TECH

iOS 16: Chrome, Firefox, and Other Third-Party Browsers Support Apple Pay

According to sources on the network, in the beta version of iOS 16, third-party browsers have added support for the Apple Pay payment system, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge browsers. Currently, users must use Safari exclusively to pay for purchases and services through the browser using Apple Pay. The new measure is likely to ease pressure from antitrust authorities.

When interacting with the recently released iOS 16 beta 4, developer Steve Moser noticed that the ability to pay for goods using Apple Pay became available in Chrome and Edge. He also suggested that this feature might appear in browsers from all third-party developers. While he didn't mention Firefox, reports of Apple Pay support in Mozilla's browser date back to before the release of the latest iOS 16 beta. Apple officials have so far refrained from commenting on the matter.

Apple appears to have made this change in response to the upcoming toughening of antitrust laws in some regions of the world, which could make the company's practice of forcing browser developers to use the WebKit page rendering engine illegal. Keep in mind that currently, third-party web browser developers for iOS and iPad OS are required to use the WebKit engine in their products.

Effectively, this means that all iOS browsers are based on the same base, and this makes it impossible for third-party developers to create some sort of alternative that, for example, renders webpages faster than Safari. Furthermore, Apple Pay support is implemented only in Apple's proprietary browser, which also raises questions from regulators.

Image source: 9to5 Mac