Progressive Web Apps run on the browser without being downloaded onto the user’s device. Yet, they still feel like native apps. Once installed, they appear as app icons on a device’s home screen alongside native apps. When opened, they do not launch in a browser tab but instead in a standalone window. They offer the best of both worlds, balancing the convenience of web applications and the performance of native apps.
Act I: Apple Kills Progressive Web Apps
The Silicon Valley giant announced it would stop supporting Progressive Web Apps on iOS devices in the European Union.
The company blamed the DMA. Europe’s new antitrust weapon prohibited Apple from mandating that developers in its iOS operating system use Apple’s own web browser engine WebKit. To date, WebKit has been the only browser engine allowed to run on iOS devices. Under the DMA, Apple has to allow third-party browser engines. The DMA further prohibits the iPhone maker from denying third-party hardware and services access to any of the features available on Apple’s own hardware and services — to stop Apple from self-preferencing. If WebKit supports Progressive Web Apps, Apple must equally allow other web browser engines to support Progressive Web Applications on iOS.
This self-preferencing ban left Apple with two courses of action. One, provide the integration architecture necessary for third-party browser engines to support Progressive Web Apps. Two, disable Progressive Web Apps. Apple chose the latter. It justified its choice by reference to “complex security and privacy concerns.”
Unlike native apps, Progressive Web Applications do not go through an app store. They bypass the App Store vetting. This sideloading risks allowing Progressive Web Apps to be installed without the user’s awareness or consent.
Until now, Apple’s WebKit’s security architecture limited the danger. If the DMA required permitting third-party browser engines to support Progressive Web Apps, the company said it would “require building an entirely new integration architecture.”
Act II: Malicious DMA Compliance?
Apple’s decision to kill Progressive Web Apps on iOS sparked anger. Critics pointed to the fact that Apple has never been enthusiastic about them. Unlike other mobile ecosystems, iOS has lagged in supporting Progressive Web App features. Compared to Android, for example, iOS users must follow extra steps to install one on their home screens.
Apple’s aversion to Progressive Web Applications is understandable. They bypass the App Store and its parent company’s commission fee. The DMA gave Apple an excellent opportunity to stop supporting Progressive Web Apps.
Act III: Apple Revives Progressive Web Apps
After Apple removed support for Progressive Web Apps, the European Commission announced it would look into the matter. Apple backtracked. It announced continued support for Progressive Web Applications.
At first glance, Apple’s reversal appears to be a victory for the critics. A closer look, however, reveals a different narrative. Apple says it will only support Progressive Web Apps “built directly on WebKit and its security architecture.” It appears that the Commission was not convinced by allegations of malicious compliance. Instead of a slap on the wrist, Apple secured an exception to the self-preferencing ban to protect privacy and security.
The malicious compliance narrative was never clear-cut. Apple had recently started to support Progressive Web Applications features on iOS. In 2023, for instance, it began allowing them to send push notifications — a feature that has already been available on Android. Why would Apple signal a stronger commitment to Progressive Web Apps by introducing additional features, only to roll them back?
A Tale of DMA Regulatory Side-effects
Rather than framing this saga as malicious compliance, a more logical way to make sense of Apple’s initial decision to disable Progressive Web Applications is to see it as an unintended consequence.
The DMA means Apple must now allow third-party browser engines. This is a sharp break with how the firm has run iOS. Against this background, it seems only natural that not every browser feature will work straight away. With the risk of a non-compliance fine and without a secure solution that works across all browser engines, Apple decided to remove Progressive Web Apps.
The European Commission recently opened investigations into Alphabet, Meta, and Apple’s DMA compliance. But the Progressive Web App saga underlines the difficult tradeoffs inherent in enforcing Europe’s shiny new tech regulatory weapon — and shows that regulators remain willing to enter into a regulatory dialogue with the “gatekeepers.”
Natalia Moreno Belloso is a researcher in competition law at the European University Institute.
Bandwidth is CEPA’s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy. All opinions expressed on Bandwidth are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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