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Apple Further Explains iOS 17.4's New Default Browser Prompt in EU

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After updating to iOS 17.4, which is currently in beta, iPhone users in the EU will be prompted to choose a default web browser when they first open Safari. In an email today, Apple shared additional details about how this process will work.

Apple-EU-iOS-Changes.jpg

Apple said iPhone users in the EU will be presented with a list of the 12 most popular web browsers from their country's local App Store at the time, and noted that the options will be shown in random order for every user.

Apple shared an alphabetical list of the browsers that will currently be shown in every EU country. It is a very long list, so we have elected to highlight browsers that will be shown in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain as examples.
  • France: Aloha, Brave, Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Edge, Firefox, Onion Browser, Opera, Private Browser Deluxe, Qwant, and Safari
  • Germany: Aloha, Brave, Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Edge, Firefox, Ivanti Web@Work, Onion Browser, Opera, Safari, and You.com AI Search Assistant
  • Italy: Aloha, Brave, Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Edge, Firefox, Ivanti Web@Work, Onion Browser, Opera, Safari, and You.com AI Search Assistant
  • Spain: Aloha, Brave, Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Edge, Firefox, Onion Browser, Opera, Safari, Vivaldi, and You.com AI Search Assistant
There are 23 other countries in the EU that this change applies to. Notably, this no longer includes the UK, which withdrew from the EU in 2020.

It has already been possible to change an iPhone's default web browser through the Settings app since iOS 14. Apple has now gone a step further and added the default browser prompt in Safari to comply with new regulations under the EU's Digital Markets Act.

In the EU, iOS 17.4 also allows web browsers to use web engines other than Apple's WebKit.

Apple said iOS 17.4 will be released to the public in March.

Article Link: Apple Further Explains iOS 17.4's New Default Browser Prompt in EU
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/01/26/apple-explains-ios-17-4-default-browsers-eu/
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Ignacio Russo

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Jan 10, 2021
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No way! That will end up with unfair advantage of Chrome over other browsers...please add Wikipedia as well.
 
MacProFCP

MacProFCP

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Jun 14, 2007
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What a way to mess up the user experience. Another stupid setting for annoyance.

And, might I ask, how difficult it will be when people want to switch after they choose incorrectly?


To clarify my point: This is solving a problem that, for most users, doesn't exist. Why bother?
 
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iOS Geek

macrumors 68000
Nov 7, 2017
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AnaphaseAway said:
how petty... they know safari would be further down than chrome if it was alphabetical so they make it random...
Click to expand...
Petty? Why? If it's not randomized, the crybabies in the EU will probably whine about favoritism. Sure, alphabetical makes sense. But I can hear it now! "Customers have to scroll down to find and select Vivaldi! And it's below Safari! That's not fair! They should be able to select it as easily as Aloha, without having to scroll!"
 
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Will Co

Will Co

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Feb 21, 2021
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I'm all for choice, but preferably good ones. It seems to me that anything that is going to undo or weaken our already imperilled data privacy and security is a bad thing. A bad choice. Like putting a shonky browser on your iPhone and then trusting it to access your bank account. Or installing apps from goodness knows what app-like-stores which hoover up all manner of data that they shouldn't because they have not been screened well enough or at all. And people will do these things. Because they can. Apple isn't perfect. AppStore isn't perfect. Safari is far from perfect. But I trust them more than I trust any of this other nonsense. I'm in the UK, so this likely won't even be a choice for me. But if it did become a choice, I know exactly what I would do. And incredibly this from the entity that brought us GDPR - a good thing.
 
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H2SO4

macrumors 603
Nov 4, 2008
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MacProFCP said:
What a way to mess up the user experience. Another stupid setting for annoyance.

And, might I ask, how difficult it will be when people want to switch after they choose incorrectly?
Click to expand...
I don't see it as an annoyance at all. Not one bit. In fact I'd prefer when you start a computer for the first time that it happened also.
Load up iOSx and just as it does when you're asked for your Apple ID, data sharing choices, for Accessibility, lastly you can use Safari or click this link for alternatives. Done.
 
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