Safari code in iOS 27.2 betas includes a telemetry mechanism that detects when Google displays banners promoting Chrome or the Google app on Google home and search results pages, and logs how users respond. The implementation injects a JavaScript snippet into certain Google pages, scans for visible promotional elements and links tied to Chrome or Google (including custom URL schemes and App Store IDs), and records events such as banner impressions, whether the visitor appears signed into a Google account, and whether the prompt was accepted or dismissed. The beta plumbing categorizes interactions and records them, but Apple has not publicly documented the feature in release notes.
The rationale for the telemetry is not stated, but the timing aligns with intensified regulatory scrutiny of browser competition in multiple markets. U.K. regulators have evaluated Google’s claims that promoting Chrome on iPhone demonstrates active competition with Safari, and EU rules under the Digital Markets Act plus prior European Commission probes have focused on Apple’s browser choice screens and default-setting behaviors. Whether the logged data will be used internally, product-side, or to address regulatory questions remains unspecified.
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