EU iOS Envy
Whining about stuff is a treasured American pastime, so allow me to indulge: the iPhone is more fun in Europe now, and it’s not fair.
They’re getting all kinds of stuff because they have cool regulators, not, like, regular regulators. Third-party app stores, the ability for browsers to run their own engines, Fortnite, and now the ability to replace lots of default apps? I want it, too! Imagine if Chrome on iOS wasn’t just a rinky dink little Safari emulator! Imagine downloading a new dialer app with a soundboard of fart sounds and setting it as your default! Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t seem interested in sharing these possibilities with everyone.
As I wrote on Threads (much to the disbelief of some commentators), I personally feel like the “DMA fork” of iOS is the version of iOS I’ve wanted for the past few years. It’s still iOS, with the tasteful design, vibrant app ecosystem, high-performance animations, and accessibility we’ve come to expect from Apple; at the same time, it’s a more flexible and fun version of iOS predicated upon the assumption that users deserve options to control more aspects of how their expensive pocket computers should work. Or, as I put it: some of the flexibility of Android, but on iOS, sounds like a dream to me.
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I think that Apple is doing a pretty good job with their ongoing understanding of the DMA. It’s a process, and they’re doing the work. I don’t find the installation of third-party marketplaces as horrible as others have painted it, and I’m excited about the idea of more default apps coming to iOS. Whether you like it or not, this is the world we live in now. A law was passed, and iPhones (and iPads soon) must be made more versatile. As a result, iPhones are more fun for people like me (a clipboard manager! Fortnite!), while very little has changed for those don’t care about new options.
We can finally use our phones like actual computers with more default apps and apps from external sources.
One of Apple’s greatest fears has come to pass: fragmentation has come for the iPhone and iPad. By the end of the year, users in part of the world will be able to harness the power of Apple Intelligence for various tasks–while users in the European Union will be able to set default apps, delete stock Apple apps, buy from alternative App Stores, play Fortnite, use a clipboard manager, and more.
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It strikes me that Apple has tried to make residents of the European Union envious of other regions by withholding Apple Intelligence, at least at first. There are legal reasons to do so, of course, but it’s also a lesson to Europeans that if they support such a strict regulatory regime, they’re going to be left on the side of the road while the rest of the world enjoys the bounty of AI features inside iOS. (Whether that bounty actually exists is beside the point.)
Yet, when I consider everything being experimented with in the EU, I start to wonder if the envy is actually going to flow in the other direction.
At first, the differences between my iOS and Federico’s didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Sure, it was easier for him to access AltStore, but it’s available outside the EU if you jump through some extra hoops. However, over time, the differences have multiplied. I’ve also had the chance to try Apple Intelligence in 18.1, and although there’s more to come from Apple on the AI front, which could change my calculus, from where things stand today, I’d gladly trade iOS 18.1 for the EU’s 18.0.
I’m feeling pretty strongly that with the EU / US ‘forking’ of iOS thanks to the DMA, the only people who really being helped here are other tech giants and not users and small developers like us.
Imagine if Chrome could deplete your iPhone battery as fast as it does your MacBook battery. Imagine if you were one of the millions (zillions?) of people whose “incognito mode” browsing history was observed and stored by Google and deleted only after they lost a lawsuit. Imagine — and this takes a lot of imagination — if Google actually shipped a version of Chrome for iOS, only for the EU, that used its own battery-eating rendering engine instead of using the energy-efficient system version of WebKit.
It would be great to have that as an option. I’m having so many problems with Safari for Mac: sites that don’t work properly, or that stall and stop updating, or that forget that I just logged in; the app beachballing for 30 seconds at a time, the whole browser getting wedged and not loading any pages until I restart it. After 20 years of using Safari, I find myself using Chrome more and more, and it seems faster and much more reliable. (Surprisingly, it even offers more search engine choices than Safari.) I don’t like this. Chrome is still not as good of a Mac app, and I want it to have solid competition. But Apple has dropped the ball, and Chrome “just works.” (Except that Apple prevents it from auto-filling SMS codes.) I only worry that these benefits wouldn’t be realized on iOS because Google wouldn’t be allowed to use its superior process architecture.
I like Safari, but if someone really likes Chrome, they should be able to use real Chrome on their iPhone. If it ends up being a resource hog, Apple can build tattle-tale resources in the operating system to educate the user. Likewise, I also would really prefer the ability to use my own storage for cloud-based device backups and photo storage—I could cut back on iCloud just for sync and the suite of non-storage features.
On the rest-of-the-world side we have the imminent release of iPhone Mirroring and Apple Intelligence. I don’t play Fortnite, and even if I did, I wouldn’t on my phone, but I find the latter far more interesting — and fun — than the former.
I’m far more interested in a real clipboard manager than in Fortnite.
See also: Sebastiaan de With, though note that Apple Intelligence will not be in the initial world release, either, and Visual Intelligence and Genmoji aren’t coming until December or 2025 for non-English-speaking countries outside of the EU. Also, many people have older phones that can’t run Apple Intelligence. Apple and the EU may well work this out before they upgrade.
Previously:
- Apple’s DMA Compliance, Summer 2024
- iOS 18: Browser Choice and Default App Controls in EU
- Epic Games Store for iOS in the EU
- BitTorrent Apps in AltStore PAL
- Safari Private Browsing 2.0
- Delta’s 10-Year Journey to the Top of the App Store
- AltStore PAL
- Apple Commits to Opening NFC in EU
- No Apple Intelligence or iPhone Mirroring in EU at Launch
- DMA Compliance: Alternative Browser Engines
- Chrome vs. Safari: Energy Use and Compatibility
Update (2024-09-12): MarkV:
Worth noting that every major service that Apple ever launched has come to the EU member states with a 1-3 year delay, if ever.
I’m talking about everything from the iTunes Music Store, iBooks, MobileMe, iCloud, Siri, Apple Maps (+ FlyOver, traffic data, bike lanes), Apple Pay, Apple TV+, Apple Watch cellular, Fitness+, Apple News, Apple Card, eSIMs, Satellite SOS, …
For Apple to pretend like AI being delayed is a DMA issue rather than regular business as usual is hilarious & sad.
Also, using Apple services in non-English or mixed languages has always been a second-class experience—whether it’s waiting for new Siri voices or the latest transformer-based autocorrect improvements.
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That Europe's version of iOS has less AI features rather than more just makes me more envious, not less.
Gruber really leans into his reputation as Apple’s lapdog with his anti-choice rants in the wake of some deserved regulation.
"Imagine if Chrome could deplete your iPhone battery as fast as it does your MacBook battery."
I use Chrome nonstop -- all day long -- on my M1 mac and my battery lasts forever.
✊🍆🍎 doesn't even attempt to hide his bullshit shilling any more.
Re your Safari issues, having used the browser myself almost exclusively for 20 years I'm not seeing many of the issues that you have noted much, at least over the last couple of years.
The only problem I have seen often is the logging-out from sites, though am guessing this may be related to Safari's cookie policies and tracking prevention techniques... if so, I can give this behaviour a bit of a pass.
Co-incidentally I recently wrote about the positive things that Safari has brought to the browser marketplace:
https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/safari-love-letter/
As I think it can be easy to forget just how much it has influenced the overall browser market positively.
I may understand your need to use an alternative to Safari; that being said, if you really want to use a Chromium-based browser, I warmly suggest you to choose a privacy-focused one (e.g. Brave). Google Chrome is literally a privacy nightmare...
@RawBob I have not found Chrome to be a noticeable energy hog, either. I assume it was true once, but I just don’t hear about it being a problem lately.
@Matthew Compatibility has been an issue for at least five years. The logging out problem has been going on for several years and also occurs with tracking prevention disabled. The other issues—where the app basically stops working—are only in the last year or two, and I know of other people who are seeing the same thing. That said, Safari has certainly been a positive influence in many ways.
@palm0x Thanks for the reminder about Brave.
Ever since JB published that post about malicious compliance with the DMA, he's sped off in a whole other direction - raging about the EU, people in the EU, EU commissioners, companies based in the EU, etc. Apparently these regulatory issues are the fault of everyone else.... Apple is just an innocent bystander in all this mess.
I believe Microsoft engineers contributed a lot of code to the Chromium project in regards to improving battery efficiency. All the Chromium-based browsers benefited from it and so Chrome is nothing like as bad as it used to be.
Why don’t you use Firefox instead of Chrome? Thats what I do
It’s a better Mac app, less of a resource hog, and using it promotes standards instead of websites that only work on Chrome, which further entrenches Google’s many monopolies on the web
"Imagine if Chrome could deplete your iPhone battery as fast as it does your MacBook battery."
Weird how it doesn't do that on all the Android phones that run Chrome.
I like emojis and really use them non stop, but I'm absolutely exhausted by Apple plugging new emojis as a feature and a revolutionary development. Just stop it already. If you dont have anything useful to add, go and fix bugs and usability.
I would add that on the Mac, where we've already had practice with Apple gating APIs (which translate to user-facing features in the apps in question) depending on the app distribution mode, Apple is not above restricting features to Mac-App-Store-distributed apps for no obvious reason, and assuming there is a non-obvious reason, no message on any channel as to why. Because I can understand (even if I disagree) restricting iCloud features to Mac-App-Store-distributed apps, but I can't understand what requires an app to be distributed on the Mac App Store when all it wants to do is play low-latency HLS: https://mjtsai.com/blog/2020/02/19/which-os-services-are-app-storeonly/
So at some point, I can't help but question the whole "Apple can't let you EU folks have access to the latest and shiniest iOS features due to the unstable legal landscape" narrative…
@Manx To me, Firefox feels like a worse Mac app than Chrome, and it doesn’t support AppleScript. However, I do use it for some sites.
@Billy
Gruber is probably trolling for pageviews (see: http://scripting.com/2016/07/30/johnDvorakAncientTrollExplainsTheArt.html). An overwhelming majority of Gruber's remaining readership - being Apple users who follow tech - will disagree violently with Gruber's take on this one. It will be interesting if he does an about-face in the near future.
After SJ passed away, Gruber's columns used to infuriate me. These days Apple products speak so little to my tastes that I just don't care if "someone is wrong on the internet" about them.
I'm curious what Mac-like aspects you like about Safari desktop Michael. I've tried it hard and long (on a 8GB Intel Mac in a post-Big Sur era) and found Chrome to be overwhelmingly superior.
The Mac-like things that come to my mind are:
- very superior scrolling,
- close buttons on the left,
- Continuity out of the box,
- ostentatious animations.
I admire only the scrolling (but prefer Firefox's which doesn't make the page jump left and right).
@Alexandre Safari uses standard Mac controls and window tabs. The Chrome settings, downloads, and bookmark management feel very webby. It doesn’t even use the system print panel.
Oh interesting, thanks. Missed that as I file those slightly but definitely in the negative; special shoot-out to the history double-clicking.
Hey look, it's the iOS device I always wanted!!! I've wanted a pro mode for iOS device for so long. Give me the ability to make these little handheld computers really sing.
Hey Michael, speaking of browsers, another alternative to Chrome (which I eradicated from my Macs ten years ago and never looked back) worth considering is Vivaldi. It has really, really matured as a browser. Its syncing feature works very well for me to keep bookmarks, tabs, and password (among other things) synced between Macs. Cheers!
@Riccardo Mori
Second this, I use it on Android too. Great browser, my favorite current Chromium spin. Brave used to be but they and Opera both have made questionable (as far as the user) decisions and I don't use either one now.
I still largely use Firefox on desktop and mobile.
Chrome battery life is worse, eh?
https://birchtree.me/blog/everyone-says-chrome-devastates-mac-battery-life-but-does-it-i-tested-for-36-hours-to-find-out/
Hmmm… It's almost like Gruber just regurgitates Apple's talking points more often than not without doing any analysis at all. Safari really is one of the worst browsers on the market but good thing the walled garden is always consumer focused with their decisions to limit competition. /s
Rent seeking will always have priority of course.
