James Heppell

Japan: Apple Must Lift Engine Ban by December - Open Web Advocacy

Japan 🇯🇵 has officially banned Apple’s iOS browser engine restrictions.

Starting Dec 2025, iPhones must allow real Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi and others to run their own engines, just like on desktop.

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open-web-advocacy.org/blog/japan-a...

UK Regulator Flags Apple’s iOS Browser Engine Ban in Draft SMS Designation - Open Web Advocacy

The 🇬🇧 UK regulator has provisionally found that Apple and Google meet the threshold for Strategic Market Status (SMS) under the DMCC. In Apple’s case, the decision highlights its ban on competing browser engines and its actions to suppress competition from web apps.

Kyle Andeer, VP of Apple Legal talking at the Digital Markets Act workshop.

New OWA Report: Apple’s Browser Engine Ban Persists, Even Under the DMA

Despite big claims at the recent DMA workshops, Apple continues to block competing browser engines on iOS in the EU.

👉 Read the details 📺 Watch the video
open-web-advocacy.org/blog/apples-...

🧵Let's Dive In

Apple Vs The Law Apple & Google at the DMA compliance workshops, June 2025

🚀 OWA volunteer James Heppell shares his experience representing us at the Apple & Google DMA workshop.

His personal take, now #1 on Hacker News, offers sharp insight into gatekeepers' approach to the law.

Check it out:
formularsumo.co.uk/blog/2025/ap...

"Apple know that for this kind of regulation to be successful, it needs to be easy to replicate in other places. If there's [a separate] set of browser APIs and contractual requirements [for every country/jurisdiction], it becomes all but impossible to ship an engine."

Apple Vs The Law Apple & Google at the DMA compliance workshops, June 2025

Last week I went to the Apple and Google #DMA workshops in Brussels, and yesterday I finished writing about the experience.

formularsumo.co.uk/blog/2025/ap...

Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy - Open Web Advocacy

Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy 🫤 To comply with the Digital Markets Act, Apple puts the user’s chosen browser in the hotseat. Google refuses to do the same on Android, leaving Chrome in the hotseat and undermining user choice.

That’s not DMA compliance!

open-web-advocacy.org/blog/googles...

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...and the reason it should be the same for all browsers is that the web content they can open is controlled by Web Contest Restrictions, which currently applies to all web browsing, regardless of the app, on iOS. The Age Restriction (separate setting) is only for the app's own code, ie the UI.

"Can" restrict is the key word. When age restrictions are enabled, Safari can by default be launched - despite be 17+, meanwhile all other browsers get disabled and hidden. A parent *can* manually choose to restrict any app if they wish, but the default should be the same for all browsers.

Regulators around the world are tackling mobile platform monopolies.

But every time new laws like the EU’s DMA or the UK’s DMCC emerge to allow more competition, Apple and Google raise one predictable objection:
“Security”

Let’s unpack why that doesn’t hold up.
👇

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¡Acabo de publicar mi primer artículo escrito en (en vez de traducido al) español! Se llama Las Distintas Formas de Leer, y trata de comparar la lectura física, digital, y el audiolibro, con bastante enfoque en el lado tecnológico, y en el futuro que yo espero.

formularsumo.co.uk/es/blog/2025...

Industry Voices Caution Against DOJ’s Plan to Force Sale Of Chrome - Open Web Advocacy

🚨 New Article: Industry Voices Caution Against DOJ’s Plan to Force Sale Of Chrome

⭐️We support the DOJ’s goal of ending Google’s monopoly⭐️ but we along with many voices from across the tech industry are concerned about collateral damage to the web

Read: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/industr...

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Why we need an international rail strategy The Channel Tunnel should have transformed international journeys, but 30 years on, it is frustratingly under-used. In this blog we look at how to realise its potential.

When the Channel Tunnel opened in 1994, it promised fast, seamless train travel; yet 30 years on, less than half the capacity is being used.

In our latest blog, we look at what's gone wrong and how we can unlock the enormous potential of cross-channel rail: bettertransport.org.uk/blog/runways...

The World Wide Web sliightly exploding

🚨 NEW: The DOJ wants to break up Chrome from Google — the consequences could be catastrophic for the web.

📖 Read our article: Break Google's search monopoly without breaking the web.

👇Link: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/break-g...

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Introducing Silk — The most advanced swipeable sheet ever engineered for the web.

Native-like experience • Works on all devices • Unlocks dozens of UI patterns on the web.

Available for React.

Microsoft Office is Still Bad (For Collaboration) My recent and past experience with office suites and collaboration

I've had to use PowerPoint Online a lot for the past couple of days, and it very much reminded me why I more or less stopped using Microsoft Office ~4 years ago. So much so that I decided to write a short article about it

formularsumo.co.uk/articles/202...

#MicrosoftOffice #Office365 #Microsoft365

Encryption A overview of the different types of encryption (server-side, client-side and end-to-end), and their use cases, advantages and drawbacks.

Last month I also published the first new(ish) entry, an article giving a fairly broad overview of the different forms of encryption, and why and when they should be used.

formularsumo.co.uk/articles/202...

Enjoy!

Reading List 2024 Commentaries, backgrounds and recommendations on the books I read throughout 2024.

I've just published the second article today, my Reading List for last year. You might say that two and a half months into the year is a bit late for this, and I'd be the first to agree, but better late than never goes the saying.

formularsumo.co.uk/articles/202...

#ReadingList #Booklist

Hello Bluesky!

I've been working on a personal website and blog over the past few months. I'd been wanting to get back into writing for while, as well as spend more time doing web design, so it seemed like a natural combination of the two.

#Blog

Breaking 🚨 iOS age restrictions block all browsers except Safari & breaks the EU choice screen! Apple's inconsistent and self-serving age-restrictions block competition.

It's time for a deep dive on the OWA blog:
open-web-advocacy.org/blog/ios-age...

Thrilled to be here on BlueSky! Excited to work together with you all to drive change and unlock the future of the web and web apps.

Let’s make it happen! 🤘

The @open-web-advocacy.org joins BlueSky! 🦋

If you would like to follow OWA supporters and contributors working together to support the open web, offering policymakers technical insights on anti-competitive industry issues and solutions, here is a starter pack!

go.bsky.app/TQqMD4f