Will complicate the development of Firefox: Mozilla disappointed with Apple’s decision to allow browsers on its own engines in iOS only in the EU

Mozilla has expressed considerable disappointment with Apple’s new rules that allow browsers such as Firefox, to use their own engines on iOS only in the European Union.

Although this seems like a positive development, Mozilla spokesperson Damiano DeMonte expressed disappointment in an interview with The Verge, saying that Apple’s plan to limit the recently announced BrowserEngineKit to EU applications is extremely disappointing. This restriction will force Firefox developers to create and maintain two separate implementations of the browser, which is a burden that even Apple itself does not want to bear.

With the release of iOS 17.4, Apple is removing the requirement for EU browsers to use WebKit, the engine behind Safari. This change opens the door for other popular engines such as Google Chrome’s Blink and Firefox’s Gecko, potentially allowing third-party browsers to run fully on iOS without the limitations of WebKit.

However, Mozilla argues that implementing these changes only in the EU makes it difficult to develop browsers that work with different versions of iOS. DeMonte criticizes Apple’s proposals for not offering consumers a viable choice and creating barriers to true browser competition on iOS.

Mozilla is not alone in its criticism of Apple’s new rules, which also apply to game streaming services, alternative app stores, and side-loading. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and representatives of Spotify also expressed strong objections, calling Apple’s creation of separate conditions for developers in the EU and other countries a “horror show” and a “farce.”