Apple Working on Safari Dark Mode Toggle for Viewing Specific Websites

Apple appears to be working on an upcoming Safari feature that will introduce a Dark mode user preference for individual websites, based on references found in open-source WebKit code.

safari icon blue banner
WebKit is Apple's browser engine that powers all browsers on iOS, and the new option, spotted by 9to5Mac, is referred in the GitHub-hosted WebKit code as "overriding the system color-scheme with a per-website preference." This should, for example, let users always view a particular website in Dark mode, even if the system's Light mode is enabled.

Since Apple introduced Dark mode for iPhone and iPad with iOS 13, developers have updated their app interfaces to match the system setting or allow users to override it. The new per-website preference in Safari would extend this option to browsing sites, and also let users correct for sites that don't display properly in either Light or Dark modes.

In addition to the per-website display setting, Apple is developing another option to block modal popups on specific websites viewed in Safari. Modal popups must be dismissed by tapping a Cancel or other button, and can look like system alerts. Apple also has a new API in the works to manage the process of cookie consent that many websites use.

The new WebKit features are labelled as "TBA," or to be announced, so it's unclear whether they will become available to use in Safari via future iOS 15 and macOS 12 updates or later in the year when the new operating system versions are released.

Tags: Safari, WebKit

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Monday September 23, 2024 2:00 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
iPhone 15 Pro lineup

Apple's 80% Charging Limit for iPhone: How Much Did It Help After a Year?

Tuesday September 24, 2024 2:09 pm PDT by
With the iPhone 15 models that came out last year, Apple added an opt-in battery setting that limits maximum charge to 80 percent. The idea is that never charging the iPhone above 80 percent will increase battery longevity, so I kept my iPhone at that 80 percent limit from September 2023 to now, with no cheating. My iPhone 15 Pro Max battery level is currently at 94 percent with 299 cycles....
15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.1

Friday September 27, 2024 6:14 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.1 in October, bringing the first set of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update marks a significant step forward in Apple's AI integration, offering a new Siri contextually-aware experience and a range of additional capabilities powered by on-device machine learning and large language models. There are a couple of handy new...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 2 Firmware

Thursday September 26, 2024 11:16 am PDT by
Apple today released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro 2, with the software available for both the USB-C and Lightning models. The AirPods Pro 2 firmware has a build number of 7A305, up from the 7A302 firmware released earlier in September. There is no word yet on what's included in the firmware, but Apple is planning to add hearing aid and hearing test features to the AirPods Pro 2...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Preparing iOS 18.0.1 Update for iPhone Following Several Bugs

Thursday September 26, 2024 9:34 am PDT by
Apple appears to be internally testing iOS 18.0.1 for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software update in our website's analytics this week. Our logs have accurately revealed many iOS versions before they were released. We expect iOS 18.0.1 to be a minor update focused on bug fixes. Issues that could be addressed with the update include touchscreen issues affecting the iPhone 16 series...
ipad pro new blue

Best Buy Takes Up to $1,000 Off M2 iPad Pro With Record Low Prices

Thursday September 26, 2024 10:15 am PDT by
Best Buy is back this week with big discounts on the M2 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, providing up to $1,000 off select models. A My Best Buy Plus/Total membership is not required to see these discounts. You'll find both Wi-Fi and cellular tablets on sale at Best Buy, with a particular focus on the larger capacity 1TB and 2TB models. All deals listed below represent record low prices on...

Top Rated Comments

miniyou64 Avatar
34 months ago
Apple’s own Developer Portal doesn’t render correctly in their own browser, Safari, making it impossible to accept Developer agreements. You have to use Chrome or Firefox, and the Safari Team lead woman has the stones to get offended that people think Safari is bad. ?
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GraXXoR Avatar
34 months ago

Safari is the IE of the Mac. The browser you use to get the one you really want.
Nope.
That's a sort of glib-slash-edgy soundbite comment trying to riff off the old Internet Explorer meme, but not actually true in this case.

I repair macs here in Japan and the very vast majority don't have chrome installed, or if they do it's some ancient version that hasn't been used/updated in years. Most laypeople seem satisfied with Safari.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OS X Dude Avatar
34 months ago
The developer of Noir is gonna be ANNOYED.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
szw-mapple fan Avatar
34 months ago

Safari is the IE of the Mac. The browser you use to get the one you really want.
Debatable. I much more prefer Safari over Chrome's UI and since Apple changed how they distributed extensions a couple of years ago all of the extensions I need are available.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
singularity0993 Avatar
34 months ago
As an app and web developer I completely agree that “Safari is the new IE”. Every web app we make must be specifically optimized for Safari because they simply don’t follow web standards. They also lack features without good reason, e.g. webkit animation is locked at 60fps, even if you have a 120hz display. Regex expressions lookbehind, which was standardized in 2018, still doesn’t work. And Safari is the only browser lagging behind. Just look at how many StackOverflow questions there are asking why xxx works on Chrome & Firefox but not Safari. If it weren’t for the iOS ecosystem we would have dropped Safari support already.

If Safari wasn’t preinstalled on Apple systems, I assume the majority of users would choose Chromium based browsers or Firefox instead. If this assumption turns out to be true, then Safari is undoubtedly the new IE.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andrewxgx Avatar
34 months ago
can you do a global switch please? i would very much like to have all websites in light mode when OS is in dark mode.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)