Digital Markets Act gives first results – lesser-known browsers gain popularity in the EU

Browsers from independent companies have begun to gain more popularity in the European Union after Google and Apple were forced to ease the transition to third-party browsers on their platforms. Reuters reports this with reference to data from six companies.

This result began to appear after the Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into force in the European Union on March 7. As part of this law, large tech companies must now offer mobile users the opportunity to choose from a list of available web browsers on the selection screen.

Google and Apple install their own browsers by default on Android and iOS, making it difficult for other companies to compete. However, now that people have a choice, the number of Aloha Browser users has increased by 250%, as reported by the developers themselves.

Other companies that reported an increase in users include Vivaldi, Brave, DuckDuckGo, and others. Jan Standahl, Vice President of Opera, said that last month the company saw a record increase in users in the EU.

Despite the positive changes, browser developers have criticized the way Apple and Google deploy new functionality. They complain that the companies do it clumsily, which slows down the transition of users to new browsers.

Mozilla claims that only 19% of iPhone users in the European Union have received the update. This pace of rollout seems slower than with previous updates.

iPhone owners may see a new default browser selection screen when they launch Safari. However, even then, they are only shown a list of other browsers without any explanation.

“The process is so confusing that it’s easiest for (users) to choose Safari or maybe another well-known name,” said John Stevenson von Tetzchner, CEO of Vivaldi.