DuckDuckGo, the search engine that positions itself as a completely secure and private search engine, is getting a big boost. Apple is making it part of Safari in the next versions of Mac OS and iOS as an option that users can choose.

DuckDuckGo is now featured as an option that will be part of the new version of Mac OS X — “Yosemite” — due out this fall. From the Yosemite preview page, the “New features to protect your privacy” section that reads, in part: “You can also now search the web using DuckDuckGo, a search engine that doesn’t track you.”

DuckDuckGo also seems to be set to come to iOS 8 as an option.

DuckDuckGo is clearly proud of this:

Note that Google will remain the default choice for search. But by including DuckDuckGo natively as an alternative that people can choose, the tiny search engine gets a much better shot at people considering using it.

See our live blog coverage of the Apple WWDC Keynote and Mac Spotlight dropped Google for Bing.

For more on DuckDuckGo, see our Duck Duck Go category.

Postscript: DuckDuckGo has now made an official blog post with the news. However, it told us separately that it can’t reveal if the arrangement came about by payment or compensation to Apple. Our story on Marketing Land has more on that: Did Privacy Search Engine DuckDuckGo Pay To Be Included Apple’s Safari? That’s Private!