Apple is opening up iOS to alternative browsers and browser engines; but only in the EU. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, reviews and how-tos)

In a reversal of a lower court ruling, Britain’s antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has been granted authority by the Court of Appeal to launch a probe of Apple’s Safari mobile browser and Apple Arcade cloud gaming services. The CMA had previously launched an investigation into the dominance of Apple and Alphabet’s Google in mobile browsers last year. Reuters: ‎ Apple argued that the CMA had “no power” to launch such an inquiry because it did so too late and that the probe should have been opened last June at the same time the CMA published a report on mobile ecosystems, which found Apple and Google had an “effective duopoly.” The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled in…

Apple recently claimed that Safari is three different browsers in effort to avoid regulation in the European Union (via The Register). The claim came as part of a response to the European Union in August, just before the European Commission designated many of Apple's iOS, App Store, and Safari as gatekeeper platforms. This classification means that Apple now has to ensure that these platforms fall in line with the Digital Markets Act's requirements, such as allowing browser engines other than WebKit and the installation of third-party app stores. It has now emerged that after being informed that Safari was likely to fall under the DMA's regulations, Apple filed formal a response to the European Union claiming that Safari is, in…

Apple recently claimed that Safari is three different browsers in effort to avoid regulation in the European Union (via The Register). The claim came as part of a response to the European Union in August, just before the European Commission designated many of Apple's iOS, App Store, and Safari as gatekeeper platforms. This classification means that Apple now has to ensure that these platforms fall in line with the Digital Markets Act's requirements, such as allowing browser engines other than WebKit and the installation of third-party app stores. It has now emerged that after being informed that Safari was likely to fall under the DMA's regulations, Apple filed formal a response to the European Union claiming that Safari is, in…

The New York Times on Thursday reports that Alphabet-subsidiary Google paid Apple “around $18 billion” to be Safari’s default search engine in 2021. Nico Grant for The New York Times: ‎ For years, Google watched with increasing concern as Apple improved its search technology, not knowing whether its longtime partner and sometimes competitor would eventually build its own search engine. Those fears ratcheted up in 2021, when Google paid Apple around $18 billion to keep Google’s search engine the default selection on iPhones, according to two people with knowledge of the partnership, who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. The same year, Apple’s iPhone search tool, Spotlight, began showing users richer web results like those they could have found…

The New York Times on Thursday reports that Alphabet-subsidiary Google paid Apple “around $18 billion” to be Safari’s default search engine in 2021. Nico Grant for The New York Times: ‎ For years, Google watched with increasing concern as Apple improved its search technology, not knowing whether its longtime partner and sometimes competitor would eventually build its own search engine. Those fears ratcheted up in 2021, when Google paid Apple around $18 billion to keep Google’s search engine the default selection on iPhones, according to two people with knowledge of the partnership, who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. The same year, Apple’s iPhone search tool, Spotlight, began showing users richer web results like those they could have found…