Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 174 With Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed the ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.

Safari Technology Preview Feature
‌Safari Technology Preview‌ 174 includes fixes and updates for CSS, CSS Container Queries, Layout, JavaScript, Media, Popover, Accessibility, SVG, and Web API.

The update now features content coming in Safari 17 alongside macOS Sonoma. On Sonoma, the browser offers Profiles for separating browsing data like History and Favorites, web apps, and improved private browsing mode. Features for all operating systems include Feature Flags (replacing Experimental Features), a redesigned Develop menu, Live Text support for vertical text recognition in images and videos, HEIC support, and JPEG XL, a new image format with an improved compression algorithm for better image quality at smaller file sizes than JPEG.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is compatible with machines running macOS Ventura and macOS Sonoma, the latest version of macOS that Apple is beta testing right now.

The ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple's aim with ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.

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Top Rated Comments

lkrupp Avatar
20 months ago

gif on twitter do not play.
When you signed up to get Safari Technology Preview you agreed to report bugs back to Apple. That’s what betas and previews are for. So do your duty and report this to Apple.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
benface Avatar
20 months ago

I always see mention of this and wonder what could possibly be so new and exciting that It needs this special version? It’s s been the same boring browser for ages
There are literally release notes. You could read them. But you probably wouldn't care unless you're a web developer, which you're obviously NOT.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
20 months ago

I always see mention of this and wonder what could possibly be so new and exciting that It needs this special version? It’s s been the same boring browser for ages
It's the engine behind the hood that changes.

While it did evolve quite a lot in the last 12 months, the end-user doesn't see much of it.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
God of Biscuits Avatar
20 months ago

They could fix the super-innovative sidebar change they made a couple years ago that requires twice as many clicks to use. That might get me to use Safari again.

does this version also brins web apps to macOS monterey ? or is it sonoma only ?
the download is available for both versions of macos. And the technology preview is about WebKit, the rendering engine, not the usability of Safari, the browsing app. As such, the tech preview contains its own copy of WebKit. Which is why it runs on Ventura as well as Sonoma.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lkrupp Avatar
20 months ago

does this version also brins web apps to macOS monterey ? or is it sonoma only ?
Sonoma only
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TroutDeep Avatar
20 months ago

I always see mention of this and wonder what could possibly be so new and exciting that It needs this special version? It’s s been the same boring browser for ages
Whatever you do, don't bother finding out!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)