Latest iOS 16 Betas Add Apple Pay Support on Chrome and Edge
Apple has quietly added Apple Pay support on third-party web browsers on the recent iOS 16 developer betas. Apple Pay payments on the web now work on the iOS versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, while the feature was restricted to Safari on iOS 15.
The expanded Apple Pay support was spotted over the weekend by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser. However, it’s not exactly clear when Apple implemented the change, as other beta testers saw Apple Pay work in non-Safari browsers in the iOS 16 beta 2 and beta 3.
As you can see in the screenshots from Steve Moser below, the “Continue with Apple Pay” button is now showing up on a checkout page when using Edge or Chrome on iOS beta 14. Until now, these Apple Pay buttons were only available on Safari.
This doesn’t work in Edge or Chrome on that latest macOS beta because I assume it requires the third party render engines to be updated where as Edge and Chrome on iOS use Safari’s render engine.
— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) July 30, 2022
For now, the change only applies to the latest iOS 16 betas, leaving macOS Ventura testers on the sidelines. Keep in mind that all third-party web browsers on iOS are required to use the same Webkit engine used by Apple’s Safari, which may make it easier to implement Apple Pay support. On macOS, however, third-party web browsers are free to use other engines, and that may possibly make it harder to implement Apple Pay support on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and other browsers.
In recent months, Apple has been pressured by regulators to open up its iOS platform to competitors. In addition to Apple Pay, Apple’s restrictive App Store policies have also been under heavy scrutiny. With EU lawmakers recently approving the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), it’s possible that Apple is finally getting ready to open up its services to third parties and give users more choice.