iOS 18.2 to Allow Third-Party Browser Web Apps With Custom Engines in EU
Apple will allow third-party browsers in the European Union to create web apps for the iPhone Home Screen using their own custom engines when iOS 18.2 launches later this year.
This expands on changes introduced in iOS 17.4, which first allowed third-party browsers in the EU to use non-WebKit engines for both standalone browsers and in-app browsing. Previously, Apple required all iOS browsers to use Safari's WebKit engine, including popular options like Chrome and Firefox.
According to new documentation on Apple's developer website spotted by 9to5Mac, the upcoming API will be exclusive to the EU and enable web apps to use the same custom engine as their parent browser.
The change follows Apple's reversal of an earlier decision to remove web app support entirely from EU devices – a move that prompted scrutiny from the European Commission. However, despite Apple announcing support for alternative browser engines like Chrome's Blink and Firefox's Gecko in January, these have yet to appear on iPhones.
iOS 18.2 will bring additional EU-specific changes, including the ability to completely remove core apps like the App Store, Safari, Messages, Camera, and Photos. Outside the EU, the update will introduce new Apple Intelligence features such as ChatGPT integration with Siri, Image Playground, custom Genmoji, Visual Intelligence, enhanced Writing Tools, and expanded language support. For all the details, don't miss our iOS 18.2 beta 1 roundup.
Popular Stories
You'd think things would be slowing down heading into the holidays, but this week saw a whirlwind of Apple leaks and rumors while Apple started its next cycle of betas following last week's release of iOS 26.2 and related updates.
This week also saw the release of a new Apple Music integration with ChatGPT, so read on below for all the details on this week's biggest stories!
Top Stories
i...
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu.
As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
Since the beginning of December, Apple has been pushing iPhone users who opted to stay on iOS 18 to install iOS 26 instead. Apple started by making the iOS 18 upgrades less visible, and has now transitioned to making new iOS 18 updates unavailable on any device capable of running iOS 26.
If you have an iPhone 11 or later, Apple is no longer offering new versions of iOS 18, even though there...
Apple is significantly increasing its reliance on Samsung for iPhone memory as component prices surge, according to The Korea Economic Daily.
Apple is said to be expanding the share of iPhone memory it sources from Samsung due to rapidly rising memory prices. The shift is expected to result in Samsung supplying roughly 60% to 70% of the low-power DRAM used in the iPhone 17, compared with a...
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond.
We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...
Italy's Competition Authority (AGCM) has imposed a €98.6 million ($116 million) fine on Apple over its App Tracking Transparency feature.
Since the release of iOS 14.5 in April 2021, Apple has required apps to ask for permission before tracking a user's activity across other apps and websites for personalized advertising, as part of a feature named App Tracking Transparency. If a user...
