Now that the EU has forced Apple to allow web browsers that aren't just rebadged versions of its intentionally crippled browser, Safari, which means that they can run Web Apps, which do not have to go through the Apple Store.
As a result, installations of competing browsers, and browser engines, have spiked, even with Apple's malicious compliance with EU rules:
Since Apple implemented a browser choice screen for iPhones earlier this month to comply with Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Brave Software, Mozilla, and Vivaldi have seen a surge in the number of people installing their web browsers.
It's an early sign the Europe Union's competition rules may actually … get this … enhance competition – an outcome that skeptics deemed unlikely.
The DMA applies to a set of six technology giants that have been designated as "gatekeepers" in order to limit their tendency to boost the usage of their own offerings – such as their own browsers, webmail, and marketplaces – to the detriment of rivals, which are pushed out of the way.
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Three years on, efforts to create a level playing field for platform gatekeepers and smaller rivals continue – possibly with some progress.
Brave's figures suggest the number of daily browser installs jumped from around 8,000 on March 6, 2024 to around 11,000 a week later. And in a social media post, the developer cited those results as evidence that Apple and Google have made it hard to switch default browsers specifically to block competition.
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Mozilla also has seen increased interest in Firefox as a result of the DMA choice screen for iOS devices.
"The monopolistic practices employed by Big Tech have often hindered Firefox's ability to innovate and offer users competitive alternatives," a Moz spokesperson told The Register. "It is no small feat for us to cut through their tricky tactics to keep consumers locked within their own ecosystems.
"Despite less than ideal compliance, the recent implementation of the DMA choice screen is a promising step toward true competition online in the EU, which is why we're not surprised to have seen a more than 50 percent increase in Firefox user growth in Germany and close to 30 percent increase in France just since its implementation. Still, there is a lot of room for improvement, and we'll continue to fight for a web that puts people over profits, prioritizes privacy and is open and accessible to all."
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"We are still reviewing the technical details but are extremely disappointed with Apple's proposed plan to restrict the newly-announced BrowserEngineKit to EU-specific apps," Mozilla's spokesperson lamented. "The effect of this would be to force an independent browser like Firefox to build and maintain two separate browser implementations – a burden Apple itself will not have to bear.
"Apple's proposals fail to give consumers viable choices by making it as painful as possible for others to provide competitive alternatives to Safari. This is another example of Apple creating barriers to prevent true browser competition on iOS."
I'm sure that Apple CEO Tim Cook goes to Europe on occasion.
Perhaps it might be a good idea to frog march him out of customs in handcuffs the next time it happens.
Certainly it would make malicious compliance by Apple less likely in the future.
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