Apple's urgent warning to over 400,000,000 iPhone users appears more relevant by the day, as controversial decision making by the company behind one of the most popular apps has the tech giant pleading users to opt for their own alternative instead.
When it comes to the iPhone, Apple is all about the ecosystem. While there's obviously an abundance of apps to choose from through the store, including ones that you can now set as default on your device, its aims are always to get you to use the first-party choice whenever possible.
Whether it be FaceTime for video calling, Apple TV+ for all of your entertainment, or even something as simple as Maps - Apple simply want their options to be the best (and only) ones for you.
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That's why the company's battle with Google has been so important, as Apple has done as much as it can to convince around 400,000,000 iPhone users (roughly 30% of the total install base) to jump over from Chrome to Safari.
One of the biggest claims that Apple pushes relates to privacy, as Safari offers a far more secure browsing experience compared to Chrome, and Google's latest bout of backtracking has only further cemented that fact.
As reported by Forbes, Google has now made the decision to keep tracking browser cookies in a highly controversial move, as outlined in a new statement:
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"We've made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies."
While this isn't that much of an issue for most Chrome users, as individuals on Android devices and PC can disable these cookies in the browser settings, but the Chrome app on iPhone lacks this feature, denoting that "cookies are automatically turned on and stay on."
Many people have immediately recalled Apple's urgent warning from a few months ago, where they deployed an advert titled 'Flock', showing CCTV camera-like birds watching the browsing habits of iPhone users before switching to Safari destroyed them.
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The ad, while not naming or showing Chome, was clearly intended to make iPhone owners view Safari as the safer option when placed next to Google's alternative, and the ending splash of "Privacy. That's iPhone," only hammers that point home even further.
Google are currently under scrutiny from the US Department of Justice for what's being deemed as an illegal monopoly in the tech industry, and they could be forced to sell Chrome as their prized asset.
This would certainly give Apple the leg up and might convince the hundreds of millions of active Chrome users on iPhone to make the switch to Safari, but concerns surrounding privacy might just be enough to get there before a sale is even made.