{"id":48495,"date":"2025-07-15T15:13:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=48495"},"modified":"2026-01-06T16:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:39:15","slug":"apples-browser-engine-ban-persists-even-under-the-dma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/15\/apples-browser-engine-ban-persists-even-under-the-dma\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple’s Browser Engine Ban Persists, Even Under the DMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jess Weatherbed<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

It’s been 16 months since a DMA ruling allowed iOS developers like Google and Mozilla to use their own browser engines in the EU, so… where are they?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Open Web Advocacy<\/a> (Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Apple’s compliance did not start well. Faced with the genuine possibility of third-party browsers effectively powering web apps, Apple’s first instinct was to remove web app support entirely from iOS<\/a> with no notice to either businesses or consumers. Under significant pressure from us and the Commission, Apple canceled their plan to sabotage web apps in the EU<\/a>.<\/p>

Both Google and Mozilla began porting their browser engines Blink and Gecko respectively to iOS<\/a>. […] However there were significant issues with Apple’s contract and technical restrictions that made porting browser engines to iOS “as painful as possible” for browser vendors[…]<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

At the DMA workshop last week, we directly raised with Apple the primary blocker preventing third-party browser engines from shipping on iOS. Apple claimed that vendors like Google and Mozilla have “everything they need”<\/em> to ship a browser engine in the EU and simply “have chosen not to do so”<\/em>.<\/p>

Apple has been fully aware of these barriers since at least June 2024, when we covered them in exhaustive detail<\/a>. Multiple browser vendors have also discussed these same issues with Apple directly. The suggestion that Apple is unaware of the problems is not just ridiculous, it’s demonstrably false. Apple knows exactly what the issues are. It is simply refusing to address them.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Previously:<\/p>\n