James Heppell

Breaking: Google Appeals Final Judgment in DOJ Case

Google is requesting a stay on certain provisions of the Final Judgment pending Google’s appeal of the Court’s liability and remedies rulings.

OWA has been singularly effective in winning letter-of-the-law chamge, and the action now lies with regulators. They meed reasons to believe *enforcing* the law is worth the effort, and your voice can make a difference. Read @open-web-advocacy.org's roundup to learn about the fights that matter:

2025 is the year I've been most involved with OWA, and the pace of global progress recently has been amazing. With 3 regulators now on-board and another 2 coming up, 2026 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the Web!

Reading List 2025 The English part of the my 2025 reading list: books I read this year, and what I thought about them

Another year over, another reading list! The first (English) part of it least. It's quite short this time, but I still had a lot of fun writing it. Hope you enjoy!

formularsumo.co.uk/blog/2025/re...

Android 16 QPR2 themed icon changes and how they affect PWAs: elk.zone/social.vival...

For now at least, Bluesky is still a lot better than most mainstream social media (even if the bar really is on the floor). But I'd really recommend trying out the Fediverse if you haven't before. fedidb.com This is a super cool site for seeing what's out there - it's not just Mastodon!

Offer a PWA · Issue #1194 · bluesky-social/social-app Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. N/a Describe the solution you'd like I would like there to be a progressive web app (PWA) of the Bluesky web interface that I can inst...

I know the AP Protocol is *supposed* to become decentralised one day, but it's currently a long way off that.

PWA issue: github.com/bluesky-soci.... Somebody submitted a PR a year and a half ago but it's not received any response.

But it's worth pointing out there none of these things are currently possible on Bluesky:

* There's no 3rd party servers/federation - everything is centralised to one company
* The web app can't be installed as a PWA
* Official native app is only available from Play/App Store, or GitHub releases

I've just posted a long thread on Mastodon about some issues I have with the platform: elk.zone/social.vival...

* Official projects defaulting to largest server (centralisation)
* Pushing the official native apps over web apps and others
* Not advertising app releases on F-Droid/other 3p app stores

Tim Berners-Lee On Apple’s Browser Engine Ban and Web Apps - Open Web Advocacy

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and HTML, has expressed support for compelling Apple to allow other browser engines on iOS. He also states that having a powerful browser on iOS would "change the dynamic" with respect to web app's viability on mobile.
1/4

Consiste en una colección de páginas que forman un árbol genealógico de las familias de idiomas que se hablan en Europa, e incluye datos, historias, mapas y cifras del tema.

Empecé la primera página en mayo por un curso en la universidad (Lenguas de Europa), y durante las últimas semanas la he estado mejorando para poder lanzarlo públicamente.

Paginas-vivas Las paginas vivas de la web personal de James Heppell

Hace unos días añadí una nueva sección a mi web - Páginas vivas. Son proyectos que nunca acaban de estar tan terminados como un artículo de mi blog, y que suelen tener un lado más informativo en vez de exponer mis opiniones.

formularsumo.co.uk/es/paginas-v...

The 🇬🇧UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially designated Apple as having Strategic Market Status (SMS). After four years investigating Apple’s restrictions on browser engines and web apps, the CMA now has statutory authority to enforce a code of conduct.
1/12

Reason: Push is only half of whats needed. Web Push is gated behind install. Install for native is easy, for web apps it's hidden to the point developers are forced to build native apps, the very developers that would be using web push.

Missing lots of features.
webventures.rejh.nl/blog/2024/we...

Well surely that's due to the Safari team sitting on their hands and being 5-8 years late in shipping it, and even now that it has, it's still quite gimped?

Burning out developer enthusiasm is the precise goal in Apple dragging their feet on web features after all.

Apple's Browser Engine Ban Persists, Even Under the DMA - Open Web Advocacy

For context:

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

pluralistic.net/2025/10/06/r...

infrequently.org/2025/10/the-...

OWA at the EU Parliament DMA Working Group - Open Web Advocacy

Last week, OWA spoke at the 🇪🇺EU Parliament’s Digital Markets Act Working Group on Apple’s ongoing non-compliance with the DMA and why the open web is vital for Europe’s digital future.

🔗 Read our full speech:
open-web-advocacy.org/blog/owa-at-...
1/4

It's truly wild that bsky.app still isn't a PWA. "We've gotta capitulate to big tech" brain rot is common in the valley, but you'd imagine that an org with its stated values could see past it.

Lo escribí en marzo, después de usar PowerPoint por primera vez en años, para una exposición en grupo. Me molestó bastante, y me animó a escribir de todas las razones por las que dejé de usarlo en primer lugar, hace casi 5 años ahora.

Microsoft Office Sigue Siendo Malo (Para Colaboraciones) Mi experiencia reciente y pasada con paquetes de oficina.

Acabo de terminar la traducción de mi artículo Microsoft Office Sigue Siendo Malo (Para Colaboraciones):

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

#Microsoft365 #Office365 #MicrosoftOffice #colaboracion

Unformatted and nearly unreadable bugs.webkit.org webpage with console showing lots of 503 errors.

One of my jobs on Chrome is quantifying overall product quality signals. This quarter we're taking a hit on crashes entirely due to iOS, which looks to be primarily due to WebKit and iOS bugs. When I try to check on the status of the current major one (bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi...), I get this:

The European Commission insists no decision has been adopted regarding Google and the DMA, after MLex reported it had delayed a prepared fine due to EU-US trade tensions.

No comment on Šefčovič's possible intervention.

It covers public and private transport, walkability and bike/wheelability, and all the other effects that these movement patterns cause in our towns and cities.

Big thanks to the people who provided feedback on earlier drafts to get the article to where it is now!

Transport should be for the public The UK, with few exception, is car dependent. Our public and active transport systems are severely underinvested in and underutilised, which has a wide-ranging knock-on effect on all our public spaces...

After ~4 months of on and off writing, I'm very happy to (finally) publish my most detailed article so far: Transport should be for the public.

formularsumo.co.uk/blog/2025/tr...

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.

/1
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...