A new report from Reuters suggests that Apple will not be fined under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) for its default browser options on iOS and iPadOS. The investigation launched one year ago and is set to conclude on March 31 with Apple staving off any potential fines according to “people with direct knowledge on the matter”.
Apple did comply with the DMA’s rules by offering a list of popular third-party browsers for first-time Safari users in Europe on iOS 17.4/iPadOS 18.2 or later. The initial browser choice screen promoted Safari over alternative browsers, which naturally caught the EU’s attention and raised concerns over Apple.
Apple’s current browser choice screen on iOS
Apple then redid its browser choice screen, which now includes even more options and, more importantly, presents the list in a random order without placing Safari as the first option. If a user selects a different default browser, it will be downloaded and placed on the same exact page or in the dock where Safari was previously located.
