About the browser choice screen in the EU

To meet the requirements in the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union, iOS 17.4 and later include a choice screen that provides an additional way to choose a default web browser from a list of options. The screen is displayed the first time a user in the EU opens Safari on their iPhone. This capability is available to users in the 27 EU member countries and will be coming to iPadOS 18 later in 2024.

To be considered for inclusion in the list of iOS browser options, an app needs to meet the following criteria:

• Have the Default Browser Entitlement
• Have been downloaded by at least 5,000 users across all the EU App Store storefronts on iPhone in the prior calendar year
• If a developer has multiple browser apps, only the most downloaded app will be eligible
• Be available on the App Store on iPhone in the EU
• Meets EU legal requirements for inclusion in the choice screen

Up to 11 of the most downloaded browsers on iOS in that country in the prior year that meet the above criteria will be selected for the browser choice screen in addition to Safari. Apple will update the list of browsers eligible to be shown on the choice screen once per calendar year.

The criteria for inclusion in the list of iPadOS browser options will be generally similar to the criteria in iOS and will be available later in 2024.

Update as of August 2024

By the end of this year, an update to iOS and iPadOS will include the following changes to when the choice screen is displayed:

• All users with Safari as their default browser, including users who have already seen the choice screen prior to the update, will see the choice screen upon first launch of Safari after installing the update available later this year
• The choice screen will not be displayed if a user already has a browser other than Safari set as default
• The choice screen will be shown once per device instead of once per user
• When migrating to a new device, if (and only if) the user’s previously chosen default browser was Safari, the user will be required to reselect a default browser (i.e. unlike other settings in iOS, the user’s choice of default browser will not be migrated if that choice was Safari)

iOS and iPadOS will also include the following updates to the design of the choice screen:

• Users will be able to select their default browser directly on the choice screen by tapping on their chosen browser, without seeing descriptive information on the App Store product page for that browser
• Browser descriptions on the choice screen will include the app subtitle from the browser’s App Store product page
• Users will be able to review each browser’s App Store product page by tapping on the chevron to the right
• Users will be required to scroll through the full list of browser options before setting a browser as default
• If the chosen default browser is already on device, the chosen default browser will automatically open once chosen
• If the chosen default browser is not already downloaded on device, the choice screen will show the selected browser’s download progress on the choice screen before automatically opening
• If Safari is currently in the user’s Dock or on the first page of the Home Screen and the user selects a browser that is not currently installed on their device from the choice screen, the selected browser will replace the Safari icon in the user’s Dock or in the Home Screen
• Developers of browsers on the choice screen will have access to a new set of data, available via an API in App Store Connect, about their browser’s performance on the choice screen. This data will include items such as selection rates on the choice screen and information about default selection. Developers should contact their Apple representative or dma-data@apple.com for more details.

Additionally, developers who make their browsers available outside the App Store should contact their Apple representative or dma-data@apple.com to collaborate on including their browser in the choice screen.

The browser choice screen design will be updated to reflect these changes: