{"id":926,"date":"2025-03-13T06:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T06:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/?p=926"},"modified":"2025-03-13T06:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T06:17:12","slug":"uk-regulator-accuses-apple-and-google-of-stifling-mobile-browser-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/archives\/926","title":{"rendered":"UK Regulator Accuses Apple and Google of Stifling Mobile Browser Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A UK competition authority investigation has concluded that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/search?keyword=Apple&amp;post_type=product\">Apple<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/search?keyword=Google&amp;post_type=product\">Google<\/a>\u2019s control over mobile browsers is restricting innovation and economic growth. The findings highlight anti-competitive policies that limit consumer choice, hinder business opportunities, and reduce incentives for rival browser developers to innovate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/articles\/00yJTc5G3PyQwRml64RHhUL-1.fit_lim.size_1600x900.v1654888870.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Apple and Google\u2019s Grip on Mobile Browsers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<strong>611-page final report<\/strong>, published on&nbsp;<strong>Wednesday<\/strong>, focuses primarily on Apple&#8217;s restrictive policies within iOS, as well as Google&#8217;s controversial revenue-sharing agreement with Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Apple\u2019s Restrictions on Mobile Browsers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The investigation raised multiple concerns over&nbsp;<strong>Apple\u2019s control of mobile browsing<\/strong>, citing several ways in which the company\u2019s policies suppress competition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mandatory Use of WebKit<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Apple\u00a0<strong>forces all third-party browsers on iOS to use its WebKit engine<\/strong>, preventing companies from offering unique features or performance enhancements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Safari\u2019s Preferential Access<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Apple\u00a0<strong>grants Safari exclusive or earlier access<\/strong>\u00a0to certain iOS features, which gives it an unfair advantage over competing browsers. This includes privacy features that Apple markets as a selling point for Safari.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limits on Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Apple&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>constraining approach to PWAs on iOS<\/strong>\u00a0restricts their ability to function like full-fledged apps, pushing developers toward the App Store instead.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In-Browsing Restrictions<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Rival browsers face limitations when trying to\u00a0<strong>open external links within apps<\/strong>, making it harder for them to gain traction among users.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/detail\/1747218\/BN5S\">BN5S&nbsp;for Xiaomi Poco Pad<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Google\u2019s Revenue-Sharing Deals with Apple<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The investigation also&nbsp;<strong>criticized Google\u2019s agreement with Apple<\/strong>, which sees&nbsp;<strong>Google paying Apple a significant share of search ad revenue generated through Safari and Chrome on iOS<\/strong>. This arrangement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reduces the incentive for Apple to compete<\/strong>\u00a0with Google in the search and browser markets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthens Google\u2019s dominance<\/strong>, as it effectively secures preferential treatment within Safari.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disincentivizes innovation<\/strong>, as Apple benefits financially from keeping Google\u2019s search engine as the default option.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The report states that this revenue-sharing deal is so substantial that it&nbsp;<strong>&#8220;significantly limits the financial incentive to compete.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these findings,&nbsp;<strong>the UK regulator has not taken direct enforcement action<\/strong>. Instead, the&nbsp;<strong>Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)<\/strong>&nbsp;is waiting for new&nbsp;<strong>antitrust powers<\/strong>&nbsp;under the UK&#8217;s&nbsp;<strong>Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act (DMCC)<\/strong>, which came into effect in&nbsp;<strong>January 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CMA is currently conducting a&nbsp;<strong>Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation<\/strong>&nbsp;into Apple and Google, which will determine whether they&nbsp;<strong>qualify as digital gatekeepers<\/strong>&nbsp;under the new law. If they do, the CMA will have the authority to impose specific obligations and restrictions on their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CMA has ruled out using its standard market investigation powers for now, stating that this approach would carry&nbsp;<strong>\u201csignificant risks to effectiveness.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;Instead, it is recommending enforcement through the&nbsp;<strong>DMCC\u2019s stricter regulatory framework<\/strong>, which is designed specifically for overseeing dominant digital platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Potential Remedies for Apple and Google\u2019s Dominance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While no enforcement action is being taken immediately, the&nbsp;<strong>report outlines potential regulatory interventions<\/strong>&nbsp;that could be imposed if the CMA&#8217;s&nbsp;<strong>SMS investigation confirms Apple and Google\u2019s market dominance<\/strong>. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Allowing Alternative Browser Engines<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Apple would be required to\u00a0<strong>lift its WebKit restriction<\/strong>, allowing competing browsers to use their own rendering engines on iOS.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ensuring Equal Access to iOS Features<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Third-party browsers would\u00a0<strong>gain the same level of access to platform capabilities as Safari<\/strong>, including privacy and security features.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ending Google\u2019s Revenue-Sharing Agreement with Apple<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The CMA could\u00a0<strong>ban or restrict these payments<\/strong>\u00a0to reduce Google\u2019s hold over mobile search and encourage competition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulating Default Browser Choice Screens<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The way browsers are presented to users on Android and iOS could be\u00a0<strong>standardized or made more transparent<\/strong>\u00a0to promote consumer choice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/detail\/1747231\/AGM2305\">AGM2305&nbsp;for AGM X6 Zero 5G<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Apple and Google Respond<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Apple&nbsp;<strong>disputed the findings<\/strong>, arguing that&nbsp;<strong>the proposed remedies could compromise security, privacy, and the user experience<\/strong>. In a statement to&nbsp;<strong>MacRumors<\/strong>, Apple stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Apple believes in thriving and dynamic markets where innovation can flourish. We face competition in every segment and jurisdiction where we operate, and our focus is always the trust of our users. We have concerns with this report and believe the remedies it discusses would undermine privacy, security, and the overall user experience. We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to best address their concerns.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Google has not yet publicly responded to the final report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A UK competition authority investigation has concluded that&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;and&nbsp;Google\u2019s control over mobile browsers is restricting innovation and economic growth. The findings highlight anti-competitive policies that limit consumer choice, hinder business opportunities, and reduce incentives for rival browser developers to innovate. Apple and Google\u2019s Grip on Mobile Browsers The&nbsp;611-page final report, published on&nbsp;Wednesday, focuses primarily on Apple&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,22],"class_list":["post-926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-apple","tag-google"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":927,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions\/927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}