More web browser diversity may be coming to iOS, leak reveals

The European Union is preparing to introduce new rules that could limit Apple-imposed rules on alternative web browsers for iOS, a new leak suggests.

Although the European Union enacted the Digital Services Act – the latest effort to regulate the provision of online services – earlier this month, the final text of the bill has yet to be made public.

However, based on a preliminary leaked draft seen by MacRumors And register, In addition to players like Google and Meta, EU regulators have Apple in their crosshairs.

Specifically, the EU plans to force Apple to allow third parties to bypass WebKit, the default engine for all browsers on the iOS platform.

“Article 5 point (e) is expanded to capture instances where gatekeepers are required to offer or interoperate web browser engines to business users,” attorney Damien Geradin wrote in a blog post.

“This is most likely to address Apple’s policy of requiring all browsers running on iOS to use Apple’s WebKit browser engine – a policy that the UK CMA found recently, for the development of web apps.” can be banned.”

no one is safe

As well as the Digital Markets Act, the EU plans to implement some very strict laws on digital services and platforms with the DSA, including content moderation, algorithmic transparency, misinformation, and more.

While the DMA explicitly covers Apple, the DSA focuses on those who provide online services, which is not traditionally associated with the company (beyond cloud storage).

However, according to web legend Alex Russell, who has worked on Chrome and Edge, the EU move has the potential to enhance how browsers work on iOS.

“The prospect of a capable Web has been exhausted on mobile because Apple has successfully prevented it so far,” Russell told The Register. “Businesses and services will be able to avoid creating ‘applications’ altogether when enough users have enabled browsers.”

Whether the proposals succeed — you can imagine how intensely Apple will fight these rules, given its prolonged opposition to any change in App Store fees — remains to be seen.

But it’s certainly interesting that the EU is casting its tentacles enough to influence the technology monolith and undermine its position in another area of ​​iOS.

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