Already in the final version of iOS 17.4
Apple has changed its mind about disabling support for PWA web applications for residents of the European Union.
The Cupertino giant said that with the release of iOS 17.4 for EU residents, nothing will change in this matter, and web applications will continue to be available to them. Let us remember that Apple previously stated that it would disable them for the EU and even did so in the beta version of iOS 17.4. The company explained that bringing PWA applications into compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) would require a completely new integration architecture that would be impractical to implement. One of these changes in particular requires Apple to allow third-party browsers to use their own engines in iOS, which is a problem because web apps are built directly on the Webkit engine that powers the Safari browser.
Now Apple says that PWA applications will remain and will continue to work only on Webkit. That is, this does not create any problems for Apple itself and, apparently, does not violate the new EU law.
Apple previously announced plans to remove access to web apps on the home screen in the EU as part of our DMA compliance efforts. The need for removal was driven by complex security and privacy issues associated with web applications supporting alternative browser engines, which would require the creation of a new integration architecture that does not currently exist in iOS.
We have received requests to continue supporting web apps on iOS, so we will continue to support them in the EU. This support means that web apps are still built directly on WebKit and its security architecture, and follow the security and privacy model for native iOS apps.
Developers and users who may have been impacted by the removal of web apps in the EU iOS beta can expect existing features to return with the release of iOS 17.4 in early March.