EU's DMA regulation means other browser engines on iOS
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So after all that hard work by the Vivaldi team making their UI wrap around Apple's Safari-flavoured browser engine... I'm reading that the EU has been successful in forcing Apple to change tack in anti-competitive lock-in.
First it was USB-C, now it's opening up of used browser engines, app installation methods and payment methods...
Edit: posted here since it's relevant to this forum - although I don't use iOS myself.
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As a longtime iOS user I can say only that one never actually cared what engine exactly does the technical bits of rendering html. What makes a browser standout is the UI and services it provides. Both Safari and Vivaldi are quite good in that aspect.
Custom browsers are fine as long as they continue to provide adequate security and privacy. We wouldn’t want nosy ad companies pushing their engines to gather everything there is not know about us now would we.
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@iamkonstantin said in EU's DMA regulation means other browser engines on iOS:
We wouldn’t want nosy ad companies pushing their engines to gather everything there is not know about us now would we.
I've read that both Google and Mozilla are working on bringing their own engines to iOS now. While Firefox should be a-okay privacy-wise, I doubt the same will be true for Chrome. That being said, not sure if the current Webkit-based Chrome on iOS is really any better.
In any case I guess this is only relevant for users in the EU and maybe EEA?
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@viljay if they develop new browsers because of the EU conditions, I'm pretty sure people will want to install them outside the EU - and the browser makers will want to provide them - so Apple will have no choice.
Just like USB-c is now the norm on Apple devices worldwide... In theory it's only mandatory in the EU, in practice it's easier/cheaper for Apple just to apply the same standard everywhere.
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@mossman Hardly comparable. While Apple has probably lost a little bit of revenue by switching to USB-C that before they got through their approval program for devices and cables with Lightning compatibility, this was miniscule and they probably would've wanted to switch to USB-C anyway with the iPhone. If not last year, then this.
While when it comes to the DMA law, there's much more at stake for Apple. A huge portion of their revenue absolutely depends on their ecosystem being "locked down" in a way, if you want to call it that. And there's no downside to a piecemeal strategy here. What will US customers do if they don't get the same treatment as EU customers? Switch phone manufacturers all of a sudden? And to what, Android phones from Samsung? None of that is gonna happen. Giving people outside the EU the same treatment here would be Apple actively damaging their bottom line and by that their stock price and then you could argue they're defrauding stock owners.
Is all of this shitty? Yes. But these issues are rooted deeply in the system.
