Deep links on iOS/Safari

[BjornMoren]

This is a bit off topic, but I don't know where else to post it.

Right now browsers are doing a good job at opening a PWA in the installed mode (removed adress bar and buttons to look like a native app), when you click on a link to that PWA, and the user has previously chosen to install the PWA.

This works fine, except for iOS/Safari, and I am curious to learn why. Add to this problem the fact that Safari starts in two different data contexts depending on how you start the PWA. The same PWA started from the icon on the start screen vs from a browser link will have two different sets of cookies, IndexedDB, etc, as if these are two entirely different apps.

Is Apple just behind the curve, or is this a design choice? This makes for a very confusing experience for the user. "I installed this app, so why does it open in my browser?" "But I just entered all this data, and now it is gone?"

Since this is a standardization forum, maybe someone has the inside info on why Apple made this design choice.

[tomayac]

This is indeed by design and not a bug. The two contexts, added to home screen experience and running in browser, are completely separate.

[BjornMoren]

This is indeed by design and not a bug. The two contexts, added to home screen experience and running in browser, are completely separate.

Please explain why this design choice was made.

[tomayac]

I work for Google, this is a decision made by Apple… :-)