As the article has been updated to say, "installing" a PWA to the home screen is an optional step that many people prefer not to do in favor of bookmarks or the address bar or the new tab page or whatever.
But it's no surprise that Apple would want to impose an "install" step on the web to prevent it from looking more attractive than the App Store.
> But it's no surprise that Apple would want to impose an "install" step on the web
The FUD here is getting out of control. "PWAs", that Google pioneered, are all about having an ‘install step’ to put the "web apps" on your home screen. https://web.dev/customize-install/
No, they are about safely adding capabilities to the web that native apps have. Home screen icons are only one of those capabilities, and not the most important.
PWA is in fact a corporate born, bred and sponsored definition created to push and promote an _arbitrary_ set of Chrome features. It was an attempt to build momentum towards a vision for the web where browsers can run "open" apps. Unfortunately visions don't die, and thus the term lives on. Sigh.
It is no surprise because the whole point of keeping storage around is because you intend to come back. Pinning a website to a homescreen is clear intent. Having a tab or a bookmark does not make that clear. I have tabs and bookmarks open that I haven't visited in years. Thankfully Safari now kills tabs that haven't been touched within X time frame.
"impose" is the wrong word. I think you mean they are "trying to understand you and do the best thing"
But it's no surprise that Apple would want to impose an "install" step on the web to prevent it from looking more attractive than the App Store.