IT News on October 6th: According to 9to5Mac, Apple may be preparing to follow Google's practice of promoting Chrome browsers or Google apps to users when they browse web pages using the Safari browser, while also recording users' reactions to such promotional content.
Reports indicate that since the second beta version on iOS, Apple has begun testing a piece of code within Safari. This code is capable of identifying whether Google displays banner ads on search pages to promote Chrome browsers or Google apps, and it can also record whether users interact with these promotional contents.
However, this does not mean that Apple will launch this telemetry feature in the official version of iOS 27.2. But it does at least indicate that Apple is experimenting with a method to track how often Google promotes its own apps to Safari users, as well as what kind of feedback users provide in response.
It is currently unclear what Apple's initial intention was in testing this feature. However, the background for adding this code is that regulatory authorities are increasing their scrutiny of the competitive situation between Safari and its competing browsers, including how users are being directed to alternative browsers such as Chrome.
Taking the UK as an example, Google specifically cited its own measures to promote Chrome to iPhone users as evidence to prove that it is still competing with Safari; at the same time, regulatory authorities are also investigating whether the search agreement between the two companies has weakened their motivation to compete in the browser business.
In the European Union region, Apple also needs to comply with the relevant provisions of the Digital Markets Act regarding browser selection and default settings. Previously, the European Commission had conducted an investigation into whether Apple's Safari browser selection interface complied with regulations.
Therefore, whether Apple collects and uses this data for its own interests or to comply with the increasingly stringent regulations by regulatory authorities regarding browser competition remains to be seen.
From this code, it can be confirmed that Apple has already established a mechanism within Safari to detect and record the aforementioned interactive behaviors. The working logic is as follows: Safari injects a JavaScript script into specific Google homepages and search result pages. This script searches for visible promotional banners and other page elements on the pages, which are the contents used by Google to guide users to open or install Chrome, Google apps.
Thereafter, Safari will retrieve various types of links related to these two applications, including the application's custom URL redirection protocols as well as the app store ID. Once promotional content is identified, the system can record several events, such as whether the banner was successfully displayed, whether the user was logged in with a Google account, and whether the user clicked on that promotional content. With this information, Apple can categorize user behavior as either accepting the promotion, ignoring it, or turning it off, and save the corresponding records.
IT has noticed that as of the third beta version on iOS 27.2 and the Safari 27.2 beta version, Apple has not yet publicly introduced this feature.
