Brave Browser Reports Spike in EU Installs After iOS 17.4 DMA Changes

Alternative browser company Brave has reported a sharp increase in iPhone installs since Apple made sweeping changes to iOS in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act in the European Union.

alternative browser list eu
With the recent iOS 17.4 update, users in the EU are presented with a splash screen upon opening Safari that allows them to choose a new default browser.

Apple is not providing just the standard browsers that have been options on iOS in the past, but a list of the most downloaded browsers on iOS devices. Some of the options include Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Brave, and Microsoft Edge.

Brave shared an image on X (Twitter) of a line graph showing the number of Brave browser installations on iOS from mid-January to early March. Daily installs hovered around 7,500 to 10,000, before jumping to just over 11,000 following the release of iOS 17.4 on March 6.

"Monopoly defenders argue that the monopolies simply offer better products," wrote Brave in a subsequent post. "But as you can see, when consumers get a clear choice of iOS browsers, they're choosing alternatives to Safari."

"Maybe that's why Google still hasn't implemented a browser choice screen on Android," added the privacy-centric browser company.


To be eligible for consideration in the alternative browsers list, Apple notes that they must have the Default Browser Entitlement that is now available to developers and have been downloaded by "at least 5,000 users across all the EU App Store storefronts on ‌iPhone‌ in the prior calendar year."

Apple selects up to 11 of these for the browser choice screen in addition to Safari, updating the list once per calendar year. 

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Top Rated Comments

foobarbaz Avatar
12 months ago
To those who didn't notice: The chart is misleading, because the Y axis doest start at 0. Completely needless, since a 40% jump would still look impressive without such manipulation.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
User 6502 Avatar
12 months ago

To those who didn't notice: The chart is misleading, because the Y axis doest start at 0. Completely needless, since a 40% jump would still look impressive without such manipulation.
The chart is not misleading, it starts from the lowest it has on the period in exam. Starting from zero is not always the best thing to do. For example if you wan to talk about the American GDP and how it varied in the last three years it wouldn’t make sense to have a graph starting from zero as it would hide any trend and useful information.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pesc Avatar
12 months ago


Attachment Image
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
revs Avatar
12 months ago
I wonder how many are people actively choosing, or it appearing at the top of the list and people not knowing any better and tapping on it?

Would need to see stats from other browsers to really know.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coredev Avatar
12 months ago
The chart is a classic example of "How to lie with statistics". The scale is chosen so it looks like a huge (200%+) spike, but numbers increased by less than 50%.
The spike in downloads might also have to do with a lot of people not even being aware that the Brave browser existed before Apple put it as the first item in a list that is shown to many, many people in the EU.
IMO not at all a situation where the Brave browser developers should complain.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
madmin Avatar
12 months ago
Apple will need a lot of courage when they see this Brave wave ?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)