iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 22/09/2026

🇬🇧 OWA is having a special meetup in London on the 1st of October 2026 together with London Web Standards. 🌐 Join us for talks on browser competition, web apps, browser choice and data portability followed by Q&A and a chance to meet people from OWA and others working on these issues. 🔗 More info:

open-web-advocacy.org

London Web Standards OWA Meetup - Open Web Advocacy

We’re having an OWA meetup in London on 1 October 2026, from 19:00–21:00 BST, together with London Web Standards.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 21/09/2026

If a company with the resources of Google decides this in 2026, this must be a hundred times truer for smaller firms. @open-web-advocacy.org

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 21/09/2026

Gmail and Workspace teams quite sensibly telling the Googlebook team they didn't want to make their Android apps work well on desktop when they already have great web apps. 9to5google.com/2026/09/21/g...

9to5google.com

Googlebook OS hands-on: It’s Android, stupid

An overwhelming sense of familiarity struck me the first time I used a Googlebook. That was immediately followed by a...

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 21/09/2026

"Google offered me the example of how it approached the Gmail and Workspace teams about whether they wanted to offer Googlebook adopters *the web version or the Android app*. They chose the former and ideally *did not want to offer the Android app as an available Play Store download*."

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Reposted by James Heppell

Bruce Lawson @brucel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Thanks from @vivaldi.com for the support from developers and other browser vendors.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 15/09/2026

Interop request - issuetracker.google.com/issues/54304...

issuetracker.google.com

Google Issue Tracker

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Reposted by James Heppell

Jeremy Keith @adactio.com · 14/09/2026

Journal: Stalling installing Trying to get past Webkit’s blockage at the W3C. 🔗https://adactio.com/journal/22757

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Reposted by James Heppell

James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 25/08/2026

Over the past few years I've come across more and more railway maps, and thought it was about time I wrote about them. Many are via Exeter Uni's Train Society, others from friends and various places online. There's also a few daily train games (Wordle style): formularsumo.co.uk/living-pages...

formularsumo.co.uk

Railway Maps

A list of online railway maps I find useful, ranging from current routes to historical and live maps, and including daily train games which make use of maps.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 27/08/2026

Great to see! Most exciting for me: "Application theme colour changes no longer require a restart" Using automatic theme switching on sunset/sunrise, it's quite a pain when LibreOffice's interface breaks until I restart 😅, will be very useful having that fixed!

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 25/08/2026

formularsumo.co.uk

Railway Maps

A list of online railway maps I find useful, ranging from current routes to historical and live maps, and including daily train games which make use of maps.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 07/08/2026

Very excited for this to finally happen! WebAPKs are the only way for PWAs to feel like native apps on Android, and Google's been reserving that functionality for themselves for nearly a decade. For more info see: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/google-...

open-web-advocacy.org

Google must share the ability to install Web Apps in Android - Open Web Advocacy

For 7 years, Google has failed to keep its commitment to share the ability to install Web Apps with third-party browsers on Android, despite public requests…

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 25/07/2026

There's some issues as well, discussed at the end, but they're mostly technical/resource-constrained as opposed to structural.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 25/07/2026

"Using Mastodon is a wonderfully human and pleasant experience... where people can genuinely connect" Got round to adding #Mastodon to my Software living page: formularsumo.co.uk/living-pages...

formularsumo.co.uk

Software

An attempt to collate the software I use and why.

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Reposted by James Heppell

T&E @transportenvironment.org · 24/06/2026

NEW: Cars are growing 1.2 cm longer every year, a new study from T&E and @cleancitiescampaign.org shows. European cities are set to lose between 8.5% and 14% of their on-street parking by 2040 if this trend continues unchecked. 🧵⤵️

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Reposted by James Heppell

Alex Russell @infrequently.org · 06/07/2026

I'm not saying Safari is the new IE6; that would be unfair...to IE 6. It was world-beating, but got long in the tooth. No, Safari now is more like IE 7-11: predictably disappointing thanks to under-funding by a company holding back the web back to defend profits: infrequently.org/2026/07/abject-p…

infrequently.org

Abject Praise - Infrequently Noted

Until Apple's boot is removed from the web's face, you never have to hand it to them.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 30/06/2026

500m MAU for both of those vs 5m here and 1m on the Fedvierse :/ ...both of which haven't grown since early 2025: bsky.jazco.dev/stats fedidb.com/stats

bsky.jazco.dev

Atlas - Engagement-Based Social Graph for Bluesky by Jaz (jaz.bsky.social)

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 30/06/2026

I find a similar issue on Mastodon sometimes, that it tends to draw specific types of people and so has less variety than I'd like. Like many people there/here, I refuse to go near X, or Threads, which apparently has as many users now.. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

en.wikipedia.org

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Reposted by James Heppell

Rick Byers @rbyers.net · 16/06/2026

Given how Chromium and WebKit are always vying for the top spot in Speedometer on MacOS, it's really striking how big the gap is on iOS! And we haven't even really tried to optimize performance for that platform yet! IMHO this is what you should expect to see when there's a lack of competition!

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Reposted by James Heppell

Bruce Lawson @brucel.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Apple's WebKit performance tax leaves iOS browsers stuck in the slow lane, says Microsoft. "The performance tax comes to 28.6%, almost as much as Apple's 30% commission. Even without performance optimisation, Blink on iOS is faster than WebKit. But you can't have it, because of Apple's iOS rules.

theregister.com

Apple's WebKit performance tax leaves iOS browsers stuck in the slow lane, says Microsoft

Rival rendering engines could make pages load almost 30% faster on iPhones, Redmond claims

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 17/06/2026

“Microsoft engineers have published benchmark results showing that a Chromium-based browser using its own rendering engine scores 28.6% higher than Safari on Apple's own Speedometer 3.1 performance test on iOS” www.macrumors.com/2026/06/17/w...

macrumors.com

Apple's WebKit Rules Reportedly Cost iOS Users Almost 30% Browser Performance

Microsoft engineers have published benchmark results showing that a Chromium-based browser using its own rendering engine scores 28.6% higher than Safari on Apple's own Speedometer 3.1 performance tes...

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 29/05/2026

Out of interest, how do/did you find Mastodon? It doesn't look like you're active there anymore, I wonder if you found it to have a similar feel to Bluesky?

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 27/05/2026

Open Web Advocacy joins 17 businesses, industry bodies, public figures and civil society organisations calling for more ambitious and urgent enforcement of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) 🚨 🧵👇️ (1/28) 📖Read more: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/open-le...

open-web-advocacy.org

Open Letter: Why the CMA Must Enforce the DMCCA - Open Web Advocacy

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 18/05/2026

The EU’s Digital Markets Act choice screens are working 🇪🇺 Since March 2024, more than 6 million people in the EU have selected Firefox as their default browser, roughly one every 10 seconds. 🦊 User choice and merit should drive browser competition, not control of operating systems. 📖Read more:

cybernews.com

Brussels’ DMA regulation handed Firefox millions of new users

Thanks to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Mozilla has gained more than 6 million new users for its web browser Firefox.

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 15/05/2026

The EU's Digital Markets Act is delivering real wins for consumers in the EU, and in some cases globally. Apple and Google are opening up functionality that was previously reserved for their own products. But one glaring failure remains: browser engines on iOS. 🧵👇️ (1/23)

open-web-advocacy.org

The Digital Markets Act Is Delivering Real Wins, But Not Yet for Browser Engines - Open Web Advocacy

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Reposted by James Heppell

Alex Russell @infrequently.org · 13/04/2026

Great to see Mozilla returning to an expansive vision for the web; the idea that we should download unsafe native binaries for most tasks has always been naff: fosstodon.org/@balloob/1163984… /cc @webdevs.firefox.com

fosstodon.org

balloob (@balloob@fosstodon.org)

Attached: 4 images WebSerial has landed in Firefox Nightly !! 🎉 Enable it in about:config and it all just works as expected. Took a brand new ESP32 and had a new Bluetooth proxy added to Home Assis...

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Reposted by James Heppell

Paulus Schoutsen @paulusschoutsen.nl · 13/04/2026

WebSerial has landed in Firefox Nightly !! 🎉 Enable it in about:config and it all just works as expected. Took a brand new ESP32 and had a new Bluetooth proxy added to Home Assistant within 2 minutes 👌

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Reposted by James Heppell

techaltar.bsky.social @techaltar.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Fidesz' massive defeat comes despite: - multiple active Russian disinformation campaigns - the US government actively supporting Fidesz - Fidesz owning the majority of TV & radio stations + newspapers - Fidesz having gerrymandered the crap out of the country (1/2)

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Reposted by James Heppell

Keep Android Open @keepandroidopen.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Thank you Open Web Advocacy (@open-web-advocacy.org) for supporting Keep Android Open @keepandroidopen.bsky.social #KeepAndroidOpen

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Reposted by James Heppell

Bruce Lawson @brucel.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Apple at 50: my top five Apple moments brucelawson.co.uk/2026/apple-a...

brucelawson.co.uk

Bruce Lawson's personal site

» Apple at 50: my top five Apple moments

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Reposted by James Heppell

Alex Russell @infrequently.org · 04/04/2026

On holiday, but wrote up how regulators are failing to legalise browser competition, enabled by a jejune tech press: infrequently.org/2026/04/the-... ...but missed Brussels proposing full surrender. WTF: pluralistic.net/2026/04/04/d... /via @doctorow.pluralistic.net /cc @open-web-advocacy.org

infrequently.org

The Web Is An Antitrust Wedge - Infrequently Noted

Armed with new powers to rein in the worst excesses of mobile's duopolists, regulators around the world are struggling to find their footing. The UK's CMA is only the latest to pose capitulation as su...

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 26/03/2026

Go off-topic from browsers and web apps, Google native apps generally are better on Android. Faster, and often more capable. Google docs and workspace are good examples of this. WhatsApp is also slightly better on Android, it tends to get new features first, which is pretty rare for a social app.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 26/03/2026

Things not being supported (for a long time), and things that are supported but broken (for a long time). wpt.fyi/results/?lab... webventures.rejh.nl/blog/2024/hi...

wpt.fyi

web-platform-tests dashboard

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 26/03/2026

Just leaving this here: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/google-... On Chrome, and only on Chrome, PWA integration isn't bad on Android.

open-web-advocacy.org

Google must share the ability to install Web Apps in Android - Open Web Advocacy

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 26/03/2026

The difference as both a user and a web developer is large. Web content on my Pixel is genuinely pretty great, it's often better than native apps, and I enjoy the experience. On my iPhone it's the opposite, web things break and don't work properly, and the experience is routinely worse than native.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 26/03/2026

As of yesterday, Chrome claims that browsing on Android is faster than on iOS, when comparing the fastest devices on each OS: blog.chromium.org/2026/03/andr... Which is cool. But aside from speed, Android browsers are so much more capable, reliable, and less buggy.

blog.chromium.org

Android Sets New Record for Mobile Web Performance

A core part of the Android experience is the web. Whether you are browsing in Chrome or using one of the >90% of Android apps that utilize...

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Reposted by James Heppell

Bruce Lawson @brucel.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Our European chums at Cryptee launch end-to-end encrypted photo sharing blog.crypt.ee/end-to-end-e... after many conversations about what it means to build sharing tools responsibly. "Not because anyone forced us to do any of these things, but because we think it matters."

blog.crypt.ee

End-to-End Encrypted Photo Sharing

End-to-end encrypted photo sharing is here. Share albums with up to 5 people using no-knowledge encrypted links.

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 26/03/2026

OWA NEW REPORT 🚨 Apple’s interoperability “commitments” in the UK 🇬🇧 are a smokescreen: 👉 No obligation to share anything 👉 Broad excuses to say no 👉 Fees for APIs 👉 No public transparency They can comply… and change nothing 😬 Bad for devs. Bad for users. OWA gives you the deep dive: 🧵👇️ (1/13)

open-web-advocacy.org

Our Submission to the CMA on Apple’s iOS Interoperability Commitments - Open Web Advocacy

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Reposted by James Heppell

Alex Russell @infrequently.org · 24/03/2026

This post by @mozilla.org's VP Eng (Andrew Overholt) is welcome news. For far too long, Mozilla has been nearly silent as Apple suppressed real choice in browsers, and any break with that inglorious patterns should be celebrated: blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/20... /via @open-web-advocacy.org

blog.mozilla.org

Competition, Innovation, and the Future of the Web – Why Independent Browser Engines Matter – Open Policy & Advocacy

Gecko matters because it ensures there’s an independent voice shaping how the internet evolves. Without Gecko, the landscape would be dominated by Apple and Google alone. From accessing information, c...

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 23/03/2026

Alex Moore (Executive Director of OWA) and John Ozbay (CEO and Founder of Cryptee) were recently interviewed by Simonetta Vezzoso, a European academic specializing in digital competition law and the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Check it out: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/questio... 🧵👇 (1/7)

open-web-advocacy.org

Q&A with Simonetta Vezzoso: The Open Web, Apple, and the DMA - Open Web Advocacy

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 22/03/2026

But as well as two of the world's richest companies going at it, this should create some space for smaller players. Alongside ending other anti-competitive practices*, I'm really hoping this gives Mozilla the breathing room they need reverse their current downwards trajectory.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 22/03/2026

If Apple manages this then they'll keep a decent share of iOS, probably grow on macOS and maybe have some share on Windows or Android as well.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 22/03/2026

The ideal outcome of all this is that WebKit is competitive with Chromium and Gecko, and perhaps even that Apple ships it to competing OSes again - they've been starting to do this with other apps recently.

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 12/03/2026

In a significant win for smaller browsers, the open web, and the 🇪🇺EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Google has agreed to place the browser selected through the EU browser choice screen directly in the Pixel homescreen hotseat (replacing Chrome). open-web-advocacy.org/blog/google-... 🧵👇 (1/7)

open-web-advocacy.org

Google Backs Down: Will Grant Hotseat in EU Browser Choice Screen - Open Web Advocacy

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Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 04/03/2026

Which? - The UK’s not for profit consumer champion had this to say about the UK CMA's proposed remedies. 👉 Read More: www.which.co.uk/policy-and-i...

The second issue with the proposed approach is that accepting commitments may set an unintended benchmark for the acceptability of commitments in place of Conduct Requirements. In allowing these priority issues to be resolved through commitments, and noting the prominence that is associated with the first set of interventions in this investigation (and only the second interventions proposed by the Digital Markets Competition Regime as a whole), SMS firms may take encouragement that offering commitments is a viable way to resolve issues that have been identified … and it may result in increased pressure on the CMA to enforce weaker remedies in place of stronger intervention that leads to better market outcomes. Increasing the likelihood of commitments being offered as a first port of call also adds burden to the process that may slow the pace that the CMA is able to achieve effective remedies. We encourage the CMA to recognise and guard against this risk.

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James Heppell @formularsumo.co.uk · 03/03/2026

Thanks! I've been meaning to look into this, hopefully will find time to soon.

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 03/03/2026

⚠️ LAST CALL TO WRITE TO CMA: 5pm TODAY ⚠️ Under the current proposal, Apple can keep iOS and iPhone functionality exclusive to its own apps and services. If you want fair access to APIs for competing apps and browsers email 📧 mobilesms@cma.gov.uk See: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/apples-... 🧵👇️(1/5)

⚠️LAST CALL TO WRITE TO CMA: 5pm TODAY ⚠️
DEMAND FAIR ACCESS on iOS
Equal API Access to All Apps
Equal Performance and Privileges
Enforceable Deadlines & Oversight
FAILURE MEANS:
Developers can’t compete with Apple’s Apps & Hardware
Apple keeps features to themselves
Browsers & the Web won’t be able to compete
Sets Global Precedent for weak digital legislation
Less Competition = More Expensive + Worse Quality for consumers
👇 Read more, OWA blog link below

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Reposted by James Heppell

Open Web Advocacy @open-web-advocacy.org · 02/03/2026

⚠️ WRITE TO THE UK'S CMA BY TUESDAY 5pm ⚠️ Under the current proposal, Apple can keep iOS and iPhone functionality exclusive to its own apps and services If you want fair access to APIs for competing apps and browsers email 📧 mobilesms@cma.gov.uk See: open-web-advocacy.org/blog/apples-... 🧵👇️ (1/5)

⚠️WRITE TO THE UK’s CMA BY TUESDAY 5PM ⚠️
DEMAND FAIR ACCESS on iOS
Equal API access for Third-Party Apps
Equal Performance and Privileges
Enforceable Deadlines & Oversight
FAILURE MEANS:
Developers can’t compete with Apple’s Apps & Hardware
Apple keeps features to themseleves
Browsers & the Web won’t be able to compete
Sets Global Precedent for weak digital legislation
Less Competition = More Expensive + Worse Quality for consumers
👇 Read more, OWA blog link below

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