Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday issued its final ruling on the current state of the country's mobile browser market, with the regulator arguing that Apple's policies have hindered competition and innovation to a large extent. An investigation by the CMA's independent investigative panel found that Apple's requirement that all iOS browsers use its WebKit engine stifles competition and effectively prevents rivals from launching unique features or optimizations on iPhone and iPad regardless of their functionality on other platforms.

The full report outlines several questionable Apple practices in addition to WebKit requirements, including prioritizing Safari to use iOS features over competing browsers, imposing restrictions on in-app browsing, and prominently displaying Safari as the preinstalled default browser on all iPhones.

Google has also come under scrutiny for pre-installing its Chrome browser on Android devices, but the investigation found that Apple's restrictions had a more fundamental impact on competition. The CMA also noted that Google pays Apple billions of dollars each year to continue being the default search engine on iOS devices, a lucrative arrangement that "significantly reduces their financial incentive to compete."

Both companies have made some concessions since the CMA published its preliminary findings in November. The report acknowledges that the improvements "address some, but not all, issues related to choice architecture," and specifically mentions Apple's December software update that modified how users can change their default browser.

However, to address the remaining issues, regulators have proposed several potential remedies, including forcing Apple to allow alternative browser engines on iOS, implementing a browser selection screen during device setup (similar to the EU's approach), and limiting the revenue-sharing search agreement between Apple and Google.

The recommendations are not immediately enforceable as the CMA first conducts separate investigations to determine whether Apple and Google should be designated a "strategic market position" (SMS) under the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act. A decision is expected later this year on whether to grant the companies "strategic market status", which would give the CMA the power to impose tighter regulations on the companies.

If granted the SMS designation, Apple and Google could face legally binding conduct requirements and could face hefty penalties for non-compliance - up to 10% of their global annual turnover.

The cloud gaming portion of the investigation had previously raised concerns about Apple's App Store restrictions, but Apple adjusted its policy during the investigation and concluded that "no further action is necessary."

The UK report follows similar scrutiny of mobile browser competition by other global regulators including the European Commission and the US Department of Justice.