Browser choice? Here’s how EU’s DMA is helping make it real

Too often, well-intentioned regulation misses the mark. This can be due to poor design, poor implementation, poor compliance, or failure to address unintended consequences. But the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) has the potential to be different.

The DMA is a regulatory framework that came into effect in the EU in March 2024. It covers a range of services, including browsers, where it empowers people in the EU to choose a browser for themselves.

Twelve months later, the verdict's in, and it proves what 98% of people told us before the DMA even kicked in last year: People want browser choice. And when they are given real choice, they will opt for a browser that serves their needs and preferences.

For many EU consumers, this choice has been Firefox - an independent browser that offers the features they want in terms of privacy, safety, productivity and speed.

Why is the DMA important?

The DMA is a first-of-its-kind regulation. Its aim? Leveling the playing field so that EU consumers can discover and use products from smaller, innovative companies without being blocked by gatekeeper operating systems. In practice? When it comes to browsers, it means putting real choice in the hands of users. The desired outcome? Removing barriers to choice such as the complex device settings consumers have to navigate to change their pre-installed browser - and enabling them to keep their choice.

Under the DMA, certain operating system providers are required to prompt users to actively select their preferred default web browser through a choice screen.

What is a browser choice screen and when will I see one?

Browser choice screens are a seemingly simple solution - a menu of options listed for you to choose your preferred default browser.

The first DMA browser choice screens started rolling out in the EU in March 2024. Since then, they have slowly started appearing for:

• New and existing Android smartphones and tablet users with Chrome pre-set as a default browser (though rollout has been fairly inconsistent)
• New and existing iOS users with Safari as their default browser, who have iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 or later iOS versions installed on their device (initial roll out in iOS 17.4 was poorly designed)

Unfortunately, if you're a smartphone user outside the EU - or a Windows/Mac user anywhere - you won't have seen the benefit of browser choice screens. Yet.

Why does browser choice matter?

From our research, we know that when well-designed and fully implemented, browser choice screens can be a powerful tool. They can not only provide people with real choice but can also have a huge impact on their levels of satisfaction with their tech by giving them freedom to customize their device experience more easily and quickly. Just as important, browser choice screens can promote user choice without degrading the user experience or causing unintended harm to consumers, competition and innovation.

Browser choice screens also matter because they allow people to opt for independent alternatives like Firefox that are not tied to an operating system or device manufacturer. This makes them a critical intervention against the self-preferencing deployed by device manufacturers and operating systems, which push people to use their own label browsers and services.

What happens when you choose for yourself?

Despite vague compliance plans and some obvious gatekeeper non-compliance preventing the DMA from reaching its full potential, one year on we're starting to see how targeted regulation can help tackle some of the barriers to competition in the browser space and what can happen if the power of browser choice is in the hands of consumers.

Since the launch of the first DMA browser choice screens on iOS in March 2024, people are making themselves heard: Firefox daily active users in Germany alone have increased by 99%. And in France, Firefox's daily active users on iOS grew by 111%.

This growth has also been fueled by a number of new features coming to Firefox - from enhanced privacy controls and performance updates to new productivity tools - but the effect of the DMA is clear. When people are given browser choice, they vote with their feet for a product they love and stick with it.

And we've found that when people choose Firefox via a DMA choice screen, they stick with it.

Why choose Firefox?

When Firefox was launched 20 years ago, our mission was to provide people with an alternative choice for a browser that prioritises user privacy, transparency and openness.

The internet has changed dramatically since then, but our mission to keep the internet open and accessible to everyone is more important than ever. This is why we're continuously improving Firefox and working on providing users with real choice, giving them control of their internet experience through privacy and productivity enhancing features.

Not convinced yet? Don't take our word for it and check out what users say they love about Firefox.

Ready to make the switch? Don't wait on a choice screen, download Firefox or set it as your default browser now.

Get Firefox Get the browser that protects what's important

The post Browser choice? Here's how EU's DMA is helping make it real appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.