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How many browsers is Safari? Wrong answers only or Apple is in trouble

By Anam Hamid

Updated: Nov 07, 2023, 3:11 AM

18comments

How many browsers is Safari? Wrong answers only or Apple is in trouble

You may think that Safari is one browser. Apple itself advertises it as the same browser on different devices but guess what? The company kept us in the dark all this time.

Apple says it has three browsers named Safari

Under the European Commission's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple, as well as Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, have been designated as gatekeepers.

DMA is a regulation that was rolled out last year to prevent tech giants from engaging in anticompetitive practices and imposing unfair conditions. Gatekeepers are platforms that are so dominant that consumers cannot avoid them.

These six companies were given six months in September to make the following 22 core platform services DMA-compliant.

A company is considered a gatekeeper if it serves as an important intermediary between businesses and its users in relation to core platform services, provided:

It achieves a certain turnover
It provides a service to more than 45 million monthly active end users in the EU or 10,000 yearly active business users in the EU
If the second criterion was met during the last three years

Safari meets the thresholds but only if you view it as one browser

When boasting about its Continuity feature, Apple talks about the sameness of the Safari browser. However, to prove that Safari does not qualify as a gateway for the respective core platform (browser), Apple says it has three browsers, not one, reports The Register.

The company says it offers five app stores and five operating systems and apart from iOS, these core platform services do not meet the usage level outlined in the legislation.

Apple reiterated its position that each of its Safari web browsers constitutes a distinct [core platform service]. According to Apple, Safari on iOS, Safari on iPadOS and Safari on macOS qualify as web browsers within the meaning of [the DMA requirements]." - European Commission

Apple claims that the DMA only encompasses Safari for the iPhone. It argues that its Safari browsers each offer different interface options and have different uses. The European Commission isn't buying this of course and Apple's insistence has caused it to investigate whether iPadOS and iMessage should also be viewed as platform services controlled by a gatekeeper.

Previously, the company was declared a gatekeeper in the categories operating systems (iOS), intermediation services (AppStore), and internet browsers (Safari). That's the reason why Apple will have to allow third-party app stores on iOS, at least in Europe.

Apple's approach violates the DMA's Anti-Circumvention provision that warns against subdividing the market share of a platform to skirt regulation.

The commission has identified six issues with Apple's claims and has concluded that "Safari qualifies as a single web browser, irrespective of the device through which that service is accessed."

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.