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428 points coronadisaster | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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thayne ◴[] No.23680835[source]
There may be some legitimate fingerprinting concenrs. But given the list of API's it's hard not to see this as Apple crippling PWAs to prevent them from replacing native iOS apps (and hurting Apple's revenue from the Apple tax).

And maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't the fingerprinting concern be mitigated by the fact the app has to ask for permission before using the API? If an app that doesn't have to do with MIDI asks for permission to use my MIDI device, I'm going to be instantly suspicious.

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Joeri ◴[] No.23683342[source]
I don’t even want these 16 api’s. I want a way to do notifications and a way to store more than 50 mb on ios. Sure, make me and the user jump through hoops to make sure I’m not abusive, but with those two there are a ton of apps which I can build as pwa’s.

The app clips feature they showed? That should have been a qr code triggered pwa with notifications, except everybody had to build it as an app because they couldn’t do notifications, and then apple used the cumbersome nature of those apps as the reason for app clips. It’s the snake eating its own tail, and I’m getting IE6 vibes because microsoft also strategically stopped improving IE for web apps because they wanted to push app developers to native because of the improved user experience. Yeah, the web is worse, but worse is better.

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larme ◴[] No.23683457[source]
I’m very glad a web page cannot store 50mb data and send notification to me.

You only think from a developer’s perspective. What if you are the user receiving 50 notification requirement a day from a web browser?

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1. untog ◴[] No.23684403[source]
What if you are a user receiving 50 notifications a day from an app? You block them. Same with the web app.

People have very strict mental models of what “the web” and “native” should do but they’re not actually based on anything. There’s no actual reason why a web app sending you notifications (which it has to prompt for permission to do) is different to an app doing it. From the non developer perspective the divide makes no sense.

Not to mention the privacy argument by Apple feels disingenuous. The reason people are so outraged by tracking on the web is because they know it’s happening. Meanwhile native apps include bundles from Facebook to implement sign in with Facebook and it does whatever it wants. But because you can’t inspect and check no one talks about it.