In the beginning, there was Safari
An orchard without bad apples
So, we’ve got an innovative new way to create applications for mobile devices, really innovative, and it’s all based on the fact that iPhone has the full Safari inside. The full Safari engine is inside of iPhone, and it gives us tremendous capability, more than there’s ever been in a mobile device to this date, and so you can write amazing Web 2.0 and Ajax apps that look exactly and behave exactly like apps on the iPhone!
And these apps can integrate perfectly with iPhone services: they can make a call, they can send an email, they can look up a location on Google Maps. After you write them, you have instant distribution.
So far, Apple’s WebKit framework that underlines all of its operating systems, be it macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, or watchOS, has a section in its developer guidelines that mandates all third-party browsers to run on Safari’s WebView platform that Apple creates and controls.
In other words, all the Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox or Samsung browser efforts were in vain if they wanted to have a presence on your iPhone, as they were little more than Safari with a coat of paint on top.
That’s not all, though, as only Safari can run videos and games full screen. Web apps or extensions can run only on Safari, too, while Apple Pay can only be used with the iPhone’s default browser, putting everyone else at a competitive disadvantage.
Apple demanded that Epic revert Fortnite to exclusively use Apple payments. Their proposal was an invitation for Epic to collude with Apple to maintain its monopoly over in-app payments on iOS, suppressing free market competition and inflating prices. As a matter of principle, we refused to do so.
Apple was pushed to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), and release an iOS 17.4 update that allows other browsers, app stores, and payment methods than its own, only for European users.
Apple is still fighting tooth and nail against Epic’s alternative app store for iOS
iOS sideloading? Alternative Apple Pay?
What the heck?
It recently changed tack, though, and simply used the 22 “fairness” requirements in its DMA legislation. If broken, they could lead to a huge fine, which is a significant percentage of the company’s total revenue.
While Apple waxed poetic that Europe is only 7% of its App Store revenue, the financial officers from Cupertino ultimately decided that it would be too risky and expensive not to comply. Now, with the iOS 17.4 update, European iPhone and iPad users will be able to enjoy unheard of Apple flexibility. Some of the more jaw-dropping examples include:
- Alternative browser engines: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Samsung, or Opera will use their own browser engines rather than WebKit, including for in-app browsing.
- Browser choice screen: iPhone and iPad users will be able to pick and choose from several web browsers as default.
- Sideload apps from alternative marketplaces: the App Store is no longer the only iPhone app download game in town.
- Alternative payments options: Apple Pay is no longer the sole method for contactless payments or the App Store’s purchasing system for in-app payments.
In the meantime, Apple just closed off Epic’s developer account citing “egregious breach of contractual obligations,” and the EU is now forced to react to this roundabout way of punishing unruly developers who want a larger piece of the revenue pie.
