Forced browser selection: Firefox counts doubled iPhone user base
Do the browser selection dialogs forced on Apple by the EU have an effect on iPhones? Yes, says Mozilla – with reference to Germany.
(Image: Primakov/Shutterstock.com)
For a year now, iOS has been asking the EU to set a default browser if iPhone users have been using Apple's Safari. The company has not integrated this into its operating systems voluntarily, but in response to new requirements of the Digital Markets Act. Such a browser choice screen is actually having an effect, Mozilla has now announced: Since Apple's first display of a browser choice dialog in March 2024, the number of daily active users of the iOS version of Firefox in Germany has almost doubled. In France, there has even been growth of 111 percent.
Firefox was at the top of the app store charts
The significance of percentage growth figures remains limited; Mozilla did not provide specific figures on the number of daily active Firefox users. However, the fact that third-party browsers have received a massive download boost due to the browser choice screen displayed by iOS has been repeatedly observed in the app store charts over the past few months. In the meantime, Firefox and Google Chrome have repeatedly been among the most downloaded apps in Germany.
The flood of downloads seems to be triggered by major point updates for iOS, such as the latest version 18.3. Many users then see the browser selection dialog and obviously download one of the well-known browsers listed. Chrome is practically always in the top 10 of Apple's App Store, apparently regardless of whether the selection dialog is displayed.
Videos by heise
Mozilla explained that the Digital Markets Act has not yet reached its full potential because gatekeepers are reluctant to adhere to the new rules. Nevertheless, it shows that such "targeted regulation can help tackle some barriers to competition in browsers". With iOS 18.2, Apple – apparently had to make further significant improvements to the browser selection dialogs under pressure from the EU –. Since then, the newly selected default browser has directly displaced Safari from its prominent position in the iPhone dock.
No fully-fledged third-party browsers available yet
There is still no real choice between fully-fledged browsers for iOS and iPadOS: all browsers are based on Apple's WebKit. The Digital Markets Act has also forced Apple to allow other browser engines. However, neither Google nor Mozilla have implemented this yet – not least because there were also considerable Apple hurdles here.
(lbe)
