Though I’m USian I fail to see the problem. On my iPhone I use Safari but also read blogs in Firefox because it handles ad-infested sites better. I have Opera but don’t use it as much. Duck Duck Go is also an available browser. It’s not that Apple is preventing these browsers in the App Store. I never encounter issues where default browser settings are relevant.

This next para is telling (and very counter-narrative IMO): “This shifts on desktop, with Chrome being the most used browser with 62% market share, followed by Safari with 18%, Edge 9%, and Mozilla 6%.”

I assume Microsoft Windows is the dominant desktop OS. So Chrome accounting for 62% and Edge only 9% violates expectations. Plus isn’t Edge now based on a Chromium engine? It is not the case then, if I’m interpreting the numbers correctly, that Microsoft is imposing Internet Exploder on customers to the detriment of Netscape anymore. Firefox is an option, though not popular apparently.

These days I’d think it more a case of enduser education about options than defaults, which at least in Windows can be changed.

I recall when I was using Linux that Chromium was preferable to Chrome, but can’t think off top of my head if Chromium had a less convenient enduser experience versus Google branded Chrome.

I think the hot issue now is Apple being in the crosshairs of tech giants like Facebook for obvious reasons of Zuck’s modus operandi...commodification of endusers. Apple has the moral high ground there. Zuck’s behavior at Harvard was enough for me to take a hard pass on his product.