Apple has announced a new set of changes to its App Store and iPhone policies in the European Union, this time expanding default app controls, allowing additional first-party apps to be removed, and updating browser choice screens.
Browser selection screen
Apple added the browser choice screen in the EU earlier this year, showing users the option to choose a default browser the first time they open Safari after updating their iPhone to iOS 17.4. Apple plans to make further changes to the browser choice screen on iPhones and iPads in updates later this year.
- All users who use Safari as their default browser, including those who were already seeing the choice screen before the update, will see the choice screen the first time they launch Safari after installing the update, available later this year.
- If the user already has a browser other than Safari set as their default, they won't be prompted to choose.
- The selection screen appears once per device, not once per user.
- When migrating to a new device, users will be required to select their default browser again if (and only if) Safari was their previously selected default browser (i.e., unlike other settings in iOS, if a user selects Safari, their default browser choice does not migrate).
Changes will also be made to the design of the browser selection screen.
- Users will be able to tap on their chosen browser to select it as their default browser directly on the selection screen, even if they don't see descriptive information about that browser on your App Store product page.
- The browser's description on the selection screen includes the app's subtitle from the browser's App Store product page.
- Users will be able to tap the arrow on the right to see the App Store product page for each browser.
- Users will have to scroll through a full list of browser options before they can set the browser as the default.
- If a selected default browser is already on your device, the selected default browser will open automatically.
- If the selected default browser is not already downloaded to your device, the selection screen will display the download progress of the selected browser before opening it automatically.
- If Safari is currently on the first page of the user's Dock or Home screen, and the user selects a browser from the selection screen that is not currently installed on the device, the selected browser will replace the Safari icon in the user's Dock or Home screen.
- Choice screen browser developers will have access to a new dataset about choice screen browser performance via the App Store Connect API, including items such as selection rates on choice screens and information about default selections.
Change default apps
In addition to changing the rules and design of the default browser, Apple is also updating the default settings for other apps. First, the upcoming iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 updates will add a new Default Apps section to the Settings app, where users will be able to manage their default settings.
Currently, EU users can set defaults for the browser, email app, app marketplace, and contactless apps, and Apple will expand these options later this year to allow users to set defaults for phone, messages, password manager, keyboard, and call spam filters.
Finally, Apple says that in spring 2025, iOS and iPadOS will add support for navigation apps and translation default settings.
Apps that can be removed
Finally, Apple plans to allow users to delete the App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos, and Safari apps in a software update later this year.
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