“So why would Apple no longer allow web apps?

One reason I can think of is that web apps avoid the app store.

If Apple bans a company from the app store, they can still create a web app.

Someone sitting on the couch using a smartphone.

Using a Smartphone.FreshSplash / Getty Images

Sweet Solution

The iPhone’s success is fueled in large part by its apps.

There are apps for everything, and Apple has ultimate control of them all via its App Store monopoly.

But it wasn’t always that way.

Someone holding a smartphone showing and app with a web development app on a laptop in the background.

Web App.Olaf Val / Unsplash

In the current beta, web apps launch into Safari like any other bookmark.

Last month, Appledetailed its bad-faith compliancewith these customer- anddeveloper-friendly laws.

And what exactly is a web app anyway?

It gets a home-screen icon, persistent data storage, push notifications, and more.

Why, then, aren’t there more of these?

We all go straight to the App Store to get software.

… web apps avoid the app store.

If Apple bans a company from the app store, they can still create a web app.

Also, they’re not full apps in that there are limitations on what they can do.

On the other hand, Apple can’t stop you from releasing a web app.

Here’s hoping that Apple adds this feature back to iOS in the EU ASAP.