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Let's unfuck the mobile Web (together!) 

Avatar for bruce lawson bruce lawson
September 16, 2026
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Let's unfuck the mobile Web (together!) 

London Web Standards, 15 September 2026

Avatar for bruce lawson

bruce lawson

September 16, 2026

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Transcript

  1. [email protected], @[email protected] 1

  2. Let's unfuck the mobile Web (together!) [email protected], @[email protected] 2

  3. @brucel

  4. THE WEB IS FUCKED! Kind of fucked anyway

  5. None

  6. Rise of the Big Tech Oligarchs

  7. [email protected], @[email protected] 7

  8. Google D.O.B. 4 Sept 1998 Mountain View, CA • Advertising-driven

    web architecture • Do No Evil→ ❤💖💕🍆$$$$ • Web API proposals aligned with advertising • "A.I. overviews" replacing Search • Attempting to close Android app distribution [email protected], @[email protected] 8

  9. Facebook D.O.B. 4 Feb 2004 Menlo Park, California • Migration

    of the web into closed social platforms • Algorithmic control of content distribution • Preys on kids, mental health • Subverting democracy • Genocide [email protected], @[email protected] 9

  10. Apple D.O.B. 1 April 1976 Cupertino, CA • Safari •

    Mandatory WebKit browser engine on iOS • Restrictions on Progressive Web Apps • App Store over web applications [email protected], @[email protected] 10

  11. Microsoft D.O.B. 4 April 1975 Redmond, WA • Historic browser

    monopolization • “Embrace, extend, extinguish” strategy • IE6 stagnation • Copilot in all the things • FBI • Renewed browser monopolization [email protected], @[email protected] 11

  12. [email protected], @[email protected] 12

  13. Mi Microsoft vs Netscape [email protected], @[email protected] 13

  14. Microsoft internal docs, June ‘96 Winning @ Internet Content: “The

    core threat for Microsoft is the potential for this platform to abstract the Win32 API … these APIs could be the most important APIs in the future, putting Win32 and Microsoft's platform position in jeopardy.” “Go for maximum browser share. This is a no revenue product… we will lose the Internet platform battle if we do not have a signi cant user installed base.” Department of Justice fi [email protected], @[email protected]

  15. [email protected], @[email protected]

  16. [email protected], @[email protected] 16

  17. [email protected], @[email protected] 17

  18. None

  19. The web -and apps- must be for ALL • people

    with disabilities (whether permanent, temporary or situational) • people on lower-powered devices, constrained networks, expensive data plans. [email protected], @[email protected]

  20. Progressive Web Apps • Web sites ++ • Can save

    to home screen, open full-screen • Can work of ine (using Service Workers) • Much smaller initial install • Twitter, original Wordle, Starbucks, Uber, Pinterest, Tinder, Spotify https://web.dev/learn/pwa/ fl [email protected], @[email protected] 20

  21. https://www.kryogenix.org/farmbound/ [email protected], @[email protected] 21

  22. A better, more Webby alternative • Free! Open Standards! •

    No gatekeeper, publish what you want • Write once, run anywhere • Instant update • No outside interference [email protected], @[email protected] 22

  23. https://2025.stateofjs.com/en-US/features/#browser_api_features [email protected], @[email protected] 23

  24. iOS Home Screen Web Apps “progressive web applications” (PWAs) …

    eliminate the need to download a developer’s app through the App Store (or other means) at all. PWAs are increasingly available for and through mobilebased browsers and devices, including on iOS. PWAs are apps that are built using common web technology like HTML 5, but have the look, feel and functionality of a native app. Apple submission to Australian regulator [email protected], @[email protected] 24

  25. <link rel="manifest" href="manifest.json"> [email protected], @[email protected] 25

  26. None

  27. Smart App Banners <meta name="apple-itunes-app" content="appid=myAppStoreID, app-argument=myURL"> "Smart App Banners

    vastly improve users’ browsing experience compared to other promotional methods. In iOS, Smart App Banners provide a consistent look and feel that users come to recognize." https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/promoting_apps_with_smart_app_banners

  28. [email protected], @[email protected] 28

  29. / API There’s an app for that. [email protected], @[email protected] X

  30. APIs not in iOS browsers [email protected], @[email protected] 30

  31. https://2025.stateofjs.com/en-US/features/#browser_apis_pain_points https://2025.stateofjs.com/en-US/features/#browser_apis_pain_points [email protected], @[email protected] 31

  32. Rule 2.5.6 Apps that browse the web must use the

    appropriate WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#software-requirements [email protected], @[email protected] 32

  33. The illusion of competition [email protected], @[email protected] 33

  34. None

  35. On March 27, 2026, the Trump administration released an o

    cial White House app for iOS and Android. Nearly everything in the app is available on whitehouse.gov. The app’s unique additions are push noti cations, a prelled text message to the President, and an ICE tip button (also available on ice.gov). fi Native Apps Should Be Avoided Whenever Possible (April 2026) ffi fi There’s an App for that!

  36. For your comfort and security Apple requires apps to submit

    a privacy manifest disclosing what data they collect. The White House app declared an empty array. Zero data collection. Meanwhile, the actual binary contained ten analytics frameworks, including the full OneSignal SDK with a sub-framework speci cally for location tracking. The GPS pipeline polled precise coordinates every 4.5 minutes in the foreground and every 9.5 minutes in the background, syncing everything to OneSignal’s commercial servers. A boolean ag in OneSignal’s server responses could remotely enable or disable GPS tracking without an app update and without Apple review. An Exodus Privacy audit identi ed three embedded trackers, one of which was Huawei Mobile Services Core. The app’s privacy policy, last updated January 20, 2025, makes no mention of GPS tracking, OneSignal, or background data collection. fl fi fi 77% of the app’s network requests go to third parties, not whitehouse.gov.

  37. [email protected], @[email protected] 37

  38. WebAPK minting (with apologies to Rube Goldberg) [email protected], @[email protected] 38

  39. https://toot.wales/@Lukew/117275472983838022 https://toot.wales/@Lukew/117275472983838022 [email protected], @[email protected] 39

  40. [email protected], @[email protected] 40

  41. $25–30B per year

  42. None
  43. None

  44. open-web-advocacy.org [email protected], @[email protected] 44

  45. Independent employee-owned browser based in Oslo, Norway. [email protected], @[email protected] 45

  46. [email protected], @[email protected] 46

  47. Browsers are powered by an ‘engine,’ which is fundamental to

    browser performance.… Apple bans alternatives to its own browser engine on its mobile devices; a restriction that is unique to Apple. This restriction also seriously inhibits the capability of web apps – apps that run on a browser rather than having to be individually downloaded – depriving consumers and businesses of the full bene ts of this innovative technology. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-plans-market-investigation-into-mobile-browsers-and-cloud-gaming fi [email protected], @[email protected] 47
  48. None

  49. [email protected], @[email protected] 49

  50. We recommend the UK government publishes an updated strategic steer

    for the CMA. This should clarify that proactive, rapid and bold enforcement is pro-growth. The priority should be reducing barriers to entry for competitors, not maximising inward investment from incumbents. https://www.ippr.org/articles/bottleneck-britain [email protected], @[email protected] 50

  51. Chi Onwurah MP We are told that Governments are too

    slow and too stupid to shape tech, and that the market knows best—the market will ensure the best, most innovative products and services are delivered to the people who need them and keep them safe in the process. I hope that we can all agree now that neolibertarian complacency has not worked. The tech giants are hubs of amazing innovation but, as my Committee has heard, they are controlled by a small number of extremely wealthy men without the usual corporate governance or competitive constraints. We need to limit their power with our democratic power to protect our citizens. By ©House of Commons, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151460403 [email protected], @[email protected] Hansard, 9 Sept 2026 51

  52. [email protected], @[email protected] 52

  53. [email protected], @[email protected] 53

  54. [email protected], @[email protected] 54

  55. [email protected], @[email protected] 55

  56. https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/acknowledgements.html#acknowledgments [email protected], @[email protected] 56

  57. b • web comping @brucel

  58. Where a designated gatekeeper under Article 3 DMA requires third-party

    independent web browsers to pay licensing fees or undergo security audits to access non-public OSlevel APIs, how should DG COMP assess whether these gatekeeper-imposed technical constraints violate the free-of-charge interoperability obligations under Article 6(7), without compromising the gatekeeper's defense of system security and integrity? When an independent browser manufacturer submits market test data during a DMA non-compliance proceeding against a Big Tech gatekeeper, what formal procedural mechanisms must the Hearing Of cer enforce under Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to prevent the gatekeeper’s legal team from accessing sensitive product roadmaps and trade secrets disclosed during con dential access-to- le procedures? If a Big Tech gatekeeper attempts to acquire an emerging, high-growth startup developing privacy-preserving web rendering protocols or alternative browser search infrastructure, how can DG COMP parameterize its market de nition to establish a "Signi cant Impediment to Effective Competition" (SIEC) via the loss of potential dynamic competition, given the CJEU’s Illumina/Grail ruling that limits the Commission’s ability to accept Article 22 referrals for acquisitions falling below national turnover thresholds? fi fi 58 fi fi fi [email protected], @[email protected]

  59. [email protected], @[email protected] 59

  60. [email protected], @[email protected] 60

  61. [email protected], @[email protected]

  62. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/ les/document/print/en/ip_23_4328/IP_23_4328_EN.pdf [email protected], @[email protected] fi 62

  63. https://altstore.io [email protected], @[email protected] 63

  64. [email protected], @[email protected] 64

  65. [email protected], @[email protected] 65

  66. [email protected], @[email protected] 66

  67. [email protected], @[email protected] 67

  68. [email protected], @[email protected] 68

  69. Big Tech outspends everyone lobbying Tobacco 14 mEUR Oil &

    Gas 30 mEUR Source: EU Transparency Register [email protected], @[email protected] Big Pharma 40 mEUR

  70. Big Tech outspends everyone lobbying Tobacco 14 mEUR Oil &

    Gas 30 mEUR Source: EU Transparency Register [email protected], @[email protected] Big Pharma 40 mEUR Big Tech 48 mEUR

  71. [email protected], @[email protected] 71

  72. Allemannsretten The right to roam [email protected], @[email protected]

  73. [email protected], @[email protected]

  74. None

  75. Thanks ’n’ √ snogz ! [email protected] @[email protected] * Other Bruce

    Lawsons are available. ** known to cause nausea in some jurisdictions. [email protected], @[email protected] 75