Re: Did anyone ....
> If the overall effect is that the modifications result in a terrible platform that's equally bad for everyone, the EU would have no grounds to object. If. however, the result is a sufficiently degraded platform for potential new entrants that Apple's gatekeeper status is not materially changed, then they would. Currently, it looks like Apple might be doing both simultaneously.
That seems to be exactly what is happening here. The DMA says that alternative browsers need access to all the platform features that Safari has, Safari has features which require deeper integration than they want to share with third party browsers, so they are turning those features off.
Specifically, "add to Home Screen" with PWA settings actually creates a local ad-hoc native app, which is not part of the system browser but instead uses the webkit engine. These have separate permissions and separate storage. Apple would need to allow anyone who claims to be a third party browser the ability to create local ad-hoc native apps, trust that they do so securely, and deal with any business ramifications that come from that.
If iPadOs is eventually covered by the DMA, a third party browser could use the windowing support to create a native experience, albeit without a custom application icon. iOS does not have multi window support.
Their reason as stated is not part due to requirements for alternative marketplaces, but for alternative browser engines with equivalent capability access.
Unless someone points to a "PWA App Marketplace" and makes a case for it, removing these features likely doesn't run afoul of the DMA as it affects individual developers, not marketplaces.
Speculation on my part, but I suspect the late arrival to their DMA documentation is due to a late decision from legal on whether a "native app wrapped PWA" is considered a platform experience or a web experience. "Ad to Home Screen" has been supported for third party browsers as part of their ramp-up for DMA, in and outside the EAA. I would further speculate the right guidance from regulators that PWAs could be offered as a WebKit-based native app experience would cause the feature to be re-enabled.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
