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+++
title = "STD of Apple"
author = ["Michał Sapka"]
date = 2024-02-16T16:29:00+01:00
categories = ["blog"]
draft = false
weight = 2001
abstract = "Apple is making the world worse for next genrations"
+++
First: I was an Apple fanboy, but damn.
To get you up to speed:
EU forces Apple to support different web rendering engines on iOS, which means full Chrome and Firefox are finally viable.
As a result, Apple decided to stop supporting Progressive Web Apps[^fn:1].
Officially it is to _not decrease_ security of iOS, since Apple no longer controls the referring engine and it's capabilities.
You can read the full support article on [developer.apple.com](https://developer.apple.com/support/dma-and-apps-in-the-eu).
But under the legal and marketing buzz it's clear to see that Apple will no longer support PWA exactly because the _capabilities_ are no longer under their control.
Those _web apps_ are currently able to support almost everything what native apps can - just not on iOS.
Without Apple's control, we could have full spectrum of capabilities just waiting for developers.
Now, I dislike PWA as the usability is a nightmare.
But then again, native _touch_ apps are not much better.
It's clear that this move has only monetary reasoning, as almost all apps could completely bypass App Store.
This goes amazingly well with their recent policy on alternative App Store[^fn:2], and shows what an anti-consumer company Apple has become.
Much to the lack of my surprise, it's not clear enough.
Reading comments on one of the primer Apple news sites you can easily find opinions like:
> Petty and vindictive
>
> Modern Apple in a nutshell
but also:
> thanks for screwing up things again, EU.
>
> next time people pat themselves on the back for regulating Apple, show them this.
<!--quoteend-->
> I just hope that the EU DMA act, inflicts so much pain, to users in the EU, that the users demand the EU. Change the laws OR the users are forced to abandon Apple, and “choose” Android. … it will prove what is Factual. That users Always had a choice, and no one is forcing them to use an iPhone. Apple will survive, no worries there
<!--quoteend-->
> For those of you trashing Apple over this move: Really? Do you seriously think that these new EU legislations gave them any other choice, given that PWAs were integrated into the OS itself, and directly reliant upon the Webkit engine?
>
> Nope... it's absolutely guaranteed that someone in the EU would have eventually sued, if Apple had simply left this feature intact. From Apple's point of view, this was a decision made entirely by their legal department, to avoid that potential lawsuit.
<!--quoteend-->
> Perfect example of unintended consequence of EU meddling in things they don't understand.
Luckily most comments on this [thread](https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-confirms-ios-17-4-disables-home-screen-web-apps-in-the-european-union.2419554/page-3) are closer to the first quote than the rest of those quotes.
However, this makes me less angry with _Apple_ (is it's to be expected from them) but instead with people who would defend them.
And as a result with myself, as I could see myself being one of those.
Apple is so close-knit ecosystem that one can use the entire digital world thought their lens only.
I remember how shocked I was seeing a humble ThinkPad with it's user-replacable memory[^fn:3], SSD, and even Wi-Fi card[^fn:4].
Things, which are standard and extremely pro-consumer, are imaginable when all you know is Apple.
Kids this day's (I always wanted to use this term. Get of my lawn) _live_ on their computers - be it a laptop of a phone.
But they are completely computer illiterate.
All they can do is to buy a device and tap the screen.
It would be completely fine if this was nothing more than a hobby, but computers in 2024 are much more than that.
The outside world is driven and shaped by them, so knowing how they work is _essential_.
However, instead of people being able to _understand_ how all of this works, they've accepted this close word.
Let's not call it _garden_ as this world has mostly positive vibe - even it's _walled_.
We should come with a more descriptive term, one that would be as disgusting as the entire idea being it.
I propose „surface traversable domain” - as one can only use what is on the surface.
Everything underneath or outside is inaccessible.
_STD_ for short.
[^fn:1]: [Intro to PWA on mdm web docs](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps)
[^fn:2]: Read more on in my post [Software devolution in the hands of Apple](/blog/2024/apple-dma/)
[^fn:3]: Vide: [A month with a disgusting ThinkPad](/blog/2022/month_without_apple/). I am still proud of this cheeky title.
[^fn:4]: Vide: [Fixing ThinkPad X1 Wifi on Freebsd](/bsd/thinkpad/fixing-thinkpad-x1-wifi-on-freebsd/)
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