Apple bent the knee for months, leaving many commentators to ask why. But the reasons are not mysterious: Apple wants things that only the government can provide, things that will defend and extend its power to extract rents, rather than innovate. Namely, selective exemption from tarrifs and an end to the spectre of pro-competition regulation and the threat of real browsers in the US, the EU, and around the world.| Infrequently Noted
Alex Russell on browsers, standards, and the process of progress.| Infrequently Noted
Today's links Plenty of room at the bottom (of the tech stack): Apple is out of low-hanging fruit. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: "Julia," HP DRM talk; Atheists know more theology than "Christians"; D&D v MMORPGs; Scandanavia's CSAM filter-creep; Snowden's on Twitter; Limbaugh says Martian water is a leftist plot. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: L...| Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
This blog is failing on several levels. First, September 2025 is putting the “frequent” in “infrequently”, much to my chagrin. Second, my professional mission is to make a web that's better for everyone, not to tear Apple down.| Infrequently Noted
In several recent posts, I've attempted to address how the structure of standards bodies, and their adjacent incubation venues, accelerates or suppresses the potential of the web as a platform. The pace of progress matters because platforms are competitions, and actors that prevent expansions of basic capabilities risk consigning the web to the dustbin.| Infrequently Noted
By subverting the voluntary nature of open standards, Apple has defanged them as tools that users might use against the totalising power of native apps in their digital lives. This high-modernist approach is antithetical to the foundational commitments of internet standards bodies and, over time, erode them.| Infrequently Noted
Apple vs. Facebook is, and always was, kayfabe. In reality, Apple is Facebook's chauffeur; holding Zuck's coat while Facebook wantonly surveils iPhones owners. How can we be sure? Because Apple continues to allow wide-scale abuse of In-App Browsers.| Infrequently Noted
TL;DR: Apple’s rules and technical restrictions are blocking other browser vendors from successfully offering their own engines to users in the EU. At the recent Digital Markets Act (DMA) workshop, Apple claimed it didn’t know why no browser vendor has ported their engine to iOS over the past 15 months. But the reality is Apple knows exactly what the barriers are, and has chosen not to remove them.| Open Web Advocacy
Regulators around the world are working to address competition issues in digital markets, particularly on mobile devices. Several new laws have already been passed, including the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC), Japan’s Smartphone Act, and the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Australia and the United States are also considering similar legislation with the U.S. Department of Justice pursuing an antitrust case against Apple. Across all of these efforts, common q...| Open Web Advocacy
TLDR: For 7 years, Google has failed to keep its commitment to share the ability to install Web Apps with third-party browsers on Android, despite public requests from Samsung, Microsoft, Brave & Kiwi browser. With regulatory intervention from the EU, Japan and the UK that may be changing.| Open Web Advocacy
TL;DR: Web Push on iOS is nearing its one year anniversary. It's still mostly useless.| Webventures
Apple's iOS browser (Safari) and engine (WebKit) are uniquely under-powered. Consistent delays in the delivery of important features ensure the web can never be a credible alternative to its proprietary tools and App Store. This is a bold assertion, and proving it requires examining the record from multiple directions.| Infrequently Noted
Under regulatory pressure, mobile OSes are opening up and adding features that will allow PWAs to disrupt app stores ... Yet with shockingly few exceptions, coverage accepts that the solution to crummy, extractive native app stores will be other native app stores. ... The press fails to mention the web as a sustitute for native apps, and fail to inform readers of its disruptive potential. Why?| Infrequently Noted
Progressive Web Apps are aren't packaged and deployed through stores, they're just websites that took all the right vitamins.| Infrequently Noted
