It's not the same at all, IE/Safari are/were locked to their OS or abused through monopoly.

iOS/Safari is worse than IE because it's exclusive. At least with IE/Windows you could install something else.

OK, if you really think Safari is worse than dealing with IE hacks you probably were not writing anything for the web back then. This was already a tenuous argument, but come on.

OS lock-in and slow adoption of new web features is perhaps lame but Safari doesn't have anything even approaching it's own box model, or `-ms-filter` equivalent, or quirks mode... the list approaches infinity.

Also, "install something else?" Do you know what the browser landscape looked like back then? IE had >80% dominance for years, and your other option was Netscape, which lacked huge swaths of custom features in IE.

If the one key feature in an iOS webapp _kills_ your business, then _yes_ iOS/Safari is magnitudes worse than IE ever was.

The expectations and businesses relying on browser functionality back then is minimal compared to today which amplifies the core issues at hand.

Try building an PWA with offline capabilities (trivial in modern browsers) that's your core of your business, and you will see what I see. Apple is _trying_ to strangle non-app store apps. Where IE was just a dumb lumbering problem by comparison.

> Try building an PWA with offline capabilities

I have, for one of the world's largest companies. You're missing the forest for the trees if you feel PWAs are this much of a linchpin to the broader conversation.

The only programmers that had issues with IE were when IE broke something they needed, it hardly matters what it was. Apples to apples comparisons are the relevant issue.

So if your PWA works on iOS/Safari, great for you, but it doesn't mean everyone's does.

Notice, none of these reasons why Safari is worse have anything to do with the technology whatsoever. They're all ideological.

Try using offline first features that all browsers support properly except iOS Safari. Pure tech issue.

I'm not going to argue there are no technological issues, I was just pointing out a feature of the discourse here.