Report: People are bailing on Safari after DMA makes changing defaults easier

Smaller web browsers are gaining traction in the European Union after the Digital Markets Act (DMA) started requiring designated gatekeepers like Google and Apple to make it easier to switch default web browsers on devices.

Previously, tech giants were able to lock users into setting their own browsers as defaults—or at least make it complicated to update the defaults—offering the majority of users their own browsing services for free while collecting data used for ad-targeting. This, the EU feared, kept users from switching to defaults that offered superior or more private web browsing experiences.

Reuters collected data from six companies, confirming that, when presented with a choice screen, many EU users will swap out default browsers like Chrome or Safari for more privacy-focused options. And because iPhones have a larger market share than Google-branded phones in the EU, Apple is emerging as the biggest loser, Reuters reported, noting that under the DMA, "the growth for smaller browsers is currently coming at the cost of Safari."

Some indie browsers are benefiting more than others from users shifting away from Safari. In the month since the DMA took effect on March 7, the Cyprus-based Aloha Browser told Reuters that its total users in the EU spiked by 250 percent in March. In Belgium, Aloha users increased threefold, Aloha said in a press release.

Aloha attracts about 10 million monthly average users globally by promising "total privacy." The company profits from paid subscriptions to premium features like "advanced VPN and privacy-oriented AI," instead of from tracking users for invasive ad-targeting, the press release said.

Aloha does not and has "never collected, stored or monetized any user data of any kind, making Aloha the only major browser that does not receive any money for user data," Aloha CEO Andrew Frost Moroz said in the press release, adding that "we were not surprised to see this increase."

"By enacting these regulations, the EU has done two things: They've cut down on some of big tech's monopolistic practices, and they've made consumers more aware of their choices in the tools they can use online," Frost Moroz said. "And many of those consumers are clearly saying they want to take back control of their digital privacy and personal data."

At least five other browsers have also benefited, Reuters reported, confirming that Norway's Vivaldi and Opera, Germany's Ecosia, and US-based Brave and DuckDuckGo all reported increased users after the DMA took effect. Jan Standal, Opera's vice president, did not share specific numbers but said that Opera is experiencing "record user numbers in the EU right now."

While these numbers are encouraging for smaller browsers hoping to gain a larger market share in the EU, some browser companies have criticized Apple and Google for "slowing the migration of mobile users to new browser choices" by rolling out "slow and clunky" updates, Reuters reported.

Vivaldi CEO Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner directly criticized Apple's process for swapping default browsers as "just so convoluted that it's easiest for (users) to select Safari or potentially some other known name." The CEO told Reuters that Apple only displayed the required choice screen—currently "curated for each of the 27 countries in the EU" and "showing up to 11 browsers in addition to Safari"—when users clicked on Safari and said Apple failed to provide useful information about alternative choices.

Apple faces DMA probe over browser choice screens

Apple is currently under investigation in the EU for potential DMA non-compliance specifically because of how it designs these choice screens. The European Commission expressed concerns that Apple is not providing all the available options to users on the choice screen and thus "deprives end-users of the ability to make a fully informed decision" on whether or not to swap out Safari as the default web browser.

Reuters reported, for example, that more popular alternative browsers like DuckDuckGo and Opera are included on Apple's choice screen list in all 27 member countries. But Aloha is only listed in 26, Ecosia in 13, and Vivaldi in eight.

The EU investigation was launched after a public workshop last month, where a group of software engineers dedicated to blocking tech monopolies called Open Web Advocacy (OWA) called out Apple for allegedly using "dark patterns" to prevent iOS users from changing default browsers.

OWA accused Apple of "maliciously" intending "to undermine user choice" with "an astonishingly brazen dark pattern" where "Apple engineers added code to the Safari's settings page to hide the option to change the default browser if Safari was the default but then to prominently show it if another browser was the default."

You can test this on an iPhone by scrolling to Safari under Settings. If Safari is not the default browser, there will be an option for "Default Browser App" where you can easily set Safari as the default. But if Safari is set as the default, this option disappears. For every other browser installed, the option remains to switch the default, whether that browser is set as the default or not.

OWA's John Ozbay attended Apple's DMA workshop and confronted Apple, saying there was no defense for the behavior.

In response, Apple's spokesperson seemed to dodge Ozbay's question by responding that "there are a ton of other ways in which users can choose different browsers, different default browsers if they so choose," saying that Apple has "worked to make this simple and straightforward."

"In terms of what's being required here by the DMA, our focus is on presenting this choice even more clearly to consumers the first time you use Safari," Apple's spokesperson said.

OWA later criticized Apple for focusing its defense only on its efforts when presenting the choice screen while allegedly ignoring its obligation under the DMA to make it easy to swap out the defaults.

Within three months of opening its investigation, the EU is expected to share preliminary findings on Apple's DMA compliance. OWA has recommended that the European Commission prompt Apple to take more steps to make it easier to switch out Safari as the default browser, perhaps most pressingly, removing "the dark pattern of hiding the option to switch default browser if the default is Safari."

Additionally, OWA suggested that Apple should enable users to access browser settings by searching "default browser" on iOS and move the option to switch the default browser to a centralized location rather than in each browser's settings. OWA also wants Apple to let other browsers know when users have set their service as the default and allow other browsers to prompt users to set their service as the default in one click.

Ars could not immediately reach Apple for comment.

OWA provided Ars with a statement, saying that "OWA believes that Apple is not compliant with its obligation under Article 6 (3) of the Digital Markets Act to allow users to easily change their default browser and is continuing to rely on dark patterns to undermine user choice."

"We have publicly outlined six changes that Apple could make to be in compliance and intend to submit these to the commission for consideration," OWA told Ars. "Apple should not use its control of the operating system to stifle competition and instead use its enormous resources and engineering talent to compete on merit."

Last month, Apple's spokesperson told Ars that Apple is "confident our plan complies with the DMA" and will "continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations."

This post was updated on April 10 to clarify the expected timeline of the EU investigation.