Apple controls its ecosystem with an iron fist, at least that is what many people are thinking, considering how powerful the company is in governing everything that works on its hardware and software.
While Apple is just like other tech titans, in which they allow third-party developers to work for them and their apps, developers are among the people who are affected the most by Apple's strict rules.
Apple has been facing multiple accusations of anti-competitive practices, and this time there is more to come.
A group of developers has launched a project called “Open Web Advocacy” that challenges Apple to relax its iOS browser restrictions.
In details, the group wants Apple to give developers access to the same features available in the iOS version of Safari. At the same time, they also demand Apple to open up iOS to third-party browser engines.
For all this time, Apple requires all browsers running on iOS to use what's called the WebKit.
This engine not only powers Apple's own Safari browser, but all web content on Apple’s operating system. Unlike on macOS where developers can use Chromium, for example, on iOS, apps are all required to use WebKit as their engine.
In other words, every web browser or web app that run on iOS is basically Safari running underneath.
And here, the Open Web Advocacy, organized by UK-based developers Stuart Langridge, Bruce Lawson, and others, aims to promote a more open web in the aspects of web technology.
"The motive of the group is to try to persuade Apple that they need to allow other browser engines on iOS, so the iOS can be a better platform for developing stuff for the modern web," explained Lawson. "Because at the moment, every browser on iOS, whether it be badged Chrome, Firefox or Edge is actually just a branded skin of Safari, which lags behind [other browsers] because it has no competition on iOS."
Beyond that, Apple in limiting apps to use WebKit also restricts developers because developers cannot have access to the features Safari has.
In some of the examples, full-screen capabilities are limited in third-party browsers, whereas Apple restricts Apple Pay integration only to Safari. At the same time, web-based apps cannot run in full screen, and third-party browsers cannot offer the option of adding a web app to the home screen. Other limitations include the lack of Web NFC and other APIs in the iOS WebKit.
With the group, developers want to take their concerns to the UK Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) in order to convince them that Apple needs to change its policies.
On its website, the group said that:
"The entire future of Application Development is at stake. Without regulatory or legislative change, we risk losing a universal, free and open, write once, deploy anywhere, application distribution and deployment system which will dramatically lower costs for businesses and consumers."
"Without these changes, funding will shift to proprietary ecosystems and gatekeepers can extract heavy taxes. It will lock in their control and reduce innovation for mobile apps for many years to come."
"We have identified the #AppleBrowserBan as the number one threat to the future of the open web."
In an interview Langridge said that the group is made up of mostly software engineers.
"So this isn't just on behalf of browser vendors or employers or anything like that. We came together to make the web better, really, and no major companies have been pushing for changes. And there's a lot we think that can be done to improve the web, specifically on Apple devices and more generally," he said.
WebKit is a powerful engine. But still, it lags behind some of its competitors, especially in terms of the speed of feature developments.
On iOS, users could switch from Safari to other browsers, like Chrome, Firefox and others. But those web browsers don't run on their respective engines, meaning that the browsers need to follow Apple's rules and lack their respective credibilities.
There’s a consensus among developers that there are lots of features missing in Safari, and that they are forced to use Apple’s technologies with even more limitations in their apps.
Apple, of course, has its own reasons for forcing WebKit adoption on iOS.
For example, this allows Apple to keep users under its Safari engine, giving Apple more control over web app experience.
And if Apple allows developers to use third-party browser engines with access to all iOS APIs, Apple is risking its App Store business, which generates billions and billions of dollars to the company.
Read: Browsers On IOS Are 'Uniquely Underpowered,' Said Google's Software Engineer