After upgrading to iOS 17.4, which is currently in beta, iPhone users in the EU will be prompted to select the default web browser when they open Safari for the first time. In an email today, Apple shared more details about how the process will work.


iPhone users in the EU will then see a list of the 12 most popular web browsers from their country's local App Store, Apple said, noting that the options will be presented to each user in random order.

Apple shared an alphabetical list of the browsers that will currently be available across the European Union. It's a long list, so we've chosen browsers that will show up in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain as examples.

  • France: Aloha, Brave, Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Edge, Firefox, OnionBrowser, Opera, PrivateBrowserDeluxe, Qwant, andSafari

  • Germany:Aloha,Brave,Chrome,DuckDuckGo,Ecosia,Edge,Firefox,IvantiWeb@Work,OnionBrowser,Opera,Safari,andYou.comAISearchAssistant

  • Italy:Aloha,Brave,Chrome,DuckDuckGo,Ecosia,Edge,Firefox,IvantiWeb@Work,OnionBrowser,Opera,Safari,andYou.comAISearchAssistant

  • Spain:Aloha,Brave,Chrome,DuckDuckGo,Ecosia,Edge,Firefox,OnionBrowser,Opera,Safari,Vivaldi,andYou.comAISearchAssistant

    • The change applies to the other 23 countries in the EU. Notably, this no longer includes the UK, which will leave the EU in 2020.

    Starting from iOS14, users can change the iPhone’s default web browser through the Settings application software. Now, Apple has gone a step further and added a default browser prompt in Safari to comply with the new regulations of the European Union's Digital Markets Act.

    In the EU, iOS 17.4 also allows web browsers to use web engines other than Apple's WebKit. Apple says iOS 17.4 will be released to the public in March.