The slew of iOS changes Apple dropped in the EU yesterday, as it prepares to enforce the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) that will begin on March 7, includes some big developments around browsers that appear poised to shake up a stale market. she has.
The goal of EU regulation is exactly that: to force digital markets dominated by a group of powerful intermediaries, which the DMA calls “gatekeepers,” to be more open and welcoming to competition. Apple is one of six designated gatekeepers, with the iOS App Store and Safari browser listed as “essential platform services” under the regulation — meaning Apple is subject to a range of obligations and restrictions on how these services can be operated.
Currently, Apple sets its Safari browser as the default browser on iOS — and while users of its mobile platform can Dig into the settings And specifying another default browser (if they downloaded one) Apple’s platform doesn’t exactly make it clear to iOS users that this is a possibility.
Inevitably, many people will stick with the default iOS settings – if only because it requires less effort and hassle; Aka one less technology related decision. But the result is that the owner and operator of the dominant mobile platform can also control the mobile browsers on its platform, which isn’t great news for the competition. These are the kind of restrictions that EU regulators hope the DMA will change.
Default browser selection screen
Article 6(3) of the Pan-EU Regulation places obligations on gatekeepers to allow users to easily “uninstall” their own applications (with some narrow restrictions for applications that are “essential to the functioning of the operating system or device and which cannot technically be provided on a standalone basis”). by third parties). Furthermore, the text states that gatekeepers must allow users to “easily change default settings.”
The regulation then essentially stipulates that gatekeepers must show a selection screen upon users’ first use of the primary platform service – allowing them to choose from a list of “main” competing providers.
So it’s no surprise that Apple’s DMA-related changes include providing a selection screen.
Briefing reporters yesterday, Apple representatives said that when users in the European Economic Area open the Safari browser for the first time after updating to iOS 17.4, they will be asked to choose a default browser from a list of the most downloaded browsers in their market. .
Apple representatives said the screen will also provide an opportunity for users to learn more about each browser before making a decision. So, it remains to be seen how Apple will provide information about competing browsers. The deadline for gatekeepers to comply with the DMA is March 7, so the changes are expected to be in place by then.
The iPhone maker is clearly not satisfied with the commitment to displaying a browser selection screen. in press release It claims that the forced change “means that EU users will be faced with a list of default browsers before they have a chance to understand the options available to them.”
“The screen also interrupts EU users’ experience the first time they open Safari with the intention of navigating to a web page,” he also warns. Apple may be hoping to address the risk of iOS users becoming angry about a selection screen showing up instead of the web page they were trying to access.
Annoyed and overwhelmed iOS users may be more likely to select Safari as their default browser just to hide the screen. So regulators at the European Commission will likely watch and carefully evaluate how Apple presents these choices to determine whether it is in compliance.
It’s worth noting that Google’s Android platform has for years been offering choice screens for users in the EU – after a previous EU competition intervention – that let users choose between its own search engine and a list of competing search engines. But the effect of this measure was weak.
Initially, because Google created an auction model that required competitors to submit their bids for slots on selection screens. There was also frustration from search engine competitors that the choice screen model deployed by Google still created too much friction for users to switch to. Meanwhile, Google continues to lead a 90%+ search market share in Europe…
Non-WebKit browsers coming to iOS
Another big DMA-led change at Apple will see the tech giant open up basic browsers with a code base running on iOS that can be used. Apple currently requires third-party browsers to use WebKit, the same browser engine that powers its Safari browser. For this reason, even if you make the effort to download and use a competing browser on iOS, the software experience can feel somewhat similar.
This is also set to change after Apple announced yesterday that it will start allowing developers to submit browsers that don’t rely on WebKit – whether for full web browser apps, which provide an alternative to using Safari, or for developers offering in-app browsers for viewing. Web pages within their iOS apps.
Apple’s restrictions on browsers on iOS have been a long-running bone of contention, with the tech giant accused of blocking innovation in the browser market by restricting user choice and the opportunity for developers to differentiate themselves compared to Safari – similar to putting a fast car on the highway. .
“Apple has never allowed the use of third-party web browser engines in iOS,” he explains. Lukash Oleinikan independent researcher, consultant, and author of a cybersecurity handbook called Cyber security philosophy. “When users used other web browser applications, like Firefox or Chrome, this was still Safari’s WebKit engine. No cutting-edge features could be delivered quickly. There was no competition here. The entire web community has been complaining about this for years.
The effect of Apple mandating the use of WebKit was to limit the delivery of “rapidly evolving features,” he told TechCrunch. “A recurring complaint in the web community has been that web development in general is discouraged.”
iOS users should expect to see browsers with richer features as a result of the change, according to Olejnik.
Article 6(4) of the DMA contains interoperability provisions that will likely be the driving force for Apple to open it up to non-WebKit browsers, as the regulation requires gatekeepers to “permit and technically enable third-party applications” to work with access via Their platforms.
However, the law does not require a free-for-all provision – the text states that gatekeepers may take measures that are “strictly necessary and proportionate” to ensure that third-party software does not “threaten the integrity” of their hardware or software, provided any such measures are “duly justified by Before the gatekeeper.”
It’s no surprise, then, that Apple intends to impose a number of conditions on developers wanting to take advantage of non-WebKit browser engines – including performance standards and privacy and security requirements. For example Apple, Warn Developers should: “Prioritize the reported solution [security] Weaknesses with expediency, on developing new features. (Olenick broadly summarizes the standards Apple requires here as “reasonable.”)
The iPhone maker is certain to make the case to EU regulators that the standards it plans to impose on developers wanting to access non-WebKit entitlements are “strictly necessary and proportionate” to protect the “integrity” of its platforms – in line with what the DMA allows gatekeepers to do. (Provided they justify their terms and standards).
In terms of privacy, Apple’s notable order states that developers who take advantage of the opportunity to offer non-WebKit-based browsers on iOS must: “Block cross-site cookies (i.e., third-party cookies) by default unless they choose to The user expressly allows these cookies with informed consent.”
Apple, via Safari, has long been invested in combating anti-privacy web tracking. So, again, it’s not surprising to see it make blocking tracking cookies a requirement for new browser entitlements. But it’s noticeable.
The requirement could have the effect of helping Google — which happens to be another DMA gatekeeper; and the Chrome browser launcher (designated in the EU a “platform service”) — which could nudge developers toward adopting an alternative set of advertising technology for targeted ads that Google has been brewing for several years.
Privacy Sandbox, where Google is branding the initiative — which it is in the process of rolling out to Chrome (including Android); Which means it’s also discontinuing support for third-party tracking cookies – offering a Google-created alternative to third-party cookie-based tracking and targeting, which Google developed under scrutiny by the UK Competition and Privacy Authority. Its ambition is to drive a revised approach to monetizing web users’ attention by targeting interest-based advertising across as much of the web ecosystem as possible.
Apple’s retention of iOS as a tracking cookie-free zone thus appears beneficial to Google’s prospects for wider adoption of its sandbox — and unhelpful to rival ad tech players who may try, against the odds (and with absolutely no respect for web users), to privacy ), to keep tracking cookies alive.
When asked what implications it could have for Chrome in light of Apple allowing browsers that don’t use WebKit, Olejnik noted that the move sounds like a “huge” deal for Google.
“Chrome is known for the rapid development of the web and web browsers, so it has a huge influence on Apple. This means that Apple will have to expand on its web development teams. “Otherwise they will lose competitiveness because users will change from Safari.”
“Another consequence would be if Apple decided not to adopt Privacy Sandbox into its web browsing experience. He also points out that it would be available on iOS anyway. “We’re talking about a multi-billion dollar market here. This is very important, and I don’t think this point can be read properly in the public comments about this change.
One big general limitation on Apple’s browser changes is that it stipulates that developers who take advantage of non-Webkit browser entitlements can only do so for apps available in the EU. Therefore, new options from browser developers are not allowed to spread outside the region where DMA does not apply.
This means, for example, that the non-WebKit-based version of Chrome on iOS will be limited in terms of its growth potential to expand within the EU market – at least pending other laws, elsewhere, which would also force Apple to open up this element Managed ecosystem.
There is no doubt that Cupertino will not willingly participate in this change to iOS. It was made to enact changes because the European Union passed a law. So the simple message here is that regulation works. (Or, well, that it could work. It remains to be seen how exactly a direct market access system will work – and whether it will really provide the competitive boost that the EU hopes.)
It may also be the case, as Apple asserts, that the law ultimately reduces security and privacy for iOS users. (“Details matter,” Olenick stresses.) Questions may remain about other forms of tracking [i.e. non-cookie-based]”Such considerations will now be mediated through the DMA’s competition law/policy structures,” he warns.)
But just as important, some reduction in Apple’s controlled protections could be seen as a price worth paying for enhanced choice and competition – provided users have real power of choice and are properly (and fairly) informed of any risks.
“I think the web browser change is unequivocally for the better,” Olejnik also tells us. “The problem is having other browsers within the app, since many of these apps lack security and privacy. But in the case of legitimate web browsers, this is a change for the better. I don’t see any security or privacy risks when allowing Mozilla or legitimate web browser engines “other.”
Beyond all that, the broader point is that controlling platform power is possible if lawmakers have the will (as well as the courage and resolve) to get it done.
“Apple cannot refuse to comply with EU law. “The biggest change in this move is definitely to web browsers,” he adds. “It turned out that all that was needed was a few years of work by policymakers and lawmakers in Brussels.
“The DMA is working here. There’s no doubt about it. There’s more. It’s just not working. It will be one of the most successful technology/competition-based regulations in EU history.”