Apple may soon track when Google promotes Chrome inside Safari. Since iOS 27.2 beta 2, Safari has been testing code that detects Google banners promoting Chrome or the Google app and logs user interactions. The system injects a .js script into Google pages, looking for promotional elements and links with custom URL schemes and App Store IDs.
It can log whether a banner was shown, if the user is signed into a Google account, and whether the user accepted or dismissed the promotion. Apple has not publicly documented this feature as of iOS 27.2 beta 3. The testing comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of browser competition.
In the UK, Google cites Chrome promotion efforts as evidence of competing with Safari, while the EU examines Apple's compliance with Digital Markets Act browser choice rules. Whether Apple will ship this telemetry feature remains unclear, as does its intended use for regulatory or competitive purposes.
Source: 9to5Mac · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing