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Apple declined to implement 16 Web APIs in Safari due to privacy concerns

(www.zdnet.com)
428 points coronadisaster | 2 comments | 29 Jun 20 10:16 UTC | HN request time: 2.239s | source
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thayne ◴[29 Jun 20 18:40 UTC] 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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chvid ◴[29 Jun 20 19:32 UTC] No.23681559[source]▶
Exactly. This is about making sure web apps are not as powerful as native apps.

One thing is the revenue generated by the App Store but suppose JavaScript web apps were just as powerful and well integrated as native apps; then why use native apps at all? Why have an App Store at all? Why have a Mac or an iPhone if any device with a modern web browser would do?

When Huawei tried to create their alternative to Android. The big thing missing wasn't the hardware or the operation system. It was the App Store with your map app, your banking app, your scooter app and so on.

The App Store and the proprietary development platforms for Android and Apple has become a way to keep their duopoly in place.

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millstone ◴[30 Jun 20 00:50 UTC] No.23685325[source]▶
I like having apps that work and feel the same. I can bring my knowledge from one app to another. I can develop expertise on a platform. The web is culturally unable to do that.

Look at a sophisticated web app, like Google Docs. This has a menu bar, which is a bad copy of the native Mac menu bar. Web apps are copying native app conventions, to try to be more familiar. But they're also eroding those conventions.

Eventually only click and swipe will be left. And this problem is not going to be solved by Web MIDI or whatever.

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1. cj ◴[30 Jun 20 01:40 UTC] No.23685596[source]▶
I think you’re trying to say that Mac OS or Windows native apps have pretty much the same UI/UX conventions which makes it easy to use any app on that platform. And that Web Apps have UI/UX that is less consistent than apps across OS’s.

I can’t say I agree with this. There are a ton of MacOs apps that implement fully custom GUI (first one that comes to mind is Jira native Mac app which looks nothing like a Mac app I’ve seen before)

I agree web apps are likely eroding OS conventions though. The Jira app is an example of that (they decided to make their native app look and behave the same as the Jira Web App instead of using standard MacOS GUI conventions.

It’s a tough trade off.

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2. millstone ◴[30 Jun 20 02:49 UTC] No.23685985[source]▶
Yeah and Spotify is another one. Electron is clearly at work here, probably in your Jira example too.

These apps are frustrating for someone accustomed to the Mac UI. Basic interactions (like context menus) don't work at all, or work in unexpected ways. I have no idea what these apps can do because they all have a unique UI vocabulary. So I don't try.

I think Apple has really dropped the ball on this. They ought to have spotted and embraced the web's great strengths early. Ephemeral, zero-install apps, using native components - that's the platform I want. Though I understand how others may disagree.