Tag: safari

Apple's long-standing policy requiring iOS browsers to use only its WebKit engine may change under Japan's impending Mobile App Competition Law. This new regulation, expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2025, means that third-party browsers used on the iOS platform in Japan will be able to use different engines, such as Blink (used by Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera) or Gecko (used by Firefox). Following the EU trend, Japan's adoption of stricter standards is similar to the direction of the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) implemented last year, which already requires Apple to allow third-party browsers to use its own engine in the European market. However, the new Japanese regulations are considered stricter, not only prohibiting designated platforms from preventing developers from using other browser engines, but also explicitly prohibiting Apple from imposing unreasonable technical restrictions on non-WebKit browsers. The non-profit organization Open Web Advocacy points out that this will ensure that third-party browsers have truly viable development space in the Japanese market, avoiding mere nominal openness. Scope of Impact and Actual Changes: According to the regulations, Apple is required not only to allow browsers designed with the non-WebKit engine to be listed on the App Store, but also to provide a default browser selection interface in the initial iPhone setup process, allowing users to directly choose other browsers as defaults besides Safari. This change will not only affect standalone browser applications, but also in-app browsers, such as the built-in web browsing functions of social media and shopping platforms. Developers will be free to use third-party browser engines such as Blink or Gecko, and import more complete features, performance optimizations, and a consistent cross-platform experience. Industry and User Reactions: Apple has not yet responded to how the Japanese regulations will affect its iOS ecosystem. However, the industry expects this to open up new opportunities for third-party browser vendors such as Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft, allowing them to provide full functionality on the iOS platform consistent with Android and desktop versions, rather than being limited to a simplified version under the WebKit architecture. For users, this could bring faster JavaScript execution speeds, better webpage compatibility, and more advanced features (such as extension support). At the same time, increased market competition is also expected to drive continuous improvement of the Safari browser.

Bloomberg News reporter Mark Gurman reports that Apple has recently adjusted its AI strategy, establishing a new team codenamed "Answers, Knowledge and Information" with the goal of building its own AI chatbot to compete with ChatGPT, while optimizing the built-in search experience and further enhancing the intelligent features of services such as Siri, Spotlight, and Safari. This plan can be seen as a turning point in Apple's AI strategy. Unlike Apple's previous product philosophy of "not striving to be first, but to be the best," which led to a relatively conservative approach to generative AI, the establishment of this new team indicates that Apple will accelerate its "Apple Intelligence" project to counter the fierce competition in the AI ​​field from tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Meta. The report indicates that the team is led by former Siri head Robby Walker, with members drawn from the original Siri and Safari development teams, and is actively recruiting talent with experience in search algorithms and engine development. This AI system is currently described as a "simplified version of ChatGPT," focusing on providing fast and accurate question-and-answer capabilities, basic web crawling functionality, and integration with Apple's search services to further enhance the user experience on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Apple doesn't position this AI tool as a standalone application but rather embeds it at the system level to improve the overall intelligence and interactivity of the device. In the future, users may experience AI features with enhanced semantic understanding and real-time responses in Spotlight search, Safari, and the upgraded Siri interaction. Although Apple started its AI application strategy relatively late, since WWDC 2025, its proprietary language models, on-device processing, and cloud collaboration architecture demonstrate that Apple has established a complete AI ecosystem strategy. According to Mark Gurman, Apple has not ruled out accelerating AI development through acquisitions. During the third-quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple is willing to further strengthen its AI technology resources through acquisitions. Although Apple stated earlier this year that it would delay the release of the new Siri, only saying that it would be "updated gradually over the next year," with the formation of the new AI team, we may see a redesign that focuses more on search, conversation, and information retrieval, moving beyond the previous framework of Siri being limited to voice commands. Overall, while the AI ​​chatbot Apple plans to develop this time is a "simplified version," it is actually closer to Apple's consistent strategy of system integration. Compared to the many standalone AI chat applications on the market, Apple is more concerned with how to deeply integrate AI into devices to improve the daily user experience and efficiency, rather than simply pursuing feature stacking or head-on competition.

Microsoft announced that its Microsoft Edge browser accumulated over 10 billion AI-powered chat interactions last year and automatically translated over 38 trillion words of content. The Sleeping tabs feature saved over 7 trillion MB of buffer memory. Furthermore, over 800 million MSN articles were viewed daily through Microsoft Edge in the past year, and over 46 million messages and files were shared across devices via the Drop feature. Bing service boasts 140 million daily active users. The mobile version of Microsoft Edge blocked approximately 1.8 trillion tracking apps and protected approximately 73 billion passwords monthly with its Password Monitor feature, preventing approximately 1.4 billion phishing attacks. Users can even save an average of up to $431 annually on shopping expenses using Microsoft Edge's price comparison, deal finding, and cash discount features. In terms of current market share, Google's Chrome browser remains the most widely used, increasing from 64.7% in December last year to 68.63% in December this year. Microsoft Edge's market share, on the other hand, has slightly decreased from 4.96% in December last year to 4.95%, while Apple's Safari browser has dropped from 18.59% in December last year to 16.88%.

In response to the U.S. Department of Justice's recent ruling that its search service constitutes a market monopoly and its demand to break up the Chrome browser business, Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue stated in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that Apple has no plans to create a search service similar to Google Search. He explained that the cost would be prohibitive and would violate Apple's long-standing privacy policy, emphasizing that the partnership with Google is to provide the best user experience. Apple's move is clearly aimed at maintaining its long-standing agreement with Google, where Google pays a hefty annual fee to make Google Search the default search engine on Apple devices, while Google gains increased search engine usage and profits from advertising exposure. According to Cue, if Apple were to create its own search service, it would require years of development and billions of dollars, forcing Apple to divert resources from other projects to ensure its success. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology in recent years, Apple has emphasized that its search engine design also needs rapid changes. This will require Apple to continue investing heavily in research and development, as well as recruiting design and operational professionals. Furthermore, the search engine design principles may conflict with its own privacy policy philosophy, making a partnership with Google a more suitable approach. Eddy Cue stated that if the cooperation agreement between Apple and Google cannot be continued, it will significantly impact Apple's ability to provide better products and services. To persuade the court, Google, in its earlier proposed remedial measures, suggested allowing Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox to use other providers' search engines as default options on different platforms. It also agreed to allow OEMs to decide whether to pre-install Google applications, including the Google Play Store, and to allow OEMs to choose to pre-install non-Google app stores or applications such as Maps. In addition, Google emphasized that these adjustments comply with the court order and called for a more robust regulatory mechanism, rather than granting governments broader control over user experience.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has stated in an investigation that Apple's design restrictions on third-party browsers within the iOS platform hinder market innovation and jeopardize users' right to convenient features. While Apple allows developers to use its own browser engine in the EU, it maintains a requirement in the UK and other regions that third-party browsers must use WebKit as their browser engine. Furthermore, the design of open PWA (Progressive Web Application) services is currently limited to the EU. Therefore, the CMA believes that Apple's policies still affect market competition. On the other hand, the CMA further points out that the cooperation agreement between Apple and Google also affects market willingness to use browsers. More people will tend to use Safari or Chrome on the iOS platform rather than third-party browsers. This development will be detrimental to the development of other third-party browser providers, consequently affecting more online services and users' right to choose. The CMA's investigation results will be open for public comment until December 13th, with a final ruling expected as early as March 2025. However, Apple stated that the UK Competition and Markets Authority's investigation was inconsistent with the facts, while Google did not comment. Market observers believe that after Apple made numerous policy adjustments in response to EU digital market law, the UK Competition and Markets Authority's investigation results may be revised again, potentially leading to further changes to Apple's iOS platform usage policies in more parts of the world.

Update: Users can now access Apple's web-based Maps service using the Firefox browser. Apple has been promoting its Maps feature on its devices for some time, and is now testing a web-based version. Currently, it only offers an English interface and can be accessed through Safari and Chrome browsers. Using browsers other than Safari or Chromium-based browsers like Firefox will display a browser incompatibility message. Since Chrome is supported, browsers based on the Chromium architecture, including the new version of Microsoft Edge, can also access the web-based Apple Maps service. The web-based Apple Maps still offers location search, attraction guides, and navigation. A "Look Around" feature is planned for the future, allowing users to directly view street views in various locations through their browser. By launching a web version, Apple clearly aims to further expand the reach of its Maps service, allowing more people to access the web-based Apple Maps service directly through their device's browser. It also aims to integrate with more applications and services, creating more business models and user experiences, while competing with Google Maps in the app market. In addition to the web-based Maps service, Apple has previously launched a web-based Apple Music service and allows users to access iCloud content via a web browser.

Named after Sequoia National Park in California, macOS 15 Sequoia further enhances the seamless integration between iPhones and Macs. Through "Continuity," users can directly view a mirrored screen on their Mac to access connected iPhone apps and content, and even real-time push notifications. This design even allows Mac users to access iPhone content while it's locked, without needing to pick up and unlock the iPhone. This means users no longer need to shift their attention from Mac to iPhone to view messages; they can perform related operations directly on their Mac via iPhone mirroring, or transfer data from their iPhone to their Mac, while keeping their iPhone charging on the stand. ▲Directly use iPhone content on Mac. Additionally, the new operating system allows users to drag windows to the corners or edges of the screen, automatically adjusting them to half or a quarter of the screen size, making it easier to view multiple windows neatly. Similar designs have been available in Windows operating systems for some time, and this function can also be quickly implemented via keyboard shortcuts. Regarding FaceTime video calls, the system adds the ability to remove backgrounds and quickly apply different backgrounds. It also supports the "Passwords" feature in conjunction with iCloud Keychain, allowing users to centrally manage passwords for Wi-Fi hotspots, apps, websites, etc. ▲FaceTime adds the ability to remove backgrounds and quickly apply different backgrounds. As for the new Safari browser, Apple emphasizes that it offers up to 4 hours more battery life when watching streaming video compared to models using Chrome. It also integrates personalized settings, translation functionality, true private browsing, support for third-party extensions, and tabbed browsing for a better user experience. With the integration of AI applications, the new Safari browser will be able to summarize key points of webpage text, quickly extract information such as addresses and phone numbers, and provide content summarization and table of contents creation functions in the browser's reading mode. ▲Summarizing key points of webpage text▲The browser's reading mode also provides content summarization and table of contents creation functions. Regarding game updates, Apple announced the release of the new Metal 3 and the new Game Porting Toolkit 2, making it easier for Windows developers to bring games to the Mac platform, and even further to support iPhone or iPad. Apple also announced that more games will be coming to Apple devices, including games from leading game developers and publishers such as Ubisoft. The recently announced Assassin's Creed: Shadows has been confirmed to be coming not only to the Mac platform but also to the iPad. ▲More game content supports Mac devices▲New Metal 3▲New Game Porting Toolkit 15...

Reports indicate that Apple may include a new Safari browser digital assistant feature in its upcoming iOS 18 operating system, which appears to require an additional subscription to iCloud+. While specific details are currently unconfirmed, it's possible this feature will resemble Microsoft's Copilot feature in Microsoft Edge, allowing users to aggregate key search information or generate images using AI-powered image processing. Coming in iOS 18: - "Safari browsing assistant" - "Encrypted visual search" Both features seem to use the Private Relay infrastructure to send data to Apple (so that they...

DuckDuckGo recently updated its browser features, allowing users to sync and back up their frequently used browsing bookmarks and online service accounts across platforms, as well as encrypt and protect their email addresses. In further explanation, DuckDuckGo emphasizes that all cross-platform syncs and backups are protected with end-to-end encryption, and all decryption keys are stored on the user's personal device. Therefore, not only can no one access the user's synced and backed-up content, but even DuckDuckGo itself cannot access it. Users can use this feature through the new version of the DuckDuckGo browser, and after browsing on a PC or Mac, the content can be synced to an Android or iPhone for continued use. Additionally, if a device is damaged or lost, the original browsing content can be restored on a new device through syncing. Regarding email address protection, DuckDuckGo adopts a similar approach to many other companies. Besides blocking hidden tracking elements on the webpage, it uses encryption to create a set of email addresses disguised by different names, thereby protecting the user's actual email address. Even if attacked in the future, only the disguised email address will be affected, preventing the leakage of the user's actual email address information. Similar features, including those added to Google's Chrome browser, Mozilla's Firefox browser, or Apple's Safari browser, all offer cross-platform synchronization, backup, and email protection. This DuckDuckGo update aims to give users more options, while also highlighting its service's enhanced privacy and security compared to Incognito mode, and emphasizing its lifetime free service.

While Google previously stated there were no plans to bring YouTube to Apple's Vision Pro virtual reality headset, YouTube has confirmed that it has developed a native app for Vision Pro and optimized it for use in Apple's Safari browser. The Verge obtained a response from YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby, who revealed that optimizations for YouTube in Safari are underway, and confirmed that a YouTube app for Vision Pro is in future product planning, though no specific details are available at this time. Not long ago, Google stated it had no plans to offer a native YouTube app for Vision Pro, nor would it bring the YouTube app to Vision Pro by modifying the iPadOS version. However, perhaps considering the numerous companies offering content for Vision Pro, especially third-party developers creating apps for viewing YouTube content on Vision Pro, Google has reconsidered its product planning direction. It is currently unclear whether the YouTube app for Vision Pro will include different application features. At present, the YouTube web version service can be accessed through the built-in Safari browser on Vision Pro. Netflix, which does not yet offer a dedicated app for Vision Pro, can also be accessed through the Safari browser.