The Apple Rule Still Limiting What Web Apps Can Do

This podcast series follows Bruce as he interviews people from across different communities and industries who, in their own way, are fighting for a better web.Bruce's victim this time is Alex Moore, co-founder of Open Web Advocacy. We discuss why web apps still barely work on the iPhone, the rule that forces every browser on iOS to run on Apple's engine and quietly limits what web apps can do, and the five year regulatory fight, spanning the UK, EU, Japan, the US and Australia, to change that. Alex also walks through the moment Apple tried to kill web apps across the EU entirely, and why he thinks Apple's privacy and security arguments don't hold up.Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Alex Moore01:31 What Open Web Advocacy does02:49 The founders and volunteers behind OWA04:31 Apple's attempted EU web app ban09:40 Why Alex took on this fight10:17 The coffee shop job that started it all12:28 Tweeting at WebKit and getting ignored14:08 Turning to regulators instead of Apple16:18 Every regulator OWA has approached18:10 Is this just an anti-Apple crusade?20:54 Why no other OS blocks browsers like iOS23:35 Why does 10% of phones matter?26:06 How interoperability makes or breaks apps28:20 The real cost of Apple's 30% cut29:55 Is Apple really more secure and private?38:33 A day in the life of a web advocate41:42 Are they going to win?44:11 Closing thoughts and how to get involvedShow notes:Open Web Advocacy Alex Moore PWA open letter Apple rule 2.5 (the WebKit restriction) Stuart Langridge Japanese "Smartphone Act" (PDF) WebAPK minting How Russian firms get their apps into App Store despite sanctions "A plastic butter knife to a gunfight" Loupe app Apple says Safari's browser engine sandbox for orders of magnitude more secure than that for native apps [PDF] Fraudulent app attempting to impersonate our LastPass app on the Apple App Store Russell Crowe