Anonymous reader quotes Reuters report. In the month since European Union law forced Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Microsoft and Apple to make it easier for users to switch to competitors, data provided to Reuters by six independent browser companies in the European Union showed It is said that the number is rapidly increasing. Early results show that the EU's comprehensive digital markets law, aimed at eliminating unfair competition, will come into force on March 7, with big tech companies offering mobile users a “choice screen” from the list of available web browsers. This was announced in response to the mandate to provide a function that allows users to choose from. ” […]
Cyprus-based Aloha Browser announced a 250% jump in users in the EU in March. This is one of the first companies to announce monthly growth numbers since the new regulations were introduced. Founded in 2016, Aloha pitches itself as a privacy-focused alternative to browsers. It's owned by a major technology company, has an average of 10 million monthly users, and tracks users and sells ads. Instead, it makes money through paid subscriptions. “The EU used to be our fourth-largest market, and now it's our second-largest market,” Aloha CEO Andrew Frost-Moroz said in an interview. Norway's Vivaldi, Germany's Ecosia and US-based Brave also saw their user numbers increase following the new regulations. U.S.-based DuckDuckGo, which has about 100 million users, and its big rival, Norway-based Opera (OPRA.O), also open new tabs and say they have a growing number of users but are unable to choose He said the screen rollout has not yet been completed. “We are currently experiencing record user numbers in the EU,” said Jan Stendhal, vice president of Opera, which has more than 324 million users worldwide.
New EU rules require mobile software makers to display a selection screen where users can choose a browser, search engine or virtual assistant when setting up their phone. In the past, technology companies like Apple and Google included default settings on their phones that included their preferred services, such as the iPhone's voice assistant Siri. Changing these settings required a more complex process. Apple currently displays up to 11 browsers in addition to Safari on a carefully selected selection screen for each of the EU's 27 countries, and these screens will be updated once a year for each country. is. DuckDuckGo and Opera are available on Apple's list and will open new tabs in all 27 countries, compared to Aloha in 26 countries, Ecosia in 13 countries, and Vivaldi in 8 countries. Google is currently showing browser choices on its devices and says new devices have been created. Products from other companies running the Android operating system will also show the selection screen in the coming months. It's a schedule. A Google spokesperson said the company doesn't yet have data to share about the selection screen.