Security News > 2024 > March > Brave: Sharp increase in installs after iOS DMA update in EU
Brave has seen a sharp increase in users installing its privacy-focused Brave Browser on iPhones after Apple introduced changes to adhere to the new European Digital Markets Act.
To comply with the Digital Markets Act, Apple introduced a new feature in iOS 17.4 that asks EU users to pick a default web browser from a list that includes Brave, among other options.
Brave pointed out that, after the update, there was a noticeable jump in the number of people installing Brave on their iOS devices in the EU. "Why did Apple and Google make it hard to switch default browsers for so many years? Because it's a powerful way to block competitors," tweeted Brave.
"Just look at what happened to Brave installs on iPhone in the EU when Apple rolled out a new default browser choice screen on March 6th:". On X, Brave shared an image of a line graph showing the number of Brave browser installations on iOS from mid-January to early March.
On March 6th, after the iOS update was released, there was a sharp increase in installations, soaring to just over 11,000.
This spike in installations coincides with Apple's introduction of a new choice screen for default browsers on iOS devices in the EU. Brave claims that this significant increase in users choosing Brave as their default browser is due to the new feature introduced by Apple to comply with the EU DMA. "Monopoly defenders argue that the monopolies simply offer better products. But as you can see, when consumers get a clear choice of iOS browsers, they're choosing alternatives to Safari," noted in their Twitter thread. "Maybe that's why Google still hasn't implemented a browser choice screen on Android."