It has now emerged that after being informed that Safari was likely to fall under the DMA’s regulations, Apple filed formal a response to the European Union claiming that Safari is, in fact, “three distinct web browsers.” The company’s claim is based on the argument that Safari for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS are entirely different and serve different purposes.

On example cited by Apple is Safari’s sidebar feature on iPadOS and macOS, allowing users to see opened tabs, tab groups, bookmarks, and browsing history. Since this feature is unavailable in the version of Safari for iOS, Apple claimed that it is a distinctly different browser. The company added that each version of Safari serves different purposes for users depending on the device upon which it is accessed.

The European Commission went on to point out that Safari’s functionality and underlying technologies are near-identical across platforms. The Commission even highlights Apple’s own marketing materials for its Continuity feature, which appear to contradict the company’s claims, touting the tag line “Same Safari. Different device.” As a result, the Commission rejected Apple’s claim and insists that “Safari qualifies as a single web browser, irrespective of the device through which that service is accessed.”

  • bedrooms
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    01 year ago

    You also call them Chromium browsers, btw. They are different browsers in the usual sense of the word.

    Safari has been always Safari regardless of the variant, in comparison.

    • @ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world
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      91 year ago

      This is branding of web standards. It dangerous in part because of the illusion of choice. You don’t seem to realise all these browsers reinforce Google’s control over the internet. None of the teams making chromium browsers are able to make a web browser - except Google. They are completely dependent on Google to give them 98% of their product.

      They aren’t web browser developers working on edge and brave. It’s UI, UX and tracking developers.

      • bedrooms
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        1 year ago

        I know everything you mentioned. It’s also more geeky to say Edge is Chromium. But I’m talking about the linguistics. You won’t convince me.

        Do you even have a single fucking source that called them a single browser!?

        Before this issue, Edge, Chrome and Opera were each a Chromium-based browser. If you call them a single browser, it’s you who are re-defining (or, in that regard, re-branding) the word.