Google's Just Fine With Apple's Decision to Remove AMP Links in iOS 11
In the iOS 11 beta 7, Apple has elected to remove AMP links from mobile Safari. Google AMP, or Accelerated Mobile Pages, were first introduced in 2015.
Google AMP is similar to HTML and optimized for mobile web browsing. Though it’s intended to load search result web pages faster, which it does, Google AMP has received mixed reviews from publishers. Specifically, some are unhappy Google replaces an article’s original URL in the address bar with an AMP version that points to the Google domain.
The removal, which was first spotted by MacStories’ Federico Viticci, should make it easier to share links via iMessage or save content to Reading List.
Before and After
Though one would think Apple’s decision to stripped away AMP links would have been frowned upon by Google, this doesn’t appear to be the case.
On Hacker News, AMP’s technical lead, Malte Ubl explains:
Just wanted to clarify that we specifically requested Apple (and other browser vendors) to do this. AMP’s policy states that platforms should share the canonical URL of an article whenever technically possible. This browser change makes it technically possible in Safari. We cannot wait for other vendors to implement.
It appears Safari implemented a special case. We’d prefer a more generic solution where browsers would share the canonical link by default, but this works for us.
He also praised Apple via Twitter:
Nice one Safari team! https://t.co/YTO6rZR3dd
— Malte Ubl (@cramforce) August 23, 2017
It should be noted that Google AMP hasn’t been stripped away completely from iOS 11. As iDownloadBlog discovered, the AMP links remain when sending a web page to Apple’s Notes app. Remember, iOS 11 is still in beta.
Apple’s likely to release iOS 11 to the public in just a few weeks alongside the company’s 2017 iPhone lineup.
For more on iOS 11, see:
