Wednesday, February 14, 2024 1:36 pm1 Comment

• News

As Apple prepares to comply with the Digital Markets Act, the company appears to be turning off the ability to use web apps right from the iPhone’s Home Screen in the European Union.

Emma Roth for The Verge:
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Support for progressive web apps appeared to be broken inside in the EU during the first two betas of iOS 17.4, but today developer Maximiliano Firtman said in a post on X that web apps are still turned off in the third beta, which arrived yesterday. “At this point, it’s a feature disabled on purpose,” Firtman wrote.

Now, instead of opening in a full-screen window, web apps open in your web browser, making them act more like shortcuts. Developers Mysk found that when you select a web app for the first time, it will trigger a pop-up that asks to open the app in your default web browser. Once the app opens, the browser’s address bar and toolbar remain at the bottom of the web app while you use it.

iOS 17.4 beta 3 was just released. PWAs are still not working in the EU. The release notes don't mention why this major feature has been disabled for EU users.
Also multiple "bookmarks" share the same session as Safari, but clearing Safari data doesn't clear the state pic.twitter.com/oDY8ABe7Ol

— Mysk (@mysk_co) February 13, 2024

As noted by MacRumors, web apps opened in Safari no longer offer notifications or long-term local storage, leading some users to experience data loss and broken notifications with the apps they already have installed.

iOS 17.4 includes major changes for users in the EU as part of Apple’s plans to comply with the Digital Markets Act.

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MacDailyNews Take: The Law of Unintended Consequences is ironclad.
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