cropr

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cropr
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  • EU officials are not happy with how Apple is handling Progressive Web Apps

    croprcropr
    jimh2 said:
    PWA sounds like JAVA. Close but odd enough to not look right or work great. I'll stick to native apps only.

    It is the choice of the developer to offer a PWA or a native app.  Being a developer myself there are some good reasons to choose a PWA:  
    • a PWA is cross platform, you only have to develop it once to support iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS and Limux.   It costs around 40% of the initial development to port an native app to another platform.  And the maintenance costs just double when a second platform is added.
    • a PWA does not need Apple approval, which takes time.  It also avoids the Apple business rules: no discounts allowed, no cross selling, Apple defined exchange rates USD/Euro, ...   
    • a PWA can be upgraded on the spot: very interesting for quickly fixing a bug
    • because it is cross platform a PWA is more cost efffective to operate: 1 single platform to manage user issues, bugs, payments, ...  
    But of course a PWA has no access to all the internals of iOS, so apps that require this access cannot be developed as a PWA.   Also a lot of users don't like the concept of a PWA, which is sad, because the look can be made 100% identical to a native app.  

    Performance of a PWA is lower than that of a native app, so for heavy games a PWA is out of the question.  

    But for most apps that act of as frontend to a cloud service, PWAs are great.

    muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondon

  • EU officials are not happy with how Apple is handling Progressive Web Apps

    croprcropr
    rorschachai said:
    What a joke. Apple would have to develop an entirely new framework to allow third parties to support the  functionality using their own apps and browser engines.


    I don't think so.  I am almost 100% sure that the framework exists and that there are a few hidden iOS API's defined that are called by Safari to provide the PWA functionality.  Exposing these API calls to 3rd party browsers is dead simple.  Validating the security implications is a bit more challenging but not that difficult for a company like Apple.  Apple can easily make a contract with imposed security rules with all competing browser companies (there aren't that many).

    I do think that Apple is not willing to expose these APIs because of business reasons, and that the mentioned technical resons is just an excuse.

    Very similar to not letting banks directly access the NFC chip.  Not really a technical reason, just avoiding competition with Apple Pay

     
    muthuk_vanalingamgatorguywilliamlondon

  • Apple defends its controversial EU App Store plans

    croprcropr
    chasm said:
    Make no mistake about what Apple is saying here. The bottom line on this from a user’s perspective is simple:

    Developers would LOVE to make more money collecting lots of extra data about users and selling that data to entities like Google and data brokers.

    Apple’s App Store rules make that difficult-to-impossible, and puts some control of this in the USER’S hands. For example, the pop-up on new apps that asks you if it’s okay for this app to track you, and (unless you’re an idiot) you say NO.

    You WILL NOT SEE that warning/option in apps you get from other App Stores, because that’s the ONLY way they can attract developers. And they’ll primarily attract skeevy developers running frauds, scams, crypto schemes and other shady ventures, including gambling and porn apps. And Epic, because they are also skeevy.

    I’m not a fan of Apple’s monolithic App Store, and would have preferred if the EU had mandated alternative App Stores that complied 100 percent with Apple’s own self-imposed security/privacy rules, but that was unrealistic.

    But users don’t have be suckers. Use EXTREME caution if and when you download anything from alternative app stores, because there’s probably a reason the app is in there instead of the “real” App Store, and that will ALWAYS have to do with either data gathering/selling, and/or apps that push scams/frauds, or at BEST legit gambling/porn apps.
    Being an app developer living in the EU, it must say that your comment is far from the truth.    First of all, I do not love to collect data,  selling it to data brokers.  Such a practice is illegal in the EU, there is something called GDPR that imposes heavy fines if I would collect and sell data.
     
    Any app that distributed in the EU must comply with the GDPR rules: it must inform the user that user data is collected and it must offer an opt-out option.  Bear in mind that some of the Apple security and privacy rules were adapted to be aligned with the GDPR, when the GDPR came into force.  (Apple did apply these modifications globally)

    Any alternative app store in the EU can only distribute apps that comply to the GDPR rules. 

    The real benefit of an alternative app store is that the app developer is no longer bound the some restrictive app store rules, that have nothing to do witjh security or privacy. 

    The app developer will be allowed to offer discounts, to do cross seliing opportunities, to have one single secure cross platform payment server (huge improvement in operational costs), and to have a fixed pricing in Euro which does not change when the "Apple" USD / EUR exchange rate changes
    avon b7williamlondonmuthuk_vanalingam

  • Beeper Mini is down for 5% of users, but there's a fix

    croprcropr
    chasm said:
    People who choose WhatsApp — and many millions of people do — are giving Meta/FaceBook your data (maybe — or maybe not — the content of your messages, but lots and lots of other data) to sell to advertisers and media manipulators.
    Depends on where you live.  When Facebook acquired Whatsapp, the EU explicitely put in the acquisation condiftions, that in the EU Facebook was not allowed to exchange any data between the Whatsapp ecosystem and the Facebook ecosystem.  As a consequence the EULA for Whatsapp in the EU differs considerably from the one in the rest of the world.  

    Whatsapp is in the EU is secure, cross platform messaging app with no strings attached, and has become the de facto standard in the EU even for iOS users.

    Just before Facebook became  Meta, Facebook tried to alter the EULA of Whatsapp in the EU, disguided as an "upgrade", but EU commission immediately reminded Facebook of the applicable acquisation conditions

    gatorguyronnmuthuk_vanalingam

  • Apple admits third-party App Stores in Europe are inevitable

    croprcropr
    jimh2 said:
    Those using the 3rd party app stores for their products will quickly find out 99.99% of iPhone users will never venture over there to hand out the credit card and personal information to another company. They may well find out the $99 developer kit is no longer $99 for them or their is a per install licensing fee. The really do not know how good they have it now.
    You are thinking too much about dodgy app store companies that try to sell malware.    Two examples to illustrate how trustworthy companies might set up app stores.

    Suppose that Microsoft is setting up its own iOS app store to distribute its own developed iOS apps (no 3rd party apps) and to get rid of the cumbersome Apple App store guidelines.  Do you really think the existing users of MS-Office  will stop using Ms-Office because Microsoft is distributing MS-Office via its own app store?  And do you really think that Microsoft would abuse your credit card details?

    If my bank created its own app store, I would immediately use it. Because I don't like that much that Apple is storing my payment details, these details belong to me and my bank.  Apple is a foreign company for me, the nearest Appe Store is 100 miles away and I have no personal relationship with any Apple employee, so in case of issues I might have a hard time.  It is so much easier and trustworthy with my bank manager, who knows me personally, and who has his office just around the corner.









    gatorguywilliamlondon