Apple’s Safari browser is the company’s own competitor to Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Firefox. It’s the default web browser that comes on its own devices.
Safari runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro.
Safari on the iPhone offers the full set of features, even in a mobile user interface.
If you’re a tab hoarder, you can quickly close all your tabs at once. Tap and hold on the Tab Overview button on the right of the toolbar — it has an icon of two overlapping squares. Long-press on that icon and select Close All Tabs.
If you want to re-open a recently closed tab, go to the Tab Overview. Tap and hold (long-press) the + New Tab button in the bottom left. You’ll see a pop-up list of recently closed tabs; tap on one to restore the tab.
Safari comes preloaded on the iPhone. But it may not appear on your Home Screen if you’ve removed it, and it may not be the default web browser. In the European Union, users are asked which browser they want to use when setting up the device. If you pick something other than Safari, links will open in the browser you chose.
To put the Safari icon back on your Home Screen, search for it in Spotlight. Swipe down on your Home Screen to bring up the search box, or tap the Search button towards the bottom of the screen. Type in “Safari.” Tap and hold on the icon, then drag it onto your Home Screen.
To make sure Safari is your default browser, open Settings > Safari > Default Browser App and select Safari.
From Mac OS 8 through early versions of Mac OS X, the default web browser was Internet Explorer for Mac. Other popular browsers for the Mac at the time included Netscape and Omniweb, the latter of which was made specially for Mac OS X.
The first version of Safari was introduced in 2003 as the fastest web browser for the Mac with the easiest interface to use. Even the first versions of Safari look strikingly simple and modern — except for the lack of tabs and the use of brushed metal.
Safari 3 brought tabbed browsing to the Mac, catching up with competitors OmniWeb and the new entrant, Firefox.
In 2007, one of the top three selling points of the original iPhone was its desktop-class web browser, Safari. Other cellphones before the iPhone had much smaller screens and used a limited, text-based version of the web you had to navigate with tiny plastic arrow buttons. The iPhone gave you the same version of the web in your pocket that you had at home.
For more on Safari history, check out this article here.
In recent years, Safari has rolled out new features that connect the many devices people have and features that protect users against data tracking on the web.
Safari on the Mac feels a lot faster to use than Google Chrome. It is also more battery efficient and takes fewer resources. Yet, I prefer using Google Chrome on my MacBook.
Despite its faults, Google Chrome trumps Safari in many key aspects. There’s a reason why Google’s browser is the most popular choice worldwide.
So, you’ve been using Safari’s Private Browsing mode on your iPhone or iPad, for whatever reason, but you forget to close out of the tab. The next time you open Safari, you’ll be thrown into whatever unscrupulous web page you had open last time — and the result can range from unfortunate to embarrassing, depending upon what you were looking at and where you are when you unexpectedly resume the Private Browsing session.
Luckily, iOS offers a foolproof way to avoid reopening a Private Browsing mode session. Let me show you how.
The United Kingdom could precipitate a significant iPhone revamp after a government report found that “Apple’s rules restrict other competitors from being able to deliver new, innovative features that could benefit consumers.”
The findings in the report are sure to inform government regulators as they enforce the U.K.’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which goes into effect in January 2025.
October 25, 2003: Mac OS X Panther arrives on Macintosh computers, bringing several useful new features and making Safari Apple’s default web browser for the first time.
The new Exposé feature in OS X Panther lets Mac users instantly view all open windows at once. And the new iChat AV allows people to talk with audio and video as well as text.
Apple added several nifty new features to Safari in iOS 18. The iPhone’s redesigned web browser boasts an all-new Page Menu. Plus, two big new features help surface what you’re looking for on the web.
The last big Safari redesign for iPhone, which arrived three years ago, moved the address bar to the bottom of the screen by default. It also shoved several useful features into a menu in the address bar, which made it difficult to discover them. Apple tries to reverse that second problem in the new Safari.
Here’s what’s new in iOS 18 in Safari on iPhone — keep reading or watch our video.
Not a fan of Safari? You can change the default web browser on your iPhone or iPad quite easily. If you prefer Google’s Chrome, you can ditch Safari when tapping links on your phone or tablet. And that’s not the only option.
Making the switch is easy, though the setting is somewhat hidden. Here’s what you do.
European iPhone and iPad users will be able to kick Apple’s Phone and Messages apps to the curb if they wish. The same goes for an array of other applications that iOS currently makes the default options.
These join a long list of other changes being forced on Apple by the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
As an alternative to using the Apple Podcasts app, as of Monday anyone can browse, hear, sync and share Apple Podcasts in 170 countries on all major web browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
So now Apple Podcasts joins the likes of Podbay and Podurama in offering its own online player for anyone on any platform.
The Opera browser’s new mobile version for iPhone, dubbed Opera One for iOS, integrates artificial intelligence features like image generation and voice input, a free VPN for private browsing and other elements to offer a fresh alternative to pre-installed browsers on Apple devices like Safari, the company said Tuesday.
“Our research shows mobile phone users are six times more likely to be happy than not, after switching away from their system’s default browser,” said Jona Bolin, product manager at Opera. “So with Opera One for iOS, we want to further raise the bar and deliver a better browsing experience versus what users will find pre-installed.”
Apple should never have entered into the deal that had Google paying billions every year to be the default search engine for iPhone, Mac and iPad. And it’s shameful that it’ll take a court order to finally make Apple do the right thing
A company that claims to carefully protect the privacy of its users shouldn’t be part of an arrangement that steered those users toward Google, whose business is built on privacy violation.
A U.S. federal judge ruled Monday that Google paying Apple billions to be the default search engine on iPhone and other devices is a violation of antitrust law. He said it makes Google a monopolist.
This is the result of a court case brought by the Department of Justice against Google. Apple isn’t directly involved, though its annual income may have just dropped by $15 billion or $20 billion. Or more.
Apple added Distraction Control to the Safari web browser in the iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia 15 betas released Monday. The new feature allows users to remove elements they find irritating or distracting from web pages.
Some have called Distraction Control an ad blocker. It’s not. Or certainly not a very good one.
Apple is updating Safari this year for a cleaner, faster web browsing experience on iPhones, iPads and Macs. While the enhanced Reader mode and Highlights stand out as key additions to Safari in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, several other changes will come to Apple’s web browser as well.
Below we’ll look at all the improvements coming to Safari later this year.
A new report details that Google wants to reduce its reliance on Apple for search revenue. Despite being the leader in search, Google pays Apple billions of dollars yearly to remain the iPhone’s default search engine.
iPhone searchers comprise about 36% of Google’s total search revenue.
June 11, 2007: At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, CEO Steve Jobs unveils Safari 3 for Windows, bringing the company’s web browser to PCs for the first time.
Apple pitches Safari as the world’s fastest and easiest-to-use web browser, capable of rendering web pages up to twice as fast as Internet Explorer and 1.6 times faster than Firefox. Safari for Windows lasts until 2012, but never becomes a major player on Microsoft’s dominant operating system.
Apple’s Safari web browser will learn a few new tricks across Apple devices, including web page highlights and summaries, as well as better-integrated control of videos online, the iPhone giant pointed out Monday in its Safari updates at WWDC24 section of the Keynote.
“In this release, we’re making it even better with easier ways to discover content and streamline your browsing. When you’re on a site Safari can now help you discover more about the page with highlights,” said Beth Dakin, Apple’s senior manager, Safari Software Engineering.
If you stumble across a webpage or a link in a different language, you can instantly translate the website to English directly from Safari. Unlike Google Chrome, Safari even translates the text inside images using Live Text.
And, if you accidentally change the language of a website to one you don’t speak, you can turn this feature on to help you change it back. At Cult of Mac, we use the feature to translate rumors or blog posts often written in Chinese, Korean or Japanese, like this.
You don’t need to select the words paragraph by paragraph and copy them into Google Translate (or even Apple’s own Translate app). Get the entire page in English at the tap of a button. Here’s how to make the most out of this handy Safari feature.
Apple’s Safari web browser packs loads of privacy features that will keep your online activity hidden from ad networks, user tracking and data farms. But are you sure you have everything turned on? Some of Apple’s most important privacy-protecting features don’t come enabled by default.
In light of Google baking ever-more invasive user tracking into Chrome, there are even more reasons to use Safari instead. If you want to make the most out of the best and most secure mainstream browser, here’s how.
Apple is further opening up iOS to alternative browsers and browser engines, as part of Cupertino’s plan to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.
In iOS 17.4 — launched Thursday as a beta — iPhone users in the EU will have a lot more choice over the default browser and browser engines.
The biggest change will be the ability to use alternative browser engines, like Google’s Blink renderer instead of Apple’s WebKit.
Now that iOS and the App Store have been labeled “gatekeepers” by the European Commission, the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires Apple to allow users to install applications directly onto iPhones. And sideloading is just one of the sweeping changes resulting from the DMA. Users apparently will be able to replace Siri with one of its rivals, for example. Other services, like iMessage, might require modification later.
One thing’s clear: The iPhone won’t be the same after the Digital Markets Act goes into effect in spring 2024.
Apple continues beta testing iOS 17, with the seventh beta dropping on August 22nd. As the beta program has progressed, the company has made fewer and fewer user-facing changes to new builds.
It’s the same story with iOS 17 beta 7, which hardly packs any meaningful changes or improvements. Below is everything new in the latest iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 beta.
A lot of Mac owners use Google Chrome as their web browser, and personally, I don’t get it. For Apple fans, it seems like a total disconnect not to use Safari instead of Chrome.
For starters, Apple markets its products as privacy-forward and seamlessly integrated with each other. And the web browser is an essential component of your computer, whether we’re talking Mac, iPhone or iPad. You have a lot to gain by using Safari on all your devices.
But look at the numbers: Apple’s web browser Safari only captures 18% of the market, a distant second to Google’s Chrome. Here’s my attempt to sway it the other way — the top five reasons I use Safari instead of Chrome.
iOS 17 has a lot of great headlining features — and many more features Apple didn’t have time to mention during the WWDC23 keynote. Today, I’m going one level deeper: Here are 10 more tweaks and smaller changes that could have a big impact on daily life with your iPhone after you update to iOS 17.
With Safari Profiles, Apple takes another swing at helping us organize all the browser tabs we have open. The new feature lets users put tabs and tab groups into separate areas, helping keep work and our personal lives from interfering.
Beyond that, Safari Profiles also could enable two or more people to more easily share the web browser, which can be a huge benefit for iPad users.
I’ve been testing the new feature in the first betas of iOS 17, macOS Sonoma and iPadOS 17, all of which Apple unveiled at WWDC23 this week.
Private Browsing mode in Apple Safari will soon get even more secure. It’ll be locked against someone else accessing it, and incorporate new tools to prevent websites from tracking users.
The additional privacy features are coming in iOS 17, macOS Sonoma and iPadOS 17, all of which were unveiled at WWDC23 this week.