The European Commission may investigate Apple’s decision to disable Home Screen web apps in the EU, according to a Financial Times report.
With the release of the second beta version of iOS 17.4, it was discovered that Apple no longer allows the launching of web apps from the Home Screen in their own window that takes up a full screen. Critics immediately argued that the move undermines the role of web apps as viable alternatives to native apps in iOS.
EU competition regulators quizzed developers last week to determine the impact of the change. This could possibly lead to a fill probe.
The European Commission confirmed its investigation to the Financial Times:
We are indeed looking at the compliance packages of all gatekeepers, including Apple. In that context, we’re in particular looking into the issue of progressive web apps, and can confirm sending the requests for information to Apple and to app developers, who can provide useful information for our assessment.
Apple claims that it had to make the change to how web apps work in iOS to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple says third-party browsers used with web apps in Europe could expose users to unlawful security and privacy risks.
