- This is an interesting set to browse through. I feel genuinely conflicted about the decisions the Webkit team makes: I appreciate that they have a far stricter standard around privacy and security that others do, but also feel like they go too far at times and potentially use those as excuses to keep the web an inferior platform.
As an example, they oppose the ability to attach screenshots to a Progressive Web App manifest for use in an install prompt:
https://github.com/WebKit/standards-positions/issues/49
The stated reason is because the screenshot could be malicious and made to look like native UI. Which... yes, I can't disagree that it could. But that's true of every image on the web. So is it genuine concern or is it a resistance to improving the state of App Store alternatives?
(not that it matters a ton, Safari doesn't even support those install prompts anyway!)
- I find it incredibly difficult to take Apples positions at face value that their primary reasons for not wanting to implement things comes down to privacy and not about trying to actively fuck up the web platform as a credible alternative to their walled garden which bullshit where they can tax people 30% for the privilege of running a static code analyzer over your codebase before you can release your app.
I think they are cynically screaming about privacy while egregious privacy violations are occurring on the native platform side through in-app browsers and spyware masquerading as SDKs that provide the financial backbone for much of their app ecosystem.
Just from a purely dispassionate and logical point of view, it’s incredibly difficult to come to the conclusion that Apple is doing anything other than protecting profits by trying to lock people in at every available opportunity.
- This is nice to have, but I really wish that they would link to the actual position statement. It would be nice to see why they oppose things that seem to make a lot of since like the JSON application manifest.
- It makes no sense design-wise, but clicking on the number links to the GitHub discussion.
- Awesome, thank you!
- Nice to see this posted, this is something I occasionally have to look up. If you find it interesting, Mozilla has an equivalent here:
