Mozilla rages over lack of browser choices | AppleInsider

Firefox lags far behind most other browsers in the world, being used by 7.4% of desktop users and 3.16% of total browser usage, according to Statcounter. A report published by Mozilla alleges that platform owners, including Apple, are making it too difficult for competitors to convince users to try other browsers available in the market.

The Five Walled Gardens: Why Browsers are Essential to the Internet and How Operating Systems are Holding Them Back report points out that competition is needed to drive innovation, privacy, and security, and that Apple’s Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge are just too dominant. In part, this is because operating systems do a lot to lock users into the parent company’s browser choices.

Mozilla also notes that the only major browser engine makers are Apple for WebKit, Google’s Chromium Blink, and Mozilla’s Gecko. As Apple focuses on its own platforms for WebKit, Chromium Blink has become the most widely used engine, including use by Edge, Brave, Opera, and other browsers.

The 66-page document claims that operating systems make it “difficult or impossible for a consumer to switch browsers” in a variety of ways. This includes “inhibiting independent app detection” by making the company’s browser the default and first on the home screen or dock.

Curiously, Mozilla also complains about a lack of discovery in voice assistants like Siri, a feature that wouldn’t typically rely on displaying a browser screen for most audio-based interactions.

There are also problems with “prohibiting independent app acceptance” by making it difficult to remove the existing default browser instead of using a different one. In cases where a different browser is chosen, Mozilla also claims that an operating system that overrides the user’s choice and opens the original default is “even more egregious than banning the takeover of competing software.”

Mozilla also warns against business practices targeting independent companies, such as restrictive contracts that tie browsers to operating systems and limit pre-installation of alternatives. This refers to concepts such as Google’s agreement with phone carriers to enable use of the Play Store.

Restrictive app store policies are also under attack, such as Apple’s ban on alternative browser engines other than WebKit. While Mozilla acknowledges that regulators are stepping up their crackdown on such anti-competitive behavior, they “have yet to take action.”

“Failing to do better for these companies, regulators, policymakers and legislators have devoted significant time and resources to studying digital markets,” the report concludes. “You should therefore be in a good position to recognize the importance of browser competition and take action to prevent further harm to consumers from continued inaction and competitive stagnation.”

“We call on them to enforce existing and soon-to-be-enacted laws and regulations. And where existing laws and regulations are lacking, we call for their implementation and their importance for the future of the internet to be highlighted.”