Apple's ban on alt iOS browser engines and years of delays in adding features to WebKit can explain why web apps are not a viable alternative to App Store apps
Do App Store policies harm developers? Is the web a credible alternative? A look at the data. — Three facts...
What makes the argument durable is how the surrounding coverage converges on it: developers already avoid even porting extensions to Safari because of Apple's security limitations, and by late 2024 a UK CMA report concluded Apple's policies hold back mobile browser innovation. The EU's move to let Chrome, Edge, and Brave ship their own engines in iOS 17.4 is effectively the first crack in the wall this article describes.
First-order effects
Developers weighing App Store alternatives learn the web route is gated by Safari's feature set — with WebKit mandatory on iOS, Apple alone decides which capabilities web apps can use, and its refusal list (16 APIs) caps what any iOS web app can do.
Every iOS browser vendor ships Apple's engine, so competitors like Chrome and Firefox cannot differentiate on rendering performance or new web-platform features on iPhones.
Second-order effects
Regulators treat the engine mandate as an antitrust issue rather than a security one — the UK CMA recommends investigating Apple's mobile ecosystem, and the EU forces third-party engines into iOS 17.4, directly reversing the policy this article documents.
With Apple controlling both the App Store and the web's capability floor on iOS, developers have no leverage point to negotiate terms, which strengthens the case regulators cite for forcing distribution and engine openings.
Third-order effects
If the EU-style engine opening holds and spreads via investigations like the CMA's, the web regains its role as a distribution alternative, putting structural pressure on the App Store's gatekeeper economics rather than just individual app categories.
The deeper shift is that browser capability becomes a regulatory variable: which APIs ship may increasingly be decided by competition authorities scrutinizing gatekeeper incentives, not solely by the platform owner's privacy posture.
The trend: Mobile web capability on closed platforms is being pried loose from gatekeeper control, as regulators convert the engine-monopoly argument this article made into forced policy changes.
This post makes a compelling case but I can't take seriously the complete dismissal of the idea that Safari on macOS has significant performance benefits over Chrome on the same machines https://infrequently.org/...
Apple's App Store terms are vile money-grabs, and unlike Android you can't build your own App Store. But if you don't like it, there's always the Web, right? Well, about that... https://twitter.com/...
@tolmasky It would sure help if webdev's sights weren't lowered by a trailing edge that's so danged far behind: https://infrequently.org/... As with all trailing-edge browers, WebKit places drag on the entire ecosystem's aspirations.
@slightlylate @DaKangz @lamplightdev @WAHa_06x36 Listen, I am no Apple apologist, wait hahaha, I can't even say that with a straight face. Sorry, restart. The thing is, they have earned my trust and some chrome moves didn't.
Anyone who asks “why would anyone need Mighty?” has their critique backwards. It should be: how is it that Mighty is a compelling value prop? How is performance of native apps a non-issue on a $600 iPad, but we're moving mountains to make web apps bearable on high-end hardware?
As someone who had a front-row internal seat during the era when Microsoft was doing the same under-investing in the web platform, I would happily co-sign Alex's analysis. https://twitter.com/...
WebGL, WebASM, Touch Events. It's always “yesterday's technology, tomorrow!” Don't get me wrong, these are good additions, but in the process the web has disregarded maintaining a differentiated identity, wanting to position itself as a platform against Windows/iOS/whatever.
The _mechanics_ of the way Apple puts a cap on the web is straightforward: If it doesn't work on the boss's phone, it isn't “real”, and bosses carry iPhones. Ergo, this is a bigger deal than just the way it hurts iOS users and developers: https://infrequently.org/...
The web needs a bolder vision than being an adequate platform for last year's apps. That's been the goal for 20 years and it's why it's always playing catchup. The Pencil blows you away at 120Hz while we're bragging about running 10-year-old workflows without running out of RAM …
An extremely detailed post from @slightlylate explaining why web apps aren't an alternative to the App Store. Apple simultaneously restricts alternative browser engines on iOS while lagging to implement web standards meant to match native APIs. PWA = DOA https://infrequently.org/…