[zbuf]

The frustrating and unnecessary thing is the trend to completely intertwine permissions policy policy with the API.

If I can't play a sound, just make it browser feature -- let the web page call the APIs continue as normal, mute the tab, and browser notifies the user.

Instead, responsibility is pushed from the browser developers (small in number) every single web page developer to deal with rejections, prompt users, retry the request, and cover a bunch of edge cases that mostly they'll never see.

The policy ends up frozen in time around the needs of eg. 'desktop' and won't be able to adapt in future.

Also, the inevitible concern around fingerprinting a user based on the pattern or timing of rejected events.

Not sure about WebAudio spec specifically, but there are certainly places where media specs are basically just a reflection of "what Safari does" to work its way around corners its boxed itself into.