Safari

Are you tired of pop-ups, banners, and autoplay videos interrupting your web browsing experience? With iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, Apple introduces a game-changing feature in Safari called Distraction Control. This powerful tool helps you focus on the content that matters by minimizing intrusive elements on webpages. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through how to use Distraction Control to...

Safari's popular Reader Mode has received a significant overhaul in iOS 18, introducing new features designed to enhance the reading experience for users. The revamped Reader Mode aims to make it easier for readers to navigate and preview content on their iPhones and iPads, offering a more streamlined and efficient way to read online articles. A longstanding feature in Safari, Reader Mode...

In iOS 17, Apple includes an option in Safari that allows Siri to read articles to you, just like an audiobook. Keep reading to learn how it's done on iPhone and iPad. If you tend to be put off by the thought of reading long-form articles on the web on a small screen, here's some good news. In iOS 17 and later, Siri can read them out loud for you, meaning all you have to do is sit back and...

With iOS 17, Safari gained a feature called Profiles that's designed to help you separate your browsing sessions into categories like Work, School, Personal, or custom categories that you find useful to have siloed. This article explains how to use it on iPhone. Apple in iOS 17 expanded on Tab Groups with a Profile feature that lets you separate out your browsing into different use cases....

On iPhone and iPad, Apple includes a Translate app that can translate several different languages in real-time, and Safari has integrated translation capabilities, too. Thanks to its webpage Translation feature, Safari will automatically detect if it can translate a foreign webpage you visit based on your Preferred Languages list. Keep reading to learn how it all works. At the time of...

With online account hacking becoming increasingly widespread, Mac users should make sure they're taking every security measure available to them. In other words, consider using Apple verification codes to protect your accounts. Keep reading to learn how it works. One of the best ways to protect any online account is by using two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA offers hardened security...

In iOS 17, Apple has increased the options available for clearing Safari's web history and website data. You can even clear Safari's cache for a specific Safari profile. Keep reading to learn how it works. Whenever you browse the web in Safari, the browser stores website data so that it doesn't have to download it again each time you revisit a site. In theory this should speed up your...

This article explains how to use Safari's Private Browsing mode, which prevents your browsing history from being logged on your Apple devices. It's a useful feature if you're buying gifts online for friends or family, for instance, and you don't want anyone with access to your devices to find out what you're up to. Of course, if you've already been browsing where you shouldn't have and...

Whenever you browse the web in Safari, the browser stores website data so that it doesn't have to download it again each time you revisit a site. In theory this should speed up your browsing experience, but there are some scenarios where you might want to clear the cache and start anew. Keep reading to learn how it's done on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. There are a couple of situations where you...

With iOS 17, Apple introduced several new privacy and security features to its mobile operating system, one being the ability to require secondary authentication for Private Browsing tabs in Safari. Here's how it works and how to turn it off. On an iPhone or iPad running iOS 17 or iPadOS 17, if you have any Private Browsing tabs open in Safari and then exit the session or the app, Apple's...

In macOS Sonoma and Safari 17, Apple has added a new web browsing feature for Safari called Profiles that's designed to help separate your browsing sessions into things like Work, School, or Personal. Keep reading to learn how it works. In macOS Sonoma, Apple has expanded on Tab Groups with a Profile feature that is designed to let you separate your browsing for different use cases. You can...

In iOS 17, Safari has gained a new feature called Profiles, which is designed to help separate your browsing sessions into things like Work, School, or Personal. Here's how to use it in the beta and when iOS 17 is released to the general public later this month. In ‌iOS 17‌, Apple expands on Tab Groups with a Profile feature that is designed to let you separate your browsing for...

In Safari 17 and macOS Sonoma, Apple has introduced support for displaying favicons in the Favorites bar. Keep reading to learn why favicons can be useful, and how you can disable them if they aren't for you. A favicon is a small icon that serves as a kind of badge for a website. Its main purpose is to make it easier to locate the webpage when there are multiple tabs open in a browser....

Apple is now allowing Mac users running macOS Ventura and macOS Monterey to try out its latest Safari 17 browser before it officially launches alongside macOS Sonoma in the fall. Keep reading to learn what's new and how to download it. Last month, Apple quietly began making beta versions of Safari 17 available to download as a standalone package. Prior to this, the only way to try out the...

Starting in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, Safari can remove tracking parameters from URLs in order to prevent cross-website tracking. Keep reading to learn how it works and how to control the setting for both Private and non-Private Browsing modes. Apple has updated Safari in its latest operating systems so that now it can remove tracking parameters in web addresses. When a tracking...

In iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, currently in beta, Apple has made some privacy and security improvements to Safari, including Locked Private Browsing, and Advanced Tracking and Fingerprint Protection. Another change that may have gone under your radar is the ability to set a separate default search engine for Private Browsing sessions. In previous versions of iOS, Safari uses the default search...

In macOS, Apple's Safari browser allows you to choose the default search engine that is automatically used whenever you type something into the address bar. Keep reading to learn how it's done. When it comes to searching the web using Safari, Apple's browser doesn't restrict you to a single search engine. In other words, you don't have to "Google" something to find out more about it online....

In macOS Ventura, Apple allows you to share Tab Groups in Safari with colleagues, friends, and family. Keep reading to learn how it's done. Introduced in macOS Monterey, Tab Groups are designed to make organizing and preserving open tabs more manageable in Safari without having to have those tabs active. How to Use Safari Tab Groups in macOS In a Tab Group, you can easily collect and save...

In iOS 16, Apple has made it possible to isolate the subject of a picture from its background so that you can copy it to the clipboard for use elsewhere. This feature also works for images on the web. Keep reading to learn how it works. With iOS 16, Apple has enhanced its Visual Look Up capability for photos to such an extent you can now drag subjects right out of images, and it works not...

In iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple allows you to share Tab Groups in Safari. Keep reading to learn how it's done. Introduced in iOS 15, Tab Groups are designed to make organizing and preserving open tabs more manageable in Safari without having to have those tabs active. In a Tab Group, you can easily collect and save related tabs, whether the webpages are being used to help you plan a trip...

In iOS 16, Apple has made several enhancements to its Safari browser, including some new features when working within Tab Groups. One of these is the ability to select webpages from your bookmarks so that they appear as Favorites in the Start Page of any new tab that you open within a specific Tab Group. Here's how it works. If you're unfamiliar with Tab Groups, they provide a handy a way to ...

In iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple's Safari browser has inherited a handy feature from Safari on Mac – the ability to pin tabs. Keep reading to learn how it works on iPhone and iPad. Safari's pinned tabs feature lets you better organize your tabs, especially if find you have too many open at the same time. It's particularly useful if you have certain websites that you tend to visit frequently ...

Apple in iOS 15 introduced Focus mode, an expansion of Do Not Disturb that allows you to set up different permissions for apps, contacts, and more depending on what you're doing. In iOS 16, Apple has expanded what Focus modes can do with new features, including the ability to add Focus Filters. This article explains how Focus Filters can be used to associate a Safari Tab Group with a Focus....

Every so often, a seemingly small bug in Apple's operating systems survives the company's annual OS launches and continues to cause users huge frustration from one software update to the next. The phenomenon of disappearing tabs in Safari is one such problem -– reports of multiple Safari tabs vanishing without a trace go back to at least iOS 13 and the issue still to this day blights the...

Browser tabs in Safari are a great way to visit multiple webpages in the same browsing session without having to close any of them, which makes them particularly useful for cross-referencing and researching things online. But all too often, the number of tabs you have open can get out of control. This makes navigating them tricky and it can also sap system resources, so to avoid being...

In macOS Monterey, Tab Groups are a new Safari feature that aim to make organizing and preserving your open browser tabs more manageable without having to have those tabs active and taking up space. Tab Groups are a way to easily save and manage related tabs, such as those used when planning trips or shopping, or groups can be used to store the tabs you visit daily. If you're planning a...

During the beta phase of iOS 15, Apple added a new Safari design element that moves the URL and tab interface to the bottom of the screen, a decision that was immediately controversial with iPhone users. After listening to a chorus of feedback from users who didn't like the change, Apple eventually added a toggle that sent the address bar to the top of the iPhone screen instead of the...

In iOS 15 as well as Safari 15 for macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina, Apple introduced some Safari interface design changes that haven't been universally welcomed. Fortunately, Apple has made some of these changes optional, such as the ability to disable tab bar coloring. Tab bar coloring on (left) versus coloring off (right) in dark mode Tab bar coloring, or website tinting, happens when the ...

Tab Groups are a new Safari feature introduced in iOS 15 that aim to make organizing and preserving your open browser tabs more manageable without having to have those tabs active. Tab Groups are a way to easily save and manage related tabs, such as those used when planning trips or shopping, or groups can be used to store the tabs you visit daily. If you're planning a trip, for example,...

First seen in macOS Big Sur, Safari's redesigned Start Page in iOS 15 is a one-stop shop for all of your Bookmarks, Favorites, Frequently Visited sites, Siri Suggestions, iCloud Tabs, Reading List, and Privacy Report. The Start Page also features several customizable options, such as the ability to choose your own Start Page wallpaper. You can even optionally sync your Start Page appearance...

In iOS 15, Safari now supports third-party web extensions, which can be downloaded and installed through the App Store. Extensions can change how Apple's Safari browser works in useful ways, or even add extra functionality to it. For example, third-party Safari extensions can include content blockers, VPNs, and more that can make browsing more secure, more private and less intrusive. In...

In iOS 15, Apple has completely redesigned Safari with easier-to-reach controls in mind when you're browsing the internet. For example, the URL address bar can optionally sit at the bottom of the screen instead of up top, which makes it easier to access when you're using your iPhone with one hand. Within the address bar, Apple still includes a refresh icon that you can tap to reload the...

In iOS 15, Apple introduced a range of changes to its native iPhone web browser, Safari. Some of them were controversial, such as the decision to move the URL address bar to the bottom of the screen, but others were less so, and Apple eventually provided options so that users could customize the browser to suit their own preferences. Website tinting off (left) versus tinting on One of those...

During the beta phase of iOS 15, Apple added a new Safari design element that moves the URL and tab interface to the bottom of the screen, a decision that was immediately controversial with iPhone users. After listening to a chorus of feedback from users who didn't like the change, Apple eventually added a toggle that sent the address bar to the top of the iPhone screen instead of the...

iPhone and iPad users enjoy sharing web links with each other over Apple's Messages app, and in iOS 15, Apple has acknowledged this popularity by adding a new section in the Safari app called Shared with You. If someone shares a web URL with you in the Messages app, it will show up in Shared with You in Safari. You can find this new section as a display option in the main Start Page that's...

When you browse the web on your devices, websites will often leave cookies on your system so that they can remember you and what your preferences are. Some cookies are genuinely useful, as they allow sites to save your personal information (such as your login credentials) so that you don't have to keep entering it every time you visit. However, for the same reason, cookies can pose a...

Apple's native desktop browser is Safari, but just because it comes pre-installed on every Mac doesn't mean you have to use it. Chrome is actually more popular than Safari by far, and if you're new to Mac, it might already be your preferred browser. If you've tried out Safari and decided you want to switch to Google's equivalent, you can easily import any bookmarks you've used in Apple's...

In Safari 14, Apple introduced a new feature called tab previews, where hovering your mouse pointer over a non-active browser tab shows an image preview of the tab's contents. Apple doesn't provide an option in preferences to disable tab previews, which isn't great if you find the feature less than useful or downright distracting. Fortunately, there's an undisclosed but fairly simple way to ...

In Apple's Safari browser for iOS and Mac, the built-in Reading List feature is a great way to save web pages that you want to read at a later time. Pages added to your Reading List are synced over iCloud to any other devices logged in to your Apple account, and Safari also includes an option that lets you to access pages in your Reading List even when you're offline. But how do you remove...

Quite often when browsing the web in Safari, you'll see pop-ups asking you for permission for websites to use data about you, such as your location. There can be good reasons for this – if you're searching for local information such as the nearest grocery store or restaurant, then it makes sense for you to share your location data to get the most relevant results for your area. On the other ...

Ahead of the release of macOS Big Sur, Apple has released the Safari 14 update for macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave users, bringing with it a number of new features and improvements. One of the most dramatic changes is the overhauled Start Page, which now includes a browsing privacy report, iCloud tabs, Siri suggestions, and more. It also features several customizable options, such as the...

If you've ever used Safari on Mac to search an open webpage for a specific word or phrase, you've probably selected the Edit -> Find command in your browser's menu bar or used the Command-F shortcut. On iPhone and iPad, the way you search within a webpage in Safari isn't so obvious. There are two different methods you can use in Apple's browser, both of which are described below. Once you've...

In Apple's Safari browser in macOS, the Downloads pane is where you can find information on things you've downloaded from the web to your Mac's hard drive. You can access it from the Safari toolbar by clicking the Show Downloads button, or by selecting View -> Show Downloads from the menu bar. Once it's open, you can click and drag it to a more convenient location on your screen. The...

In macOS, Apple's Safari browser includes a download manager that you can use to keep track of any currently downloading files, restart partially downloaded files, and reveal downloads in Finder. By default, Safari's download manager saves files in the "Downloads" folder of on your Mac, but you can easily customize the storage location by following these steps. Launch Safari browser on...

In macOS, Safari's pinned tabs feature lets you better organize your tabs, especially if find you have too many open at the same time. It's particularly useful if you have certain websites that you tend to visit frequently throughout the day. The neat thing about pinned tabs is that they stay in place, even when you open a new Safari window or quit and reopen Safari. And when you click a link...

In macOS, Picture in Picture (PiP) allows you to play video in a resizable floating window that isn't blocked by other windows, so you can watch video while doing other things. PiP is a handy feature supported by apps like Safari and iTunes that allows you to watch your favorite show while you browse the web in another tab or catch up on email. Keep reading to learn how to use it. How to ...

When it comes to uploading an image to a website using your mobile device, you may be concerned about your data cap or the time the upload is going to take, especially if the original image is in a very high resolution. Happily, in the latest version of Safari for iOS 13, Apple has added an feature that lets you choose what size image to upload. The options include Actual Size, Large, Medium,...

In Apple's Safari browser for iPhone and iPad, every new window or tab you open automatically displays the start page, giving you convenient one-touch access to your favorite websites and any other sites you frequently visit, as well as Siri Suggestions and websites recommended to you by friends and family. Your Frequently Visited sites appear immediately below your Favorite sites. If there's...

Website bookmarks are a great way to build and organize a list of sites that interest you, so that you can refer back to them quickly in your favorite browser. In Safari on Mac, saving a tab as a new bookmark is as easy as selecting Bookmarks -> Add Bookmark... from the menu bar. In iOS, the option is a little more hidden, but once you know where it is, it's just as easy to use. In Safari, ...

In Apple's Safari browser for iPhone and iPad, every new window or tab you open automatically displays the start page, giving you convenient one-touch access to your favorite websites and any other sites you frequently visit, as well as Siri Suggestions and websites recommended to you by friends and family. Your favorite websites appear at the top under Favorites, and you can customize these...

In iPadOS, Apple's Split View and Slide Over multitasking features allow you to use one app alongside another app, or view two documents at the same time in the one app. In the case of Safari, Split View or Slide Over can be used to reference two webpages side by side. You can even open a link in another window without navigating away from the original page. Here's how it works. Hold your...

Web browsing on your iPhone and iPad is designed to be a smooth and enjoyable experience, and not one cluttered by annoying ads, which can take up valuable screen space, slow down webpage loading times, and eat up valuable bandwidth. That's why Apple's Safari mobile browser includes native support for third-party content blockers. Content blockers prevent ads like popups and banners from...

Web browsing on your iPhone and iPad is designed to be a smooth and enjoyable experience, and not one cluttered by annoying ads, which can take up valuable screen space, slow down webpage loading times, and eat up valuable bandwidth. That's why Apple added native support for content blockers to its Safari mobile browser. Content blockers offer a simple one-click solution for preventing ads...

Web browsing on your iPhone and iPad is designed to be a smooth and enjoyable experience, and not one cluttered by annoying ads, which can take up valuable screen space, slow down webpage loading times, and eat up valuable bandwidth. That's why Apple's Safari mobile browser includes native support for third-party content blockers. Content blockers prevent ads like popups and banners from...

With the release of iOS 13, Apple added a Download Manager to the mobile version of its Safari browser that's similar to the one found in Safari for Mac and Safari for Windows. It helps you keep track of any currently downloading files and can be used to navigate to the storage location of your downloads. By default, Safari's Download Manager saves files in the "Downloads" section of the...

With the release of iOS 13, Apple added a Download Manager to the mobile version of its Safari browser that's similar to the one found in Safari for Mac and Safari for Windows. The feature helps you keep track of any currently downloading files and can also be used to navigate to the storage location of your downloads. By default, the Download Manager file list is cleared after one day,...

If you've ever used the desktop version of Safari, you'll likely be familiar with the browser's Downloads pane, which helps you keep track of any currently downloading and downloaded files. With iOS 13, Apple has brought a similar feature to the mobile version of its Safari browser in the form of the Download Manager. Now, when you choose to download a file, such as an image or document, a...

In iOS 13, Apple has added new functionality to its Safari mobile browser that makes it easier for you to manage how many tabs you have open at the same time. The number of active browser tabs in Safari can quickly get out of hand on iPhone because of the way the browser displays tabs in a vertical array when viewed in the popular portrait orientation. Hyperlinks that open websites in a new...

With the release of iOS 13, Apple introduces some additional features to its native Safari mobile web browser. One of the most welcome new changes in Safari is the ability to customize a range of settings for individual websites. Like Safari on Mac, the Website Settings section allows you to configure different viewing and security options for specific websites, and Safari then applies them...

In Safari on iOS, the number of tabs you have open can quickly get out of hand because of the way the browser displays tabs in a vertical array when viewed in portrait orientation. Using the close all tabs gesture is one solution for restoring order to your browser session, but that's no good if you're not finished looking at the open tabs, especially if you're busy researching a project or a...

In the Safari browser for iOS 13, Apple has added a new Website View menu that brings together useful options for browsing web pages, making them less challenging to navigate and easier on the eyes. The Website View menu includes one-tap settings that let you change text size options, request the desktop version of a website, and more. Here we're going to check out the new Hide Toolbar...

In the Safari browser for iOS 13, Apple has added a new Website View menu that brings together useful options for browsing web pages, making them less challenging to navigate and easier on the eyes. This article introduces you to the Website View menu's text size controls, which allow you to adjust the font size of a web page. In many cases, these controls work even if the website doesn't...

There are several ways to search the web in Apple's Safari browser. In this article, we're going to highlight a way of searching specific websites using a lesser-known Safari feature called Quick Website Search. The option is designed to work with sites that have a built-in search field, like the one you can find at the top of the main page at MacRumors.com. Here's how it works. Let's say...

Most popular websites these days come in both desktop and mobile versions, with the latter rendering content in a more responsive fashion for a consistent browsing experience across a variety of tablet and smartphone screens. Mobile-friendly websites are often stripped down and streamlined for easier navigation, with the result that some full-page content isn't displayed at all – and even...

Say you want to look up a topic online, so you type a search word or phrase into Safari's address bar. The first link in the returned results looks promising, so you click it. On the site you're sent to, you see another link about a related topic, so you click that, too. Moments later another link grabs your attention, and you check it out. Soon you're distracted by some other tangential...

In Apple's Safari web browser, there are several ways to make viewing web pages easier on the eyes. All of them involve adjusting the font size or the zoom level that Safari applies when it loads web page content, which can be helpful if you're using a small screen or a large display set at a high resolution. To increase or decrease the zoom level of both text and images when viewing web pages ...

With the public release of macOS High Sierra, Apple introduced some additional features to its native Safari web browser. Here we'll cover just what they are and how you can customize them to make your web browsing experience a more enjoyable one. Individual Website Settings One of the most welcome new changes in Safari 11 is the ability to customize a range of settings for individual...

Safari in iOS 11 introduces a new tracking prevention feature that's meant to protect your privacy and make it harder for companies to track your browsing habits across multiple websites. Disabling Cross-Site Tracking isn't going to cut down on the number of ads that you see, but it will make it harder for advertisers to gather data about what you've been browsing to deliver targeted ads....

With every update to the iOS operating system, Apple adds new features to the built-in apps like Safari. In iOS 17, Safari gains new privacy functionality, improvements to search, updated Siri integration, and more. This guide highlights all of the iOS 17 Safari feature additions. Profiles In iOS 17, Apple expanded on Tab Groups with a Profile feature that is designed to let you separate ...

With iOS 15, Apple introduced a new design and a range of new features, including better support for extensions. Safari in iOS 15 supports web extensions, which can be downloaded and installed through the App Store, so there are a much wider range of extension options for you to choose from. We've rounded up some of the most useful iOS 15 extensions that we've found so far. 1Password...

Apple's Safari app has undergone a number of changes during the iOS 15 beta testing process. Apple started out with a radical new design that moved the address bar from the top of the app's interface and introduced a floating tab bar, but after a multitude of complaints, there were several redesigns that culminated in an option to undo the iOS 15 design entirely. Subscribe to the MacRumors ...

Apple introduces improvements for almost all of the built-in apps with each new iteration of iOS, and iOS 14 is no exception. For Safari, Apple has added some useful new features like built-in translation and a Privacy Report that provides a rundown on all of the trackers that Safari is blocking. This guide includes all of the new features and tweaks you'll find in Safari 14 for iPhone and...

On iPhone and iPad, a long press (also known as a press-and-hold) gesture will often initiate a different action in an app that isn't immediately obvious, such as revealing an icon's contextual menu. On recent iPhones, a long press will sometimes also offer haptic feedback in the form of a vibration, which Apple calls Haptic Touch. Apple has made extensive use of the long press gesture and...

Every time you visit a website you are sharing information about yourself with the outside world. This article runs through a number of methods you can use to gain more control over what gets shared, and who it gets shared with, whenever you use Apple's Safari browser to access the web on a Mac. It also covers methods you can use to prevent traces of your browsing history from showing up on...

Every time you visit a website on your iPhone or iPad, you are sharing information about yourself with the outside world. This guide runs through a number of methods you can use to gain more control over what gets shared, and who it gets shared with, whenever you use Apple's Safari browser to access the web on an iOS device. It also covers some methods you can use to prevent traces of your...

Apple earlier this week announced a new consolidated Apple Developer Program for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Safari, combining the previously separate iOS, OS X and Safari Dev Programs into one for a single $99 annual fee. The change should place more emphasis on and increase the security of Safari extensions, but some developers have voiced their frustrations about the new fee. In...

Apple today released Safari 8.0.6 for OS X Yosemite, bringing new security fixes to the browser. Apple has also released Safari 7.1.6 for Mavericks users and Safari 6.2.6 for Mountain Lion users. According to a security support document, the update addresses several WebKit vulnerabilities that could lead to arbitrary code execution or compromised personal information. WebKit Available for: OS X...

Following yesterday's public release of Safari 8.0.4 for OS X Yosemite, Safari 7.1.4 for OS X Mavericks, and Safari 6.2.4 for OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has seeded Safari 7.1.5 and Safari 6.2.5 to developers for testing purposes. Safari 7.1.5 is for Mavericks users, while Safari 6.2.5 is for Mountain Lion users. The Yosemite equivalent, Safari 8.0.5, is already available to developers and...

Apple today released Safari 8.0.4 for OS X Yosemite, bringing stability and security improvements to the browser. Apple has also released Safari 7.1.4 and Safari 6.2.4 for Mavericks and Mountain Lion users, respectively. In addition to bringing stability improvements, the update fixes vulnerabilities in WebKit, which could allow a malicious website to unexpectedly terminate an application or...

Apple has improved the design of its keyboard in iOS 8.3 to fix a long-standing issue that caused several iPhone users to accidentally tap the period key while attempting to use the space bar in Safari. The change to a longer space bar was first spotted in iOS 8.3 beta 2 within the MacRumors discussion forums, and also appears to be present in the third beta of the pre-release software....

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, during the company's quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, expressed interest in Yahoo becoming the default search engine in Safari. Mayer recognized the significance that getting Yahoo in front of Mac, iPhone and iPad could have for the search engine, referring to Apple's default web browser as "one of the premier search deals in the world if not the premier...