Japan Law Will Require Apple to Allow Non-WebKit Browsers on iPhone

Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act will require Apple to allow non-WebKit web browsers in the App Store on the iPhone later this year.

Specifically, the law "forbids designated providers from preventing individual app providers from using alternative browser engines."

In most countries, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and other popular web browsers on iOS are all currently forced to use WebKit, which is the web engine that powers Safari. Apple has previously stated that the WebKit requirement is due to security and privacy considerations, but critics have argued that the policy is anticompetitive.

Japan's law will allow web browsers and in-app browsers on the iPhone to use alternative browser engines like Blink (used by Chrome, Edge, and Opera) and Gecko (used by Firefox). The regulation takes full effect in December.

Apple has already allowed non-WebKit browsers on the iPhone and iPad in the EU since iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 18, to comply with the Digital Markets Act. However, Apple has a long list of requirements for alternative browsers on the iPhone and iPad, and there are still no major non-WebKit browsers available in the App Store on those platforms.

As noted by the not-for-profit Open Web Advocacy group on Wednesday, Japan's law goes a step further to ensure that there is a viable path for non-WebKit browsers, by preventing Apple from imposing "unreasonable technical restrictions" on web browsers that wish to implement alternative browser engines on the iPhone.

Japan's law will also require Apple to show a default browser selection screen in Safari on the iPhone, and the requirements for that are similarly strict.

Alongside the EU and Japan, it is expected that the UK will also require Apple to allow non-WebKit browsers on the iPhone in the foreseeable future.

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