Comment by neither_color
2 months ago
Speaking of iPhone, Im curious about something. On occasion, I log into the [former] bird app using the web app because it's enough to check up on some key follows.
Recently, they released a major update to their LLM feature and I installed the app to check it out. While I had the app installed, every time I checked the mobile website there was a large banner directing me to go to the app. Ad blockers and distraction blockers would not get rid of it. When I deleted the app again, it was gone. What gives? Why does the mobile website know whether I have the app installed? How come content+distraction blockers are enough to block all reminders to use the app when it's not installed, but are irrevocable if I have the app installed?
Apple calls these Smart App Banners. Webkit cooperates with iOS to present them according to a meta tag in the page:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/promoting-a...
You can get rid of them with the Unsmartifier extension.
https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/q55753/unsmartifier_...
The StopTheMadness extension can also remove them (among many other things... this extension is a must have for me):
https://underpassapp.com/StopTheMadness/support-ios.html
>Apple calls these Smart App Banners. Webkit cooperates with iOS to present them according to a meta tag in the page
JFC. Are they disabled if you ask for the desktop site?
I think it won’t. I tried open X.com desktop version on iPad, Safari still showed “open with X app”.
> Why does the mobile website know whether I have the app installed?
To clarify - the mobile website doesn’t. It has meta tags that tell safari what app it’s tied to, and safari displays associated the app banner.