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
& Web Standards TL; Blink API OWNER
Named PWAs w/
DMs open. Tweets my own; press@google.com for official comms.