iOS allows alternative browser engines in Japan

Posted by eklavya 1/1/2026

iOS allows alternative browser engines in Japan(developer.apple.com)

439 points | 408 commentspage 2

shmerl 1/1/2026|

Did Japan decide to push proper competition laws?

Time to force Apple to do it everywhere. Very long overdue.

signal11 1/1/2026|

I agree with the “enforce competition laws” sentiment, but in this context, enforced naively, all it’ll do is entrench the dominant browser engine, Blink, even more across the mobile ecosystem.

I’m sure some devs will love this. But equally, some may worry about the monoculture implications.

dekoidal 1/1/2026|||

It hasn’t on Macs. Safari is still popular among non-tech folk

cosmic_cheese 1/1/2026|||

It’s still got popularity within tech-inclined Mac/iOS circles too because it’s easier on the battery than Chrome (+derivatives) and Firefox. Some would like to switch but because neither Google nor Mozilla has much to lose for their browsers being battery hogs, relatively little engineering effort gets dedicated to improving efficiency compared to WebKit (which is similarly efficient under Linux in e.g. GNOME Web, proving it’s not purely first-party advantage).

crossroadsguy 1/1/2026||||

That’s because Apple adds two extra legs to Safari on OS level and cuts both the legs of other browsers in a manner of speaking by rigging this comparison.

argsnd 1/1/2026|||

In what way do you think this is meaningfully occurring? I ask because I have not heard of Chrome or Firefox being inhibited on energy efficiency by platform limitations.

Klonoar 1/1/2026|||

This needs a big ol’ “citation needed” slapped across it.

Spivak 1/1/2026|||

I think the narrative is that once developers have the option to tell all of their users "we only support Chrome, just install Chrome" then any support for Safari will dry up.

Unfortunately I don't think we will see if this is how it plays out until Apple has to allow other browsers globally.

leptons 1/1/2026||

The reason Apple doesn't allow any other browser engines on iOS is due to them collecting up to 30% of purchases made through the apps from the app store. If a developer can do the same things with a capable web browser, then they won't need to create a native iOS app and that cuts into Apple's app revenue. So Apple purposely hobbles Safari so it doesn't have any advanced browser APIs for stuff like bluetooth or other APIs that apps have access to, forcing developers to create an app, where Apple can then cut into purchases made through the app.

It has nothing to do with people no longer using Safari and Apple being sad about that. Other browsers can technically be installed on iOS, but the underlying browser engine is forced to be Safari, which lacks many APIs other web browsers could implement, reducing the need for a native app. It's purely Apple's anti-competitive greed that drives this situation. And the EU, Japan, and the US DOJ have noticed. So far only the EU and Japan have actually taken measures to force Apple to change this.

Here's the entire DOJ lawsuit which includes many other instances of anti-competitive practices by Apple.

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

otterley 1/1/2026||

What evidence do you have, other than speculation, that Apple is so motivated? What standard features are missing from Safari’s rendering engine that makes it a less capable browser such that developers are forced to produce apps instead?

leptons 1/1/2026|||

Specifically for me, my company has a product that could use Bluetooth, but Safari will never implement the Web Bluetooth API, where Chrome has for some time on Android. So the workaround is to use Wifi instead (my product supports both bluetooth and Wifi), which drains the phone battery faster.

No, we do not want to write our own iOS app where Apple can then extort us for a percentage of any sales through the app, and we have to pay for the priviledge to develop that app, as well as buy Apple hardware to do so.

So instead we use Wifi, where we can maintain one single codebase - the web application, which works on both Android and iOS, but has to use Wifi. If Apple allowed Chrome to use its own browser engine, we would simply tell users to install Chrome to interact with our device. Then we don't have to pay Apple for anything, nor should we have to.

Apple purposely won't implement some APIs so they can force developers to create an app for their app store where they can collect money from any additional sales through the app. It's all spelled out in the DOJ suit, why won't you just read it??

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

otterley 1/1/2026||

We’ve responded to this in a different thread. See elsewhere.

koolala 1/1/2026|||

WebXR hasn't been supported for 10 years so they control their own AR market.

otterley 1/1/2026||

How does it compare to, say, the experience on Android?

concinds 1/1/2026||||

The "monoculture" has never been less of a threat. WPT.FYI is driving towards asymptotically perfect compatibility and behavior. And the real web, the long-tail of websites, is too chaotic to be controlled by any entity regardless of browser market share. Chrome can cook up whatever API they want, no website can be forced to adopt it. And if someone can't use some WebMIDI site on Safari, well, they can't complain, they didn't want that site to exist in the first place.

It's simply not a good excuse to defend the iOS browser ban.

shmerl 1/1/2026|||

Banning competition can't possibly help increasing competition.

It would be good to see Firefox with its own engine there for example.

zb3 1/1/2026||

The title is misleading. "Allows" need to be in quotes - they did everything they could to make sure this won't change anything in practice. Screw Apple.

ninkendo 1/1/2026||

Could you elaborate? Other than the "Japan" requirement it seems legit?

I guess the requirements are pretty onerous, but they all seem like table stakes for a browser these days (Firefox or Chrome should have no problem with them, for instance.)

catlikesshrimp 1/1/2026||

They weren't going to title "Apple forced to allow alternative..."

They are the ones allowing the alternatives because they are the gate keepers. They have "the keys"

threethirtytwo 1/1/2026||

Why only Japan? Seems like something forced them to in Japan.

leptons 1/1/2026||

The US DOJ was attempting to sue Apple in an antitrust suit for many things, including blocking every browser engine except their own Safari browser on iOS.

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

Who knows if this will actually move forward now that "Tim Apple" gave the current leader a meaningless golden trophy.

Hamuko 1/1/2026|||

It's in the EU and Japan, so basically all regions that have pushed back against Apple's anti-competitive ways.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/en...

cubefox 1/1/2026|||

Yes, there is a new Japanese law that forces them.

guessmyname 1/1/2026||

For many Hacker News readers who check the website every day, this is not news:

• (4 years ago) Japan forces Apple to slightly loosen restrictions on ‘reader’ apps — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28387094

• (3 years ago) Japan pushes for Apple and Google to allow sideloading — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36393809

• (3 years ago) Japan to open up Apple and Google app stores to competition — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36368735

• (3 years ago) Japan to open up Apple- and Google-dominated phone apps to competition — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36370398

• (3 years ago) Apple Japan hit with $98M in back taxes for missing duty-free abuses — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34156235

• (2 years ago) Japan to crack down on Apple and Google app store monopolies — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38773429

• (2 years ago) Japan forces Apple and Google to open their mobile platforms — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40666651

• (2 years ago) Japan enacts law to curb Apple, Google's app dominance — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40671162

• (5 months ago) Japan: Apple Must Lift Browser Engine Ban by December — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44810061

• (5 months ago) Japan Law Will Require Apple to Allow Non-WebKit Browsers on iPhone — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44826077

• (15 days ago) Apple Announces Changes to iOS in Japan — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46307858

• (14 days ago) Apple and Google respond to new Japan smartphone law, including reduced app fees — https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310074

… and more here: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=japan+apple

hotsalad 1/1/2026||

If I'm reading the requirements around being a "browser engine steward" correctly, does this mean essentially only Google and Mozilla can ever qualify for the "Embedded Browser Engine Entitlement"? Even Microsoft seems to be ruled out, give that Edge's engine is based on Blink. Any other smaller browser engines would be ruled out by the baseline web functionality requirements.

This hardly seems to allow anything.

DeusExMachina 1/1/2026||

It is amazing the lenghts Apple is willing to go to make exceptions only in individual places that force them to.

gumby271 1/1/2026||

It's so disappointing to be fed crumbs like this instead of seeing real consumer protection laws put in place. Let users install software on their computers outside of what the manufacturer permits, why focus on browsers and "app stores"?

aryonoco 1/1/2026|

Because capitalism.

iqandjoke 1/1/2026||

So can people in Okinotorishima, Takeshima, Senkaku Islands use that alternative browser?

casey2 1/1/2026|

No, but Manchurians can

Schnitz 1/1/2026||

I wonder what technical detail makes this so hard to enable for other locales.

madeofpalk 1/1/2026|

None. Apple doesn't pretend there are any.

mettamage 1/1/2026||

I would love to have a browser that I can use my stylus to scribble with.

keepamovin 1/1/2026|

It will become a weird menagerie

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