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In the USA, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is requesting comments on competition in the mobile application ecosystem after Biden signed Executive Order 14036 on Promoting Competition in the American Economy:

today a small number of dominant internet platforms use their power to exclude market entrants, to extract monopoly profits, and to gather intimate personal information that they can exploit for their own advantage. Too many small businesses across the economy depend on those platforms and a few online marketplaces for their survival

NTIA is looking for “concrete and specific information as to what app developers, organizations, and device (i.e.,phones; tablets) users experience, and any potential challenges or barriers that limit app distribution or user adoption”. Written comments must be received on or before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 23, 2022.

Several of its questions encompass Apple hamstringing Progressive Web Apps by requiring all iThing browsers use its own bundled WebKit framework, which has less power than Safari or single-platform iOS apps. Here are some of the questions:

• How should web apps (browser-based) or other apps that operate on a mobile middleware layer be categorized?
• What unique factors, including advantages and obstacles, are there generally for app development �� especially start-ups �� that are relevant for competition?��
• Are there studies or specific examples of the costs or advantages for app developers to build apps for either, or both, of the main operating systems, iOS and Android (which have different requirements)?��
• What other barriers (e.g.,legal, technical, market, pricing of interface access such as Application Programing Interfaces [APIs]) exist, if any, in fostering effective interoperability in this ecosystem?
• How do policy decisions by firms that operate app stores, build operating systems, or design hardware impact app developers (e.g., terms of service for app developers)?
• How do, or might, alternative app stores (other than Google Play or the Apple App Store), affect competition in the mobile app ecosystem?
• What evidence is there to assess whether an app store model is necessary for mobile devices, instead of the general-purpose model used for desktop computing applications?
• Is there evidence of legitimate apps being rejected from app stores or otherwise blocked from mobile devices? Is there evidence that this is a common occurrence or happens to significant numbers of apps?
• Are there specific unnecessary (e.g., technical) constraints placed on this ability of app developers to make use of device capabilities, whether by device-makers, service providers or operating system providers, that impact competition?

I urge American developers to send comments to NTIA, whether you’re in favour of Apple allowing real browser choice on iOS by setting Safari free, or against it. You’re welcome to use Bringing Competition to Walled Gardens, our response to a similar investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority for inspiration/ cutting and pasting. Make your voice heard!

• OMG let it be true: The leaked “final�� version of the Digital Markets Act: A summary in ten points – “Article 5 point (e) has been expanded to capture instances where the gatekeeper requires business users to offer or interoperate with a web browser engine. This is most likely meant to address Apple’s policy of requiring all browsers running on iOS to utilize Apple’s WebKit browser engine”
• Learn PWA – A course that breaks down every aspect of modern progressive web app development
• Building a split-button component – foundational overview of how to build an accessible split-button component, by Adam Argyle
• CSS Parent Selector “In this article, I will explain the problem that :has solves, how it works, where and how we can use it with some use-cases and examples, and most importantly how we can use it today.”
• Mobile data costs fall but as demand for internet services surges, progress remains too slow – “almost one billion people live in countries where basic internet access remains unaffordable. And even in countries where 1GB is priced at less than 2% of average monthly income, income inequality means that basic internet access will still be out of reach for many lower-earners.”
• The Front-End Developer’s Guide to the Terminal by Josh W Comeau
• Designing for Children – “An evolving guide that aims to refine a new standard for both design and business to direct the development towards products and services that have ethics and children’s best interests at their core.”
• Brief Note on Buttons, Enter, and Space by everyone’s favourite Adrian.
• Download icons, logos, and vector SVGs from any site SVG Gobbler is a browser extension that finds the vector content on the page you’re viewing and gives you the option to download, optimize, copy, view the code, or export it as an image.
• Your iOS app may still be covertly tracking you, despite what Apple says – “Apple’s landmark App Tracking Transparency may not be as tough as some people think”
• Automating the accessibility tests of your source code with GitHub Actions
• Accessible Description Exposure – how and where the accessible description is exposed by assorted screen readers, by Adrian Roselli
• Cognitive Accessibility Guidance – supplemental guidance from W3C
• Staybl is a browser for Parkinson’s patients, with “customizable tremor compensation tremor compensation, high-contrast design, a particularly legible font, and general ease of use.”
• Warp – a new terminal written in Rust – looks very promising, with lots of useful features. Beta is free to download on Mac (other platforms coming)
• This is a map of America’s broadband problem – A county-by-county look at the broadband gap
• Beanstalk cryptocurrency loses $182m of reserves in flash ��attack’ – ‘Code is law’ cryptotwats lose $182m in a manoeuvre perfectly legal according to its own code, then go sobbing to the FBI. My Decentralised thoughts and Proof of Prayers are with them in this difficult time.

(Last Updated on 4 February 2023)

• A Proposal For Type Syntax in JavaScript – “a set of syntax for types that engines would entirely ignore, but which tools like TypeScript, Flow, and others could use. This allows us to keep the things you love about TypeScript � its type-checking and editing experience � while removing the need for a build step in development.”
• Justice Department Issues Web Accessibility Guidance Under the Americans with Disabilities Act 18 March 2022: for businesses that are open to the public (Title III): “…the ADA’s requirements apply to all the goods, services, privileges, or activities offered by public accommodations, including those offered on the web”
• An anthology of insights, for a more inclusive internet – from Google’s Next Billion Users initiative
• Intent to Prototype: @scope – Scoped Styles! You can optionally provide a lower boundary so styles don’t cascade to all children
• Shifting left, or: making accessibility easier by doing it earlier – A useful slidedeck by that nice Mr @hdv about making accessibility better, and cheaper
• A Designer’s Guide to Documenting Accessibility & User Interactions an excellent article by @walterstephanie
• Apple would be forced to allow sideloading and third-party app stores under new EU law – EU: “We believe that the owner of a smartphone should have the freedom to choose how to use it, This freedom includes being able to opt for alternative sources of apps”. It’ll be interesting to see what this means for the #applebrowserban.
• Galaxy A12 is the most shipped smartphone in 2021 – The £140 Android device topped the list of 10 most shipped smartphones last year overtaking Apple
• Carousels: No one likes you – “I would like to suggest an easy alternative to adding a carousel to your page. Are you ready? Think about the content on your page”
• UA gotta be kidding – Brian Kardell on the history and lies of the humble UA string
• The Infinite Exploitation Of Cryptocurrency – “code is law”, so an attacker took $600 million of cryptocurrency from the browser-based play-to-earn blockchain game Axie Infinity, in complete accordance with the contracts involved, because Sky Mavis (the developers) had allowed them to.
• Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin – “plans for Bitcoin City: a new charter city to be built from scratch, centered on bitcoin mining��and powered by a volcano”