Opera says in the 12 months ending with October, it saw a 88% surge in daily active iOS users across Europe, partly due to the changes mandated by the DMA
Norway-based Opera announced today that its iOS user base in Europe has grown by as much as five times since the Digital Markets Act (DMA) took effect in 2024.
Context & Ripple Effects
Opera's result extends the early post-DMA pattern in which several alternative browsers, including Opera, reported European user gains; Aloha's reported March 2024 EU jump was the clearest contemporaneous signal.
The result matters because it is measured in daily iOS use over a full 12-month period, rather than a launch-period spike. It also comes against the scale of Apple's European iOS footprint, previously reported at 101M monthly active users.
First-order effects
- Opera has a larger active iOS audience in Europe, strengthening its position with users and potential commercial partners in that market.
- The company can point to sustained usage growth while attributing part of the gain to DMA-mandated changes, rather than solely to its own product activity.
Second-order effects
- Other independent browsers have a clearer incentive to compete for newly contestable iOS distribution and choice points, especially since several peers also reported early EU gains after the DMA took effect.
- Apple's iOS distribution and default-setting pathways become more commercially consequential as alternative browsers demonstrate that changes to those pathways can move active usage.
Third-order effects
- If alternative-browser gains persist beyond the initial implementation period, European iOS browser competition could shift from a market shaped chiefly by platform defaults toward one where distribution access and user choice have greater weight.
- The evidence remains company-reported and does not isolate the DMA's effect, but it strengthens the case for evaluating gatekeeper rules through sustained active-use outcomes rather than one-time adoption spikes.
The trend: DMA-driven changes are testing whether reduced platform gatekeeper leverage can create durable route share for smaller consumer software providers.