safari web apps iphone

iOS 16.4 will let web apps on your homescreen send push notifications

I’ll probably be turning them off, but at least they’ll be an option..

By Jay Peters , a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

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Apple’s new iOS and iPadOS 16.4 betas will let Safari web apps on your homescreen send you push notifications, according to a new post on the WebKit blog .

As far back as the first iPhone, you’ve been able to add a shortcut to websites to your homescreen represented as app-like icons, but the web apps haven’t been able to send you notifications or show notification badges. With iOS and iPadOS 16.4, however, that will change.

Here’s how the push notifications will work, according to the blog post by Brady Eidson and Jen Simmons — though it sounds a lot like how they work with native apps already:

A web app that has been added to the Home Screen can request permission to receive push notifications as long as that request is in response to direct user interaction — such as tapping on a ‘subscribe’ button provided by the web app. iOS or iPadOS will prompt the user to give the web app permission to send notifications. The user can then manage those permissions per web app in Notifications Settings — just like any other app on iPhone and iPad. The notifications from web apps work exactly like notifications from other apps. They show on the Lock Screen, in Notification Center, and on a paired Apple Watch.

Web apps will also be able to set a notification badge count, according to the blog, and the notifications will support Focus modes, too. And if you have multiple versions of a web app on your homescreen, they can have different settings, which might be useful to help separate personal and work use, for example. I’m personally glad we can manage the notifications on a per-web-app basis; that should make it a lot easier to keep them under control.

These web push notification changes were actually promised quite a long time ago, as Apple first announced web push notifications were on the way back at WWDC 2022 in June . That said, like on desktop, I don’t think I’ll be turning on any web push notifications — I already have turned most of my notifications for native apps off.

It’s not just Safari that’s getting some web app improvements: starting with iOS and iPadOS 16.4, you can save websites and apps from third-party browsers to your homescreen, too.

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How to Install or Save any Website as an App on iPhone using Safari

With literally millions of apps available on the App Store, you would expect that there’s an app for everything. But that’s not always the case. There are many websites that we wish had an app, but they don’t. Well, the days for wishful thinking are over. Make way for Web Apps!

Using the Safari browser on your iPhone, you can install any website as an app on your home screen. If you come across a website that doesn’t offer a dedicated app, you can simply install it as an app using the Safari browser on your iPhone and iPad. You could also replace some of your existing apps such as Facebook and Twitter with their web apps to free up space on your iPhone .

To install a website as an app, first, open the Safari browser on your iPhone. For this technique to work, you will have to open Safari. It won’t work with any other browsers, such as Chrome on iOS devices.

Enter the web address for the website you want to install as an app and tap on go. Once the site loads up, tap the Share button at the bottom of the screen.

In the share menu that opens, scroll down till you find the Add to Home Screen option. Tap on it.

On the next page, you can enter the name for the app that will display on your home screen. It will also show you the icon that will display on the home screen, as well as the link with which it will open. Tap on the Add button at the top of the screen to finish the process.

The website will then be accessible from the home screen of your iPhone. Like all other apps on your device.

For most of the apps, when you tap on the app from the home screen, it will open and work as an app independent of Safari. Some apps will still be opened as a new tab in Safari because those websites aren’t really design to be progressive web apps.

You can delete websites installed as apps like any other app on your iPhone. Tap and hold the app icon for a couple of seconds, and when the icons start to jiggle, tap on the cross button to delete the app.

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How to Use the Safari Web Browser on iPhone

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In This Article

Jump to a Section

• Zoom In and Out

Jump to the Top of a Page

• Browse Your History
• Open a New Tab
• Find the Action Menu
• Use Private Browsing
• Search for Content

The web browser that comes with every iPhone , iPod touch , and iPad is called Safari . While you can  install third-party web browsers from the App Store , Safari is a great option for most users.

Apple adapted the iOS version of Safari from the desktop version that has come with Macs for many years. However, the mobile version of Safari is different in many ways.

These instructions apply to devices with iOS 12 or later.

How to Use Safari in iPhone and iOS Devices

To control Safari, you use the same gestures as found elsewhere on the iPhone. Swipe to scroll web pages and tap links to open web pages. But Safari also has some special features that might not have counterparts in other apps you use. Here are some tricks that will help you get the most out of your internet browsing.

Zoom in and Out in iPhone Safari

To zoom in on a particular section of a web page—for example, to enlarge the text on the page you're reading—tap twice on that part of the screen. This gesture enlarges that section of the page. The same double-tap zooms out again.

To have more control over what you're zooming in on, use the iPhone multitouch pinch feature:

• Put your index finger together with your thumb and place both fingers on the part of the iPhone screen that you want to zoom in on.
• Then, drag your fingers apart to zoom in on the page.
• To zoom out and make things smaller, put your fingers at opposite ends of the screen and drag your fingers together in a pinching motion.

To scroll down the page, drag a finger down the screen. On a long, scrolling page, jump back to the top quickly with a single tap. Tap the top center of the screen. The first tap reveals the address bar in Safari, and the second immediately jumps to the top of the web page.

The second tap should be near the top of the screen, on the clock. Otherwise, Safari opens the address field for you to type a search or website address.

Move Back and Forth Through Your History

Safari keeps track of the sites you visit. Use the Back and Forward buttons and gestures to move through the sites and pages you've been to recently. There are two ways to access this feature:

• Arrow buttons  at the lower-left corner of the screen are the Forward and Back buttons.
• Swipe to go back or forward. Swipe the left edge of the screen to go back and the right edge to go forward.

Open a New Safari Tab

Opening a new tab in Safari lets you visit another website without closing the one you're on currently. Here's how to use this feature.

These instructions use Safari with the phone in portrait mode. The features work the same in landscape mode, but the buttons may be in different places.

Tap the Tabs icon in the lower-right corner of the screen. The page you're on gets smaller. Tap the plus icon to open a new, blank tab.

You can also open a link on a web page in a new tab. Find the link you want to open in a new window. Tap and hold the link on the screen to open the menu. Tap  Open in New Tab . The link opens in a new tab.

If your device supports 3D Touch , long-press down to open this menu.

Find the Action Menu in Safari

The icon at the lower-center of Safari that looks like a box with an arrow coming out of it is called the Action menu. Tapping it reveals features to bookmark a site, add it to your favorites or reading list,  make a shortcut for it on your device's home screen , print the page , share a page, and more.

Use Private Browsing in iPhone Safari

Use the Private Browsing mode to browse websites without Safari keeping a browser history, search history, or AutoFill information after you close a tab. To enable it, tap the​ Tabs button   to open your browser tabs. Tap Private  in the lower-left corner to open a private browsing section. Here, you can press the plus button at the bottom to open a private browsing tab and start surfing the web.

To turn Private Browsing Mode off, tap the Private button again in the lower-left corner of the window.

Search for Content in Safari

Have you browsed to a web page that's full of text and want to find a specific word or phrase? The Safari Find on Page feature can help.

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How to Install Web Apps on iPhone or iPad

Last Updated: January 18, 2023

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 34,726 times. Learn more...

This wikiHow will show you how to install web apps on iPhone or iPad. In order to do so, open Safari and add the website with the web app to your home screen.

• If the website does not have a web app, then the site will open in a browser window instead when you try to launch it.

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• Some web apps have offline functionality so you can use them when you're not connected to the internet. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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How To : Turn Any Website into a Full-Screen App on Your iPhone

Not all websites need a dedicated mobile app, which is why so many don't. Web apps are now designed to scale to whatever the size of your screen is, so the mobile versions of desktop sites in your web browser are easy enough to navigate and utilize. Still, there's just something about an app on your home screen that makes it all so much easier.

If you have an iPhone, you can bookmark the web app on your home screen from Safari . In the browser, tap the Share button on a webpage, hit " Add to Home Screen ," then select "Add." That gives you a home screen icon that looks just like other app icons but is merely a shortcut to the webpage chosen.

Site developers can even configure these types of shortcuts to look and behave like native iOS apps; they can give their site a unique app icon, change the status bar's appearance, and hide Safari interface components. However, many sites do not provide an optimized standalone-like experience for their home screen icons. Home screen bookmarks for unconfigured web apps just open the sites in Safari and look like regular tabs. It's quicker than typing a URL or search term in Safari, but it's the same old Safari experience.

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To make every site bookmark on your home screen look and feel like a standalone app, we can turn to Shortcuts . The shortcut we'll be using creates a WebClip device management profile you'll install on your iPhone. With the profile, whatever site you set will open the URL as a web app in full-screen view — without any browser — so there's no URL or search bar and no toolbar at the bottom.

It's technically still a bookmark but won't open as a tab in your regular Safari session. Best of all, it showcases the website in full-screen, taking advantage of your entire display and getting rid of the distractions that normally appear in Safari and other web browsers.

• iOS 14 : The shortcut is optimized for iOS 14. It may work on iOS 13 but has not been tested on older systems.
• Shortcuts : Apple's app comes pre-installed on your iPhone, but if you've deleted it, you can re-install it from the App Store.
• Allow untrusted shortcuts : Go to Settings –> Shortcuts and toggle on "Allow Untrusted Shortcuts" to allow third-party shortcuts.

Step 1: Add the 'URL App' Shortcut

The " URL App " shortcut, from RoutineHub user Changmeister, creates a web clip of any site you want. Simple copy a URL to your clipboard, paste it into the shortcut, name your app, choose an icon, and add the web clip as an app to your home screen. Unlike a regular bookmark, the website won't open in Safari but will appear in its own full-screen window like regular native standalone apps.

• Original iCloud Link: Make app from URL (free)
• Updated iCloud Link: Make app from URL (free)

Use the updated iCloud link above to download the shortcut. The update fixes an issue that made it impossible to install multiple profiles for different websites. It simply switches out the PayloadIdentifier strings with the "Name" variable.

You should be automatically redirected to Shortcuts, but if you're not, tap "Get Shortcut." To add the shortcut to your library, scroll through the preview and tap "Add Untrusted Shortcut."

Step 2: Get the URL of the Webpage

Before you run the shortcut, go to Safari or your preferred web browser and copy the URL of the website you want to turn into a web clip. If you know the URL by heart, you can obviously skip this step. It's good to only do this for sites you often use that don't already have a native iOS app or an optimized interface for "Add to Home Screen" bookmarks.

As an example, I'll create an app for the Gadget Hacks website.

Step 3: Get an Image for the App Icon

While Safari can generate an app icon for websites via the "Add to Home Screen" action, the shortcut we're using here will not, so you'll need an image to use for the icon.

In the shortcut, you can choose any image in the Photos app, so you can either download a photo from the web or use an existing picture. A square-sized image works best to fit perfectly, but the shortcut will automatically crop any longer-shaped images down.

I'll use the official Gadget Hacks logo for my web clip's app icon.

Step 4: Run 'URL App' to Build the Profile

Now, head over to "My Shortcuts" in Shortcuts and run the "URL App" shortcut; it's the card called "Make app from URL." First, enter the name you'll see underneath the app icon on your home screen, then hit "Done."

Second, type in or paste the website URL you copied earlier and hit "Done" again.

Third, the shortcut will ask you for access to your Photos app. Grant it permission, then choose the image you want to upload as your app icon from the photo picker that appears.

Step 5: Download the Configuration Profile

Developers use configuration profiles so that iOS users install and test apps that are not ready or won't ever appear in the App Store. The "URL App" shortcut uses this same method to turn your URL into a web clip without a browser, as described earlier. If you're wary about installing profiles on your iPhone, you can review the WebClip payload XML that our updated shortcut uses below:

After you upload the app icon, you'll be redirected to Safari, where you'll be asked to allow a configuration profile to be downloaded to your iPhone. Hit "Allow," then tap "Close" when prompted.

Step 6: Install the Configuration Profile

The final step is to install the config profile you just downloaded. To do so, open Settings, and you should see a "Profile Downloaded" option near the top (it only appears when a profile needs to be installed). Tap that, and you can then preview the config profile. If you other Settings notifications, you will see "More for Your iPhone" instead. Tap that, and you'll see "Profile Downloaded."

If you don't see this quick link, go to "General," then "Profile" or "Profiles" to find and open the profile you downloaded.

You can see that it contains a web clip on the profile's description, just as we discussed earlier. Tap on "Install" in the top right, then enter your passcode when prompted.

The next page will show a message from the developer, which simply lays out the last few steps you took. Hit "Next" to continue, then tap "Install" in the top right, and then again at the bottom. Your profile is now installed.

Step 7: Open Your New Web Clip Self-Contained App

Your new web clip app will appear on your home screen. If you have iOS set to push new app installs to your App Library without touching the home screen, you'll still see this web clip app on your home screen since it's not a native app. However, you can still access the web clip from App Library.

Find and tap on the newly created web clip app icon, and the website will open up in full-screen, with no navigation bars or other features obstructing your view.

However, if you tap around to go to other pages in the web clip, you'll see in-app nav bars on the top and bottom to access reader view, request desktop sites, view website settings, share the website, and open the page in Safari, just like you would in other in-app web browsers. If you swipe up or down, the nav bars will disappear. This is a limitation of web clips for iOS, as any external links will be opened in a Safari view.

Removing the Web Clip & Profile

Let's say you no longer want the web clip app and want to remove it. Simply deleting the app icon from your home screen is not enough because the configuration profile will continue to exist in your settings. To get rid of both the app and profile , go into Settings –> General –> Profiles (or Profile).

Next, tap the profile and tap "Remove Profile." You'll be prompted to enter your passcode. Finally, tap "Remove" when it appears, and the profile, along with the web clip, will be deleted from your iPhone.

Just updated your iPhone? You'll find new emoji, enhanced security, podcast transcripts, Apple Cash virtual numbers, and other useful features. There are even new additions hidden within Safari. Find out what's new and changed on your iPhone with the iOS 17.4 update.

13 Comments

Very useful. However, I can only create one profile on my iOS device. If you created another profile for another web app, it will replace the first one. How to have multiple profiles so you can have different web as an iOS app on your home screen?

You're right. The original shortcut seems just to replace each profile you install for different sites. You can get around this by replacing the two "Me" strings for PayloadIdentifier with the "Name" variable. That should do the trick. We've updated the guide with a link to an updated shortcut you can download. Thanks for bringing this up!

Hi, Thank you! So glad with the solution! This becomes a very useful and neat tools!

I am seeing an error: Bad Profile This profile is corrupted and cannot be read

Is this something I am doing wrong on my end? Thanks!

I had the same error, but found that if I pasted in the WebClip payload XML myself, I needed to re-link the template variables before it would work. I edited the XML as Text in the Shortcuts app, deleted the places it said "Name", "URL", or "Base64 Encoded" (for the image), and replaced them with the corresponding Shortcuts variable from the accessory above the keyboard.

Thanks for this post, it's a great Shortcut!

Is there a way to create more than 1 shortcut at a time and possibly share the profiles to others? I'm wanting to create multiple App Clips but not download and install 13 profiles etc?

Does this still work in iOS 15.1? Feels just the same as adding a page to the homescreen.

My problem is that adding to the home screen opens the page perfectly in full screen, but as soon as I click an internal link a Safari header is shown.

I've been using this method to create various apps for certain websites. This morning I noticed every time I open any of the apps made this way that my camera is being activated. The little green dot appears at the top of my phone when I open one of these apps and disappears when I close it. I'm guessing this isn't normal behaviour? Is it something I should be concerned about? I should note I've been using them without concern for about a year.

Yep works fine but would like to know how to share without rebuilding on each phone.

What if I want to do the reverse, turn a website that has been pre-configured by it's makers to only display a link from the home page as full screen without controls into a regular website with controls, so that I get the ability to turn reader mode on?

This doesn't seem to work anymore on iOS 17.1.2. Please make an update. Thanks!

Hi Justin! I wanted to thank you for this very useful feature. However, since the iOS 17.2 update it seems that the shortcut is no longer functional Unfortunately. could you do an update to make it work again? Thank you very much in advance ??

"It's quite simple and you can easily solve it yourself. Edit the Shortcut and move the picture selector upwards so that it's the first call. The Shortcut will then work again in iOS 17.x.

Success, Patrick

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Progressive Web Applications (PWA) on iOS 13 & 14 Provide a Rich Channel to Reach Customers Despite the Platform Limitations

Last Updated - Sat Jan 09 2021

Progressive Web Apps are everywhere, literally. Every major browser and platform has support for service workers and are using the web manifest file in some form or fashion.

This includes Apple's iPhones and iPads using iOS Safari.

Do Progressive Web Apps (PWA) work on iOS?

The catch is Apple's implementation is somewhat restrained compared to other platforms, especially when compared to Chrome and Edge.

Stop right there!!!!

THIS DOES NOT MEAN Progressive Web Apps don't work on iOS, they do and they are great!

The limitations are limited at this time. Almost every feature you want n your application is supported by Safari on iPhone.

Safari supports service worker caching. It does not support push notifications or background sync. Safari does use parts of the web manifest file.

There is a 50MB service worker cache limit, but that does not mean you cannot persist more data. IndexedDB allows you to store a few GBs of data. It really depends, like other platforms, on the available space.

There is no native add to homescreen prompt, but other than Chrome and Edge no one else does either.Unused web apps that have not been added to the homescreen will have their cached assets purged after 7 days. This is less of a problem than most think.

That may sound like a lot is missing, but it is not as bad as it sounds.

A great feature of the web platform is the ability to progressively enhance (the progressive part of PWA) and polyfil many features when a browser does not support them natively.

To be fair Apple was really the first platform to support the concept of a web app. When they released the iPhone the first apps were HTML5 based.

As such they provided a way to manually add a website to the homescreen and launch in a full screen experience.

They kept the process simple, just sort of hidden.

Unfortunately, they never matured the experience. And service workers did not exist at the time.

Today that has changed, but like I mentioned, the iOS PWA experience is a little different than other platforms, but very serviceable. It is also improving with each Safari update.

I should note that Apple is not a fan of the term 'Progressive Web App' or 'PWA'. Instead they prefer to call them HTML Apps or Web Apps.

This is merely semantics. There is no official PWA specification, it is merely a term created to describe a modern breed of websites.

They are keen to point out that progressive web application is a term created by a Googler and initially promoted by Google. To be fair they are right.

The main takeaway from this article is why PWAs are a great choice to target iPhone and iPad users for your application. In fact Apple will probably tell you that too if you pay attention to the direction they are heading.

For now we know how Safari on iOS 13 supports modern web APIs. We are still waiting to see what updates and features will be added to iOS 14 and the next version of Safari.

Does Apple Even Want Progressive Web Apps?

Current pwa implementations have more success on ios than before, consumers are burned out on apps, pwa technology supported on ios, ios progressive web app cache capacity, does ios support push notifications, background sync on ios, ios pwa quirks.

Many wonder if Apple wants PWAs to succeed or even work on iOS and MacOS. The reason is progressive web apps compete with the AppStore.

The reality is Apple is more than willing to see apps leave the store and migrate to the web . They are doing a great job themselves of running off many brands from the AppStore as it is.

Recently they denied Hey.com's app update because they were not using Apple's in app payment services. Instead BaseCamp chose to use traditional merchant card services that charge 1-3% or 10% of Apple's 30% fee.

Spotify has filed a lawsuit against Apple's app store practices .

And then there is the Epic battle with Apple over Fortnite .

If you don't believe me, you should see app owners contacting me to create a PWA for them. Some because their apps were removed. Others because they fear removal or rejection.

By removing apps and making others 'uncomfortable' they are recommending to use the web.

Seriously, they even use that language:

"if the App Store model and guidelines are not best for your app or business idea that’s okay, we provide Safari for a great web experience too."

Clients have confirmed these Apple notices suggesting they move to the web.

So does Apple care about AppStore success? Yes, they do, but at the same time it is not their priority, selling hardware at massive margins is the goal.

Sure the AppStore generates billions in sales each year and yes Apple takes a 30% cut. But as I highlighted in the Spotify vs Apple article, much of that revenue is from a handful of apps.

I have created a litmus test to determine if your app should be native or a progressive web app: Does your app sell iPhones?

If the answer is no, then don't waste your time and money on a native app. Apple does not want you anyway.

But if you want to invest $5000-50000 on an iOS app to see if they will accept it be my guest. I am still here to make it available to everyone for less.😁

When you take the time and create a proper progressive web app you are taking the time to create a better user experience. This better UX ultimately means your customers are happier with your online experience and of course engage at higher rates.

Even with platform limitations a consistent message from brands using PWA is their iOS engagement numbers increase.

It is sort of real-world application of the 'a rising tide raises all ships' saying.

There are many PWA examples out there reporting across the board improvements to key performance indicators.

AliExpress saw an 82% increase in iOS conversions, the Washington Post saw nearly a 5x increase in user engagement and MyNet saw a 19% page view increase on iOS just to name a few sites and stats.

Even with the current limitations making a better web user experience means you will reap rewards on iOS. And eventually Apple will catch up to the competition. At least to where Chrome, Edge and other browsers are today. When those missing features light up your customers will just experience them.

Oh, and if you think having a presence in the App Store will make you successful, think again.

We know about 4 years ago consumers reached app fatigue and stopped downloading or installing apps.

Yes, apps are still downloaded, but for the most part it is the 4 or 5 apps the consumer uses the most and only when they get a new device.

For the most part these apps are Facebook. I mean Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, all Facebook apps.

When you read over 80% of a consumer's screen time is in an app, almost all that time is using social media. The other apps are video, which honestly can be progressive web apps without degrading experience. I mean Netflix is phasing their apps out.

If you study mobile app consumption 99% of apps are rarely downloaded. If an app is downloaded 90% of the downloads are used once before the app is removed.

Most apps are eventually abandoned and after a while purged from the platform due to lack of interest by device owners.

Unfortunately, many still fear or falsely assume they need to have their brand in the AppStore to be found.

Are you Facebook? Are you Fortnite?

If you answered no, then most likely no one is looking for your app in the store.

They are searching for your products and services in search engines. While SEO ~ is not simple, it can provide piles of targeted traffic to your site.

Once you get them on your site you can easily remarket and engage them in your sales funnel. By the time you get them to the purchase point they don’t want to go through the 6-8 steps to download your app to their phone.

If you have a progressive web app they have already ‘installed’ the core plumbing required for your PWA experience. You just need to get them to formally install or add your PWA to their device homescreen. A far easier task than downloading an app.

I frequently read articles about limitations of progressive web apps on iOS. Most are a bit naïve and paint a much bleaker picture about capabilities than reality.

Sure, there are limitations with Apple Safari due to its laggardness in supporting modern web standards. The current joke among web developers is Safari is the new Internet Explorer.

Of course, Internet Explorer is Microsoft's old, long deprecated browser that had so much disdain passed its way. It lagged behind its rivals FireFox and then Chrome.

Today most browsers support the same modern web standards and capabilities. Most except Safari, which always seems to be at least 2-3 years behind the competition.

The story is not as bad as that sounds. The boundaries can be handled if you plan for them. And if and when Apple ships support for a feature it can just light up in your application.

I have built applications that deal with iOS limits. Even with the lack of push notifications you can fall back to SMS. Sure USB and Bluetooth are not supported, but the demand for these APIs is very niche.

Today's modern standards have elevated the web platform to almost even parity with native counterparts. Sure there are a few edge cases where the web does not have a viable specification. But these missing features tend to have rare implementations even with native apps.

So yeah, right now the web does not offer Geo-Fencing, but I know very few applications that leverage this technology anyway, so I am not that concerned.

As for progressive web applications, what they are and what they can do that mere websites can do is well, no different.

To be classified as a progressive web application there are 3 criteria:

• Register a Service Worker with a fetch event handler
• Valid web manifest file with a minimal homescreen icon set

That is the bare minimum, but of course there is more to the puzzle.

PWAs are just websites, but they differ from a common website in that they have those three technical features but are designed to just plain be better.

Ambiguous and anecdotal as you can get. Yes, it is the eye of the beholder if you will.

The thing about a progressive web app that makes them stand out can often be just taking advantage of platform APIs like Geolocation , biometric authentication, the payment request API, Bluetooth, Camera, Web Share and many other user experience APIs available today.

When you really boil it down, Progressive Web Applications deliver a superior user experience. This user experience gracefully degrades when the browser does not support a modern feature.

In other words, the web site provides the best possible experience the browser allows.

I find it frustrating how many of these features are assumed to not be supported or worse brand new when they have existed for years.

For example, Geolocation has been supported by all browsers for a decade.

Biometric authentication, i.e. fingerprint or facial recognition enjoys support among most browsers via the WebAuthn specification . For the record iOS Safari has shipped support .

As far as PWA support on iOS the only core thing missing is the support of the web manifest. The file that provides enhanced meta data about the web site to the browser. It facilitates the add to homescreen experience .

Apple has shipped limit support, or really partial use, for this feature. It is not a deal breaker.

That's right, a web manifest file is not required for a great user experience, and you CAN add a progressive web app to the iPhone homescreen.

iOS has had add to homescreen support on iOS since the first iPhone shipped. So rather than divert engineering resources to support this standard they focused more on catching up in the service worker space.

I think this was the right choice.

You can still include Safari's mobile-web-app-capable and touch-icon META tags in your page's HEAD without causing issues with other browsers on other platforms.

This is what is great about the web. It is very forgiving and you can add modern functionality to a website and gracefully degrade when the browser does not support a feature.

I am sure Apple will eventually support web manifest files, but for now I would prefer they focus on adding service worker features, other platform APIs and fixing bugs.

Right now, the biggest progressive web application limitation on iOS is the small cache capacity quota Apple imposes, ~50MB.

Again this is not a deal breaker for most web sites. If you need 50MB to cache your site's assets you really should revisit your application's code and caching logic.

I am working on a few projects right now that do need to cache more than 50MB, but they need to cache audio and video files. For these applications the media files can be looked at more as data rather than a network addressable resource, which is what service worker cache is really designed.

In these cases, the audio and video files can be cached using blob storage in IndexedDB, a browser database with much more available capacity. In fact, the IndexedDB capacity on iOS seems to be almost unlimited in the tests I have run, up to 1GB.

Let me put this in perspective, I have built several large web sites with 100s of unique web pages and support assets and cached everything (excluding images) in localStorage. localStorage is typically limited to 5MB, so you get the idea.

IndexedDB access is available within your service worker, where localStorage is not. This does mean you can intercept the network request to the more 'binary' responses and cache them in IDB in the service worker and sort of build a special caching abstraction layer to make managing their caching easier across different browsers.

Of course, even with Android and other mobile devices disk space is a premium. This is why Apple chose to limit service worker cache to 50MB. A 32GB phone does not have much storage once you factor in the operating system and other mandatory platform apps.

So, don't expect to be able to cache a high definition, large screen formatted movie. But audio books, podcasts and properly formatted videos should have no problem being cached on iOS.

So don't let the lack of service worker cache capacity stop you from using a Progressive Web App.

At this point in time Apple's iPhone and iPads do not support  native push notifications . You can gracefully fallback to SMS notifications. Both provide high engagement levels with minimal costs.

I am asked about this more than any other web platform feature, at least it feels that way.

Even though I get frustrated with Safari's limitations it does support most modern web APIs needed to make great user experiences.

This does not mean I am not asked by clients and potential clients if they can do some pretty crazy stuff. Most of the request are often not even possible with a native app. Others violate Apple, Google and Microsoft's terms, which means native apps are rejected and the stakeholders are hoping they can use the web to achieve their goals.

As for background sync this is a bummer. However, this is not supported by browsers outside the Chromium ecosystem at the moment.

You can create your own synchronization support by leveraging offline detection and IndexedDB. The main drawback here is the user will need to open your web app in order for your fallback to work. You cannot trigger the service worker to just execute in the background when the network returns, which is the main feature of the service worker background sync API.

Another quirk PWAs have on iOS is being purged. This can be very problematic.

Recently Apple has addressed this problem. When a PWA is added to the user's homescreen the platform will retained cached assets for an indefinite period. Even more incentive too push users to install your PWA.

Because Apple assumes space on its devices is cramped, they aggressively throw unused items overboard to free up disk space. Add to homescreen seems to be a signal to the operating system the assets are more important, therefor they are retained.

If your PWA or any website for that matter, goes unused for a few days (we think it is roughly 14 days, it is not documented) the device will remove all cached assets associated with the origin. This includes IndexedDB, service worker cache, localStorage, etc. Again, this concerns sites not added to the homescreen.

This has made relying on cached assets a bit of an issue. The real problem lies when a user might try to load your PWA while they are offline for the first time in a month. The PWA won’t work, even if your service worker pre-caches all the required files for offline functionality.

You should also build in a check for purged cached assets in your service worker. I think just important is you should also include some sort of notice for your users if they expect the application to function offline.

Let them know the content they are caching now may not be available if unused for a long period of time. If they anticipate needing your app for offline usage try to plan ahead.

In theory your cached content could be purge by other browsers too, but they are not as aggressive. Providing a message to set user expectations can go a long way to curb potential issues down the road.

Sure there are limitations to for Progressive Web Apps on iOS, but they are not deal breakers. Many of the most requested features have at least some form of fallback solution. It may not provide a comparable user experience the native web platform API or service offers.

For most mobile apps, especially on iOS, are not a good channel to promote and engage your customers. App installs are rare for most apps. Development, maintenance and marketing for these apps is also very expensive.

The web, progressive web apps specially, are available to everyone in every browser on every device. Plus they can be affordably marketed using organic search, PPC and traditional marketing funnels.

Many brands have reported improved customer engagement stats after upgrading their websites to a PWA, especially on iOS. Most likely your brand will too.

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Separate Your iPhone Browsing Habits With Safari Profiles

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 .

Each profile gets its own icon and silos all of your history, Tab Groups, Favorites, Private Browsing tabs, and cookies. You can even assign specific third-party extensions to different profiles to optimize your browsing experience based on the task at hand. Here's how to create your own profile in Safari.

How to Create a Safari Profile

• Open the Settings app on you ‌iPhone‌ or iPad .
• Scroll down to Safari .
• Under the "Profiles" section, tap New Profile .
• Under "Settings," choose a Favorites folder (or a new folder) and select which tabs (if any) that you want to be open when you're using the profile with the Open New Tabs option.

When you create a new profile, your device will automatically generate a "Personal" profile to differentiate other browsing sessions conducted outside of the profile you created.

Both profiles and additional ones you create can be edited in the same section of the Settings app. When editing an existing profile, you can also enable any Safari extensions you have installed on your device with the Manage Extensions option, as well as get rid of the profile using the Delete Profile option.

How to Switch Between Profiles in Safari

• In Safari, tap the Tabs icon with two overlapping squares.
• Tap the middle icon to bring up the active profile's menu.
• Tap the Profile option to change which profile is active.

The Safari Profiles feature is available in ‌iOS 17‌, iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma , as well as being part of Safari 17 for macOS Monterey and macOS Ventura . Any profiles you create will be synced across devices logged into the same Apple ID .

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Web-browser extensions in web-apps (Safari)

I made a few web-apps from Safari, but noticed that the extensions that otherwise work in Safari do not appear in the web-app, despite being a wrapper around a Safari webpage.

I could not find a privacy settings allowing Extensions to also work in the web-apps. Is that possible? And/or is that under development?

That's especially annoying for third-party password manager extensions.

MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)

Posted on May 6, 2024 6:12 AM

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Google Chrome on iPhone and iPad could be about to borrow a popular Safari feature by adding multi-profile support in a future update

Profile support inbound?

When Apple announced profile support was coming to Safari on iPhone and iPad as part of the iOS 17 update last year it was immediately well-received. The feature allows people to create a profile under which they can do specific types of browsing, like for work for example, and now it seems a similar feature is coming to Google's Chrome as well.

While Google is yet to confirm the feature it's reported that a basic profile-switching mechanism is currently being tested in Chrome for iPhone and iPad. It's notable that the same feature is not yet available on Android, suggesting that it could either debut on Apple's platforms first or a wider launch across all mobile platforms is in the cards.

It's still unclear what timescale Google is working to, and it's possible the plans could be nixed before launch. But fans of profiles in their web browser could be about to get a whole new option.

Keeping a low profile

As mentioned, Google has so far kept its multi-profile plans to itself but a MacObserver report suggests that those plans are very real.

"Google is currently working on a basic profile-switching mechanism for Chrome on iOS," MacObserver explains. "Once implemented, they will top it up with more advanced features. Thus, the item is aptly titled 'Implement rudimentary profile switching.' The report goes on to say that "Google is testing the UI, and it is currently behind an experimental flag. Even the name or title of the feature has yet to be decided."

That would suggest that any launch is unlikely to take place any time soon, so we wouldn't start holding your breath just yet. In the interim, Apple's Safari might be worth checking out. Maybe you've heard of it?

More from iMore

• How to set up Safari Profiles on iOS 17
• New Safari test build finally adds Profiles to Apple's web browser
• Every website can now be an app thanks to Safari — it's macOS Sonoma's secret weapon

Master your iPhone in minutes

iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

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Apple to unveil AI-enabled Safari browser alongside new operating systems

Safari getting new AI tools in iOS 18

The software — expected to debut as Safari 18 later in 2024 — is currently undergoing evaluation alongside internal builds of Apple's next-generation operating system updates, namely iOS 18 and macOS 15, according to people familiar with the matter. Should all of the new features make it to the release candidate stage, users will be treated to a new user interface (UI) for customizing popular page controls, a "Web eraser" feature, and AI-driven content summarization tools.

Intelligent Search - AI-enhanced browsing and text summarization

Engineers evaluating the latest builds of Safari 18 can find a toggle for the new page controls menu within the browser's address bar. The menu consolidates — and provides quick access to — old and new page control tools, among them being the browser's new "Intelligent Search" feature.

This feature is not automatically enabled in test builds of Safari 18 and instead requires manual activation from the page controls menu. Once enabled, it's believed the tool leverages Apple's on-device AI technology — specifically the Ajax language-learning model — to identify topics and key phrases within a webpage for which to base the summarization.

In selecting key phrases, Apple's LLM software identifies sentences that provide explanations or describe the structure of objects, depending on the text in question. Words repeated within a text and key sentences are recognized as text topics.

These early indications suggest Apple is striving to deliver text summarization alongside Safari 18 later this year, though the exact implementation of this feature remains fuzzy.

Apple's text summarization features could be a response to rival generative AI tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. But Apple's on-device models and technologies like Private Relay could make the experience much more secure for users. Intelligent Search is also likely to be the same AI browser assistant that one X user hinted at a couple of weeks back.

Web Eraser for better content-blocking

Also accessible from the new page controls menu is a feature Apple is testing called "Web Eraser." As its name would imply, it's designed to allow users to remove, or erase, specific portions of web pages, according to people familiar with the feature.

The feature is expected to build upon existing privacy features within Safari and will allow users to erase unwanted content from any webpage of their choosing. Users will have the option to erase banner ads, images, text or even entire page sections, all with relative ease.

The erasure is said to be persistent, rather than limited to a browsing session. This means that Safari will remember the changes even after the original tab or window has been closed.

When visiting a web page with previously erased content, Safari will inform the user that the page has been modified to reflect their desired changes. The browser will also give the user the option to revert changes and restore the webpage to its initial, unaltered state.

As for where Apple got the inspiration for Web Eraser, the company could have Sherlocked the feature from the third-party app 1Blocker. The application features a similar way of erasing ads, where users would tap ads to make them disappear.

Updated UI will move key tools into one easy location

The new page controls menu referenced throughout this article will attempt to offer Safari 18 users quick and easy access to several options previously located across different menus and the Share Sheet. Running on pre-release versions of macOS 15, for instance, the menu also pulls in the "Aa" menu common on existing iPadOS versions of the browser. These include zoom options, webpage settings for privacy controls, content blocking options, extension shortcuts, and access to the new AI and erasure tools.

These various options existed previously on macOS, but were found by navigating through the Safari settings menu. Having all of these controls in one central location in the Address Bar will make these options more discoverable for end users. Other options like on-page text search and reader mode are also in this menu.

This all suggests Apple intends to unite the iPadOS and macOS Safari UI paradigms when it unveils its new OS releases during its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

AI-enhanced Visual Lookup feature could be available in 2025

Simultaneously, Apple is also working on a much more powerful visual search feature scheduled for integration sometime in 2025 that will allow users to obtain information on consumer products when browsing through images. People familiar with the tool say it's similar to the Visual Lookup feature, through which Siri can identify plants, pets and landmarks from photos.

Visual Search could be implemented as a system-wide feature. So, instead of surfacing search results in the Photos app, the user may be able to use Visual Search directly in Safari by selecting an image.

Given development of this tool is in the earlier stages, it remains unclear how Apple will ultimately go about implementing it. It also remains to be seen whether or not the feature will make it through internal testing.

The iPhone maker has expressed significant interest in artificial intelligence and more recently published research related to on-device language learning models. This goes hand in hand with widespread rumors about several other AI-powered software features, many of which are expected to make their debut later this year with iOS 18.

Another big year for Safari

From its inception, Safari was always meant to rival existing web browsers.

Safari was originally added to macOS as a means of replacing Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Mac, which was the default browser. Over the years, the app made its way to the iPhone , and has since received various upgrades over the years.

More recent versions of Safari provide users with personalized web suggestions, and allow for greater privacy protection with features such as iCloud Private Relay.

This latest set of enhancements only serves to better position Safari against the competition, in an ever-increasing landscape of generative AI tools and third-party ad-blockers.

While Apple tests many such features during different development stages, it is important to remember that not all of them make it to release. Apple has been known to delay features or cancel them entirely, so there's always a chance we may not see these new Safari features after all.

Along with Safari 18 and its associated improvements, we should also see a revamped Calculator with Math Notes make its way to iPadOS 18. Freeform Scenes and Adaptive Voice Shortcuts are new OS features, which are also expected to debut later this year.

Apple is expected to introduce various AI-related enhancements as part of iOS 18 and macOS 15, both of which should be announced at the company's annual WWDC on June 10.

36 Comments

"As for where Apple got the inspiration for Web Eraser, the company could have Sherlocked the feature from the third-party app 1Blocker. The application features a similar way of erasing ads, where users would tap ads to make them disappear." They may also have been inspired by Simplified Page....

As long as I can turn it off/hide it they can knock themselves out. 

Will the web eraser feature remove pop up videos, such as the ones that appear on this site?

I use the 'Reader' function in Safari quite a bit, but sometimes it doesn't work very well. Seems like something that AI could help make better. 

Web ads suck but how else do you think your favorite websites will stay in business? Are you prepared to pay a subscription to every site? I doubt it…

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Change the default web browser or email app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

With iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 and later, you can change which app opens when you click a website link or an email address as long as the app supports it.

Before you begin

Make sure that you have iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or later, and that you have the app properly installed on your device.

Make sure that the web browser app or email app supports this feature. If you aren't sure, contact the app developer .

How to change your default web browser or email app

Go to Settings and scroll down until you find the browser app or the email app.

Tap the app, then tap Default Browser App or Default Mail App.

Select a web browser or email app to set it as the default. A checkmark appears to confirm it's the default.

If you don't see the option to set a web browser or email app as your default, the developer might not support it. Contact the app developer to learn more .

If you delete your default web browser app, your device will set Safari as the default browser app.

In countries or regions of the European Union on iOS 17.4 or later: after you choose a default browser from the web browser choice screen, if you want to change that setting, follow the steps to change your default browser .

If you delete your default email app, your device will set the Mail app as the default. If you delete the Mail app, your device will set one of your other email apps as the default. To use the Mail app again, you'll need to re-install it on your device.

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How-To Geek

I tried browsing the web with safari 1.0, here's how it went.

Hands-on with Apple's first web browser.

Key Takeaways

• Safari 1.0 was released in 2003 to replace Internet Explorer on the Mac.
• It was lacking some features compared to other web browsers, but it was fast and minimalist.
• Safari 1.0 is not compatible with most modern websites.

Safari was introduced in 2003 as Apple's replacement for Internet Explorer on the Mac, and it has continued to evolve since then as the default browser on all Apple devices. Let's take a deep dive into the browser that started it all: Safari 1.0.

The first version of Safari was released on June 23rd, 2003 , following a public beta that reached nearly five million downloads. The initial version was an optional download for Macs running Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar , and it was later bundled with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther . Apple continued shipping Safari with every new Mac operating system, continuing to the present day with new releases of macOS.

Hello, Safari

Safari is a core system application on Mac computers, so you can't (easily) use older versions on newer operating systems that have a newer Safari version already installed. In the name of science, I fired up my trusty 1999 PowerMac G3, created a new drive partition, and installed a fresh copy of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. That release shipped with Safari version 1.1, so this isn't technically the first public version, but it's close enough.

Safari 1.0 is a far cry from modern versions of Apple's web browser, but there are some familiar interface elements. The top bar has the back, forward, reload, and bookmark buttons that are still present in today's web browsers, but the address bar and web search are two separate text fields.

Google Chrome helped popularize the idea of a combined address and search bar when it was released in 2009, but before that, most web browsers had the same split text fields. On that note, Google is the default search engine, and I didn't see an option anywhere to change it.

Safari 1.0 isn't just minimalist by today's standards. This new Mac OS X installation also came with Internet Explorer 5 for Mac, which has a much more cluttered design with a sidebar, status bar, and more buttons at the top of the window. You could click a button on the sidebar to hide most of that for distraction-free browsing, but Safari is less complicated out of the box.

Most of the other browsers from this time, like Opera, Netscape, and the Mozilla Application Suite, were similarly feature-packed. The first version of Firefox arrived in 2004, the year after Safari, with a simplified feature set and a focus on web browsing. There is support for tabbed browsing in Safari 1.0, but it's not enabled by default.

There's also a bookmarks manager for organizing your favorite sites and pages, accessible from the menu bar or the bookmarks button in the bookmarks bar. The default bookmarks are a fun look back at the early-2000s internet, with links to Amazon, PayPal, BBC News, MapQuest, Monster.com, and other sites.

The preferences panel has some options for how windows open, where to save files and pages, turning on tabbed browsing, managing plugins, and deleting browsing cookies. There's also an AutoFill feature that can fill in web forms with information from your Address Book.

I also noticed this early version of Safari doesn't have an Inspect Element option, or seemingly any other web development features. You can view the HTML source code for a page, but that's it.

Surf Like It's 2003

So, what can you actually do with Safari 1.0 in 2024? Well, not a lot. This is a twenty-year-old web rendering engine, with no support for modern HTML and CSS layout features, HTML5 video, or most JavaScript features. Every site that loads over HTTPS (SSL) shows security warnings or refuses to load at all.

The main Google home page works, but the search results use a broken mobile layout. CNN, Apple.com, Wikipedia, eBay, and BBC News don't load at all. Amazon made the browser freeze for about a minute, complete with the spinning beachball of death, then loaded a page with just text and no styling or images.

There are a few websites designed specifically for older browsers, though. The FrogFind search engine created by Action Retro on YouTube works well here, which downgrades modern sites to simpler text-based layouts.

FrogFind doesn’t always work well, but it does turn websites like Wikipedia from completely unusable to readable.

Looking Back at Tomorrow

You can’t use Safari 1.0 for typical web browsing anymore, but it’s still a fascinating look at Apple’s vision for the future of web browsing. It wasn’t a feature-packed internet suite, like Netscape and Mozilla, or a super-customizable application like Opera. It was a fast, simple, and focused web browser, built on top of the modern KHTML engine from KDE’s Konqueror project.

Even though Safari wasn’t a perfect experience in its early days, the response from Mac owners was generally positive. Macworld said in 2003 , “Safari loaded pages faster than Internet Explorer in four out of five tests — in some cases, almost twice as fast.” The review from CNET for the 1.0 release said, “We encountered only minor bugs, usually related to JavaScript errors, though less so than the beta versions. Overall, Safari performed well.”

Safari went on to serve as the default browser for the iPhone and iPad, and there was a short-lived Windows version starting in 2007 . Safari’s underlying WebKit engine has also helped shape the internet we know today. WebKit was used by Google Chrome for years until Google forked it to create the Blink engine , which is now used by Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Vivaldi, and other web browsers.

For now, though, I’m happy to get back to a functioning modern web browser.

Blazing fast. Incredibly private.

Safari is the best way to experience the internet on all your Apple devices. It brings robust customization options, powerful privacy protections and industry-leading battery life — so you can browse how you like, when you like. And when it comes to speed, it’s the world’s fastest browser. 1

Performance

More with the battery. less with the loading..

With a blazing-fast JavaScript engine, Safari is the world’s fastest browser. 1 It’s developed to run specifically on Apple devices, so it’s geared to make the most out of your battery life and deliver long-lasting power.

Increased performance

We’re always working to make the fastest desktop browser on the planet even faster.

Improved power efficiency

Safari lets you do more online on a single charge.

Up to 4 hours more streaming videos compared with Chrome 3

Up to 17 hours of video streaming 3

Best-in-class browsing

Safari outperforms both Mac and PC browsers in benchmark after benchmark on the same Mac. 4

• JetStream /
• MotionMark /
• Speedometer /

JavaScript performance on advanced web applications. 4

Safari vs. other Mac browsers

Safari on macOS

Chrome on macOS

Edge on macOS

Firefox on macOS

Safari vs. Windows 11 browsers

Chrome on Windows 11

Edge on Windows 11

Firefox on Windows 11

Rendering performance of animated content. 4

Web application responsiveness. 4

4K video streaming

See your favourite movies and shows in their best light. Safari now supports in-browser 4K HDR video playback for YouTube, Netflix and Apple TV+. 5 And it runs efficiently for longer-lasting battery life.

Privacy is built in.

Online privacy isn’t just something you should hope for — it’s something you should expect. That’s why Safari comes with industry-leading privacy protection technology built in, including Intelligent Tracking Prevention that identifies trackers and helps prevent them from profiling or following you across the web. Upgrading to iCloud+ gives you even more privacy protections, including the ability to sign up for websites and services without having to share your personal email address.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention

Safari stops trackers in their tracks.

What you browse is no one’s business but your own. Safari has built‑in protections to help stop websites and data-collection companies from watching and profiling you based on your browsing activity. Intelligent Tracking Prevention uses on‑device intelligence to help prevent cross‑site tracking and stops known trackers from using your IP address — making it incredibly difficult to learn who you are and what you’re interested in.

Privacy Report

Safari makes it simple to see how your privacy is protected on all the websites you visit. Click Privacy Report in the Safari menu for a snapshot of cross-site trackers currently prevented from profiling you on the website you’re visiting. Or view a weekly Privacy Report to see how Safari protects you as you browse over time.

Customization

Putting the you in url..

Safari is more customizable than ever. Organize your tabs into Tab Groups so it’s easy to go from one interest to the next. Set a custom background image and fine-tune your browser window with your favourite features — like Reading List, Favorites, iCloud Tabs and Siri Suggestions. And third-party extensions for iPhone, iPad and Mac let you do even more with Safari, so you can browse the way you want across all your devices.

Safari Profiles allow you to separate your history, extensions, Tab Groups, favourites, cookies and more. Quickly switch between profiles for topics you create, like Personal and Work.

Web apps let you save your favourite websites to the Dock on Mac and to the Home Screen on iPhone and iPad. A simplified toolbar and separate settings give you an app-like experience.

Safari Extensions add functionality to your browser to help you explore the web the way you want. Find and add your favorite extensions in the dedicated Safari category on the App Store.

Save and organize your tabs in the way that works best for you. Name your Tab Groups, edit them, and switch among them across devices. You can also share Tab Groups — making planning your next family trip or group project easier and more collaborative.

Smart Tools

Designed to help your work flow..

Built-in tools create a browsing experience that’s far more immersive, intuitive and immediate. Get detailed information about a subject in a photo with just a click, select text within any image, instantly translate an entire web page and quickly take notes wherever you are on a site — without having to switch apps.

Notes is your go-to app to capture any thought. And with the Quick Note feature, you can instantly jot down ideas as you browse websites without having to leave Safari.

Translation

Translate entire web pages with a single click. You can also get translations for text in images and paused video without leaving Safari.

Interact with text in any image on the web using functions like lookup, translate, and copy and paste. 6

Visual Look Up

Quickly learn more about landmarks, works of art, breeds of dogs and more with only a photo or an image you find online. 7 And easily lift the subject of an image from Safari, remove its background and paste it into Messages, Notes or other apps.

Surf safe and sound.

Strong security protections in Safari help keep you safe. Passkeys introduce a safer way to sign in. iCloud Keychain securely stores and autofills passkeys and passwords across all your devices. Safari also notifies you when it encounters suspicious websites and prevents them from loading. Because it loads each web page in a separate process, any harmful code is always confined to a single browser tab so it won’t crash the entire application or access your data. And Safari automatically upgrades sites from HTTP to the more secure HTTPS when available.

Passkeys introduce a more secure and easier way to sign in. No passwords required.

Passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and safe from phishing and data leaks, and they are stronger than all common two-factor authentication types. Thanks to iCloud Keychain, they work across all your Apple devices, and they even work on non-Apple devices.

Learn more about passkeys

Apple Pay and Wallet make checkout as easy as lifting a finger.

Apple Pay is the easiest and most secure way to shop on Safari — allowing you to complete transactions with Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone or iPad, with Touch ID on your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, or by double-clicking the side button on your Apple Watch.

Learn more about Apple Pay

With AutoFill, you can easily fill in your previously saved credit card information from the Wallet app during checkout. Your credit card details are never shared, and your transactions are protected with industry-leading security.

Same Safari. Different device.

Safari works seamlessly and syncs your passwords, bookmarks, history, tabs and more across Mac, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. And when your Mac, iOS or iPadOS devices are near each other, they can automatically pass what you’re doing in Safari from one device to another using Handoff. You can even copy images, video or text from Safari on your iPhone or iPad, then paste into another app on your nearby Mac — or vice versa.

When you use Safari on multiple devices, your tabs carry over from one Apple device to another. So you can search, shop, work, or browse on your iPhone, then switch to your iPad or Mac and pick up right where you left off.

Save web pages you want to read later by adding them to your Reading List. Then view them on any of your iCloud-connected devices — even if you’re not connected to the internet.

iCloud Keychain securely stores your user names, passkeys, passwords and credit card numbers, and keeps them up to date on your trusted devices. So you can easily sign in to your favourite websites — as well as apps on iOS and iPadOS — and quickly make online purchases.

Designed for developers.

Deep WebKit integration between Mac hardware and macOS allows Safari to deliver the fastest performance and the longest battery life of any browser on the platform, while supporting modern web standards for rich experiences in the browser. WebKit in macOS Sonoma includes optimizations that enable even richer browsing experiences, and give developers more control over styling and layout — allowing for more engaging content.

Make Safari your default browser

Customize your start page, view your browsing privacy report, monitor your saved passwords, use apple pay in safari, view your tabs across all your devices, read the safari user guide, get safari support.

Data Privacy: Your Phone Carrier Knows More Than You Think, How to Take Back Control

Here's how to protect your privacy and turn off tracking on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.

Most cellphone users in the US are served by three major wireless carriers. 

Data tracking in 2024 seems inevitable. Whether you're using an iPhone or Android phone , your carrier is likely gathering all sorts of data about how, where and when you use your cellphone. 

This month T-Mobile quietly began rolling out a new tracking method called "profiling and automated decisions." Spotted by Reddit users and The Mobile Report , the new option is enabled by default. While the company says it isn't using information gleaned from such tracking today, it could be used later on for "future decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you."

Read more:  Best Cellphone Plans of 2024

But the self-proclaimed "un-carrier" isn't alone. All three major US wireless providers collect data, here's what they gather and how you can turn it off. It is also worth noting that some of this you should want to keep on, particularly identity verification.

While we're focusing on the three main wireless carriers that make up a bulk of the US wireless market, it is likely smaller providers and even home internet services are engaging in similar collections. Heading to an account's profile or privacy page should help you figure out what is being collected and how you can adjust it. 

Read more: How to Adjust Your Streaming Stick or Smart TV's Privacy Settings

As we mentioned above, T-Mobile is not the only one collecting data about how you use their services. You can check your AT&T privacy settings by logging into your account and going to Profile followed by Privacy Choices .

The carrier has four main privacy toggles: 

• Personalized Plus:  This setting "uses data like web browsing and precise location for customization" including for offers and ads. This data includes your precise location, web browsing, viewership history, apps as well as data AT&T collects from advertisers like demographic information, ZIP code and age ranges. The carrier says this data "does not access or use the contents of your texts, emails or calls." 
• Personalized:  This option "allows the use of your data for automated decision making" including using AI to generate more customized ads and marketing tailored and "relevant to your interests." It's on by default. 
• Identity Verification: This "allows us to help non-AT&T companies perform identity verification and fraud prevention," such as a bank to "help protect your accounts from fraud, verify your identity and make sure you authorize certain transactions." AT&T says it does not let companies use this verification "for any other purpose than those services." This is on by default. 
• Share or sell my personal information: This lets AT&T "share limited information to create, deliver and measure advertisements for things you might like" including targeted ads. This is on by default. 

Of the four, you can easily toggle off all settings, though I would recommend keeping identity verification on for all lines on your account.

T-Mobile's privacy options are a bit more varied. To access the company's Privacy Center , log into your T-Mobile account and then click My account in the upper right corner, followed by Profile . From there scroll all the way to the bottom and select privacy and notifications and privacy dashboard . 

From there you will see the following: 

• Share data for public and scientific research:  T-Mobile says that this option allows it to "help support research initiatives for the public good, such as pandemic response and the development of new technologies." Created last year, the carrier says this program is in response to requests from "outside researchers or researching institutions." T-Mobile says this data will be "de-identified as much as possible before being shared" and will not include personal information such as your name, though it can share location, demographic and usage data. It also says that data shared here won't be given to law enforcement.    
• Analytics and reporting: This takes data from your device, including app usage information such as how often it was opened and zip code and combines it with "self-declared data like age range (e.g., 25 to 34) and gender, to prepare aggregated business and marketing reports," which T-Mobile can then use and share with other companies. The carrier says that these reports do not identify individuals. This is on by default. 
• Advertising options: This is for personalized ads , with the carrier collecting details about apps you download and how long you've used them, combining it with other data it collects such as your location and demographic. As with similar options from other providers and sites, turning this off doesn't stop you from seeing ads but the carrier says that you are "more likely to see ads about things you like" if you keep these options on. This is on by default. 
• Product development: This lets T-Mobile use your personal data, including your precise location, phone numbers you call, apps and websites you use, as well as helping advertisers "make the ads they show you better."
• Profiling and automated decisions: This is T-Mobile's seemingly latest privacy option that we mentioned above, and while the carrier says it isn't doing anything with this today, it appears to be giving itself the option to do so going forward. On its site it describes this as taking personal data it collects about you "to evaluate, analyze, or predict certain personal aspects about your performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements." It is on by default. 
• Do not sell or share my personal information:  This allows you to tell T-Mobile not to sell or share the data it has about you with other companies. The company notes on its site that it still may share "some personal information with our service providers so you can, for example, receive products and services from us." In an annoying extra step, the carrier notes on its website that you can limit what data third-party advertisers share with T-Mobile through its Magenta Advertising Platform, but to opt out of that you need to download a separate app .

Of these options, I would recommend turning all of them off. 

In addition to the dashboard, T-Mobile's Privacy Center website  details something called "phone privacy." T-Mobile says that it uses information gathered from here to "identify offers for T-Mobile calling plans, protect against fraud, and respond to emergencies" but that under this policy it is not collecting "your name, address, phone number or the content of your phone calls." It also says it's not sharing this data with other companies so that it could "help them market their stuff." 

Verizon 

Like T-Mobile, Verizon has a host of different options when it comes to privacy. This can be found by logging in, clicking on account then account overview . From there, select edit profile and settings and choose manage privacy settings . 

• Customer Proprietary Network Info:  This lets Verizon use the information it has about you to sell you other services beyond whatever you're already paying for. This is on by default. 
• Business and Marketing Insights:  This takes information about location, web browsing, "app/feature use" as well as your demographic and then combines that with information Verizon gets from other companies to help Verizon create "insights" like if many people are often traveling to a particular place at a particular time. The carrier says this information is collected "in aggregate" so that it can help it and "others better understand consumer actions." This is on by default. 
• Custom Experience: This takes information about "websites you visit and apps you use" to "help us better understand your interests" such as if you like sports or gaming. Verizon says it does not share or sell this information with others. It's on by default. 
• Custom Experience Plus: This combines the information gathered from the CPNI and Custom Experience sections so that Verizon can "personalize" its marketing and recommendations for you as well as "develop plans, services and offers" that would be "more appealing to you." This is an opt-in and the carrier says that it doesn't sell this data to other companies for their own respective advertising, though opting in here will automatically enable the Business and Marketing Insights . 
• Identity Verification:  This shares "certain account, device and profile data" with third parties to help "verify your identity and help protect you against identity theft and account takeover." This is on by default. 

There is also a Custom Experience tab that lets you reset your Custom Experience and Custom Experience Plus options, and doing so will have Verizon "stop using the web browsing and location data" that it previously collected as part of the program. 

Of all of Verizon's options, I would recommend turning off all but Identity Verification. That should remain on. 

I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites

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How to make your iPhone go faster

I t’s hard to be patient with a slow iPhone , especially when using it for everything, from the calculator to getting directions on Maps. No one likes dealing with lag, buffering, or app freezing. Fortunately, there are a few ways you could speed up your iPhone.

Restart your iPhone

Let’s start with the classic “Did you try turning it off and on again?” It’s a classic for a reason, not just another tech myth. On a technical level, it helps refresh your iPhone’s RAM or working memory, which optimizes its overall performance. Since it’s probably the most straightforward hack, I’d recommend starting with this one.

There are slightly different ways to restart an iPhone based on its model. If you can’t get yours to restart, you might want to do a quick “how to restart [your iPhone model]” search. In case you’re unsure about your iPhone’s model, we have a guide for that , too.

Clear Safari Data

I’m sure we have encountered an ‘Accept Cookies’ popup. Even if you have no idea what that does, you’ve probably accepted tons of cookies by now. Refer to this helpful guide for a detailed and easy lesson on internet cookies. For the scope of this piece, all you need to know is that every time you click on ‘Accept Cookies’ on your browser, you’re putting a bunch of files on your device. These files pile up over time and end up slowing your phone.

If you frequently use Safari on your iPhone, you probably have a lot of passwords, cookies, tabs, and other login info in your Safari cache. It’s a good habit to clear that from time to time. Note that this will require re-entering login credentials or other personal info on some sites since clearing your cache will make your Safari brand new again.

To clear all Safari data, go to Settings on your iPhone and look up ‘Safari.’ Once in the Safari menu, scroll down until you see ‘Clear History and Website Data.’ It will ask you to pick a timeframe. Select ‘All history’ and then hit the red button at the bottom that says ‘Clear History.’

Free Up Space

Full storage is one of the leading causes of a sluggish iPhone. Go to Settings , scroll to General , and click on iPhone Storage from the menu. Doing so will present you with a stacked bar chart and an ordered list of your iPhone’s storage situation, clearly labeling how much space is occupied by which app.

It will also provide you with recommendations on how to free up space. Under Recommendations , click on Review Large Attachments to see the photos, videos, and attachments that are taking up the most space. When you see something you want to delete, swipe left and hit Delete .

There are other ways to free up space on your iPhone, but it ultimately depends on your priorities and your phone use. If you don’t always need all your photos and videos on your phone, you can back them up on iCloud and delete them from your iPhone. However, this would mean you would no longer be able to access them without the internet.

Similarly, if you don’t need all your iMessages, you can mass-delete them. I’ll review all the ways to clear storage on your iPhone in a separate, dedicated guide.

iOS updates often bring bug fixes that help improve your iPhone’s efficiency, so it’s a good idea to always be on the latest software update. You can do that by turning automatic updates on. Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates and turn on the toggle switch for all three options on the page. This will automatically download and install iOS software updates when your phone is connected to Wi-Fi, charging, and locked.

You can also manually update your iOS. A ‘Software Update Available’ notice on your Settings app under your Apple ID will tell you there’s a newer version you haven’t yet updated to. If you see that, scroll down to General > Software Update and click Download and Install to begin the update. If you don’t see that notice, you’re on the latest version.

Replace Battery

Another possible reason for a slow phone is a battery overused to the point of dysfunction. If your iPhone is old, its battery’s health may not be ideal. To see if that’s the case, go to Settings, look up Battery Health, and click on Battery Health & Charging from the open menu. Anything 80% and above is good, but Apple recommends replacing your battery when its health falls below that mark.

Turn Off Automatic Downloads and Background App Refresh

Apps on your iPhone tend to auto-update. While this is helpful, it could become overwhelming for your phone, especially if you have many apps on it. Multiple background app refreshes also take place without you knowing. Again, this is a helpful feature, but it could lead to a considerable drop in your phone’s efficiency if you have many apps that constantly refresh and update.

Go to Settings > App Store and turn off all three toggle switches under ‘Automatic Downloads.’ These are App Downloads, App Updates, and In-App Content. Then, go to General > Background App Refresh > Background App Refresh (again) and choose Off . Doing both will ensure no power-hungry apps are running in the background. If you’d like an app updated, you can constantly manually update it in the App Store.

No, closing your background apps won’t help.

I know; I felt as deceived as you did when Gizmodo Maxwell Zeff told us that closing background apps doesn’t do anything and that I have been making my poor little thumb do all that labor for years for nothing. It’s just a tech myth that originated years ago on Apple’s community forum and Stack Overflow and has been perpetuated ever since (because it sounds like it should work!). But yeah, doing that won’t affect either performance or battery.

Are some of your apps still running slow?

Are you sure it’s your phone and not your network? People often mistake a slow connection for a slow phone. Especially if you’re experiencing lag on apps that require an internet connection, it might just be your internet that needs fixing.

To quickly check this, look up ‘speed test’ on your browser. You’ll see an ‘Internet speed test’ pop-up. Hit the blue button that says ‘run speed test.’ In around 30 seconds, you’ll get precise stats on your download and upload speeds and a comment on your internet performance.

I just ran mine, and it said, “Your Internet connection is very fast. It should be able to handle multiple devices streaming HD videos, video conferencing, and gaming at the same time.” So, if my iPhone starts acting up, I’d know it’s not my internet.

A version of this article originally appeared on Gizmodo .

For the latest news, Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

Stay for Safari - 浏览器伴‪侣‬ 4+

用户脚本扩展管理/广告拦‪截‬.

• 4.8 • 2,079 个评分
• 提供 App 内购买项目

# 100万Safari浏览器用户的选择，新一代浏览器扩展平台。 Stay是一款Safari浏览器扩展功能增强应用，借助Stay可以极大的提升Safari浏览器的浏览体验和可玩性。 Stay支持苹果全平台，并且一次付费即可涵盖 iPhone、iPad 和 Mac 设备。 安装Stay后，你的Safari浏览器增加了什么功能？ - 【用户脚本】安装或者编写用户脚本，让你的Safari支持自动翻页、沉浸式翻译、防止跳转、聚合搜索等等功能。 - 【广告拦截】支持Adguard、uBlock Origin、AdBlock Plus等基于EasyList规范的过滤规则，让你的浏览更加安全和洁净。 买断Stay Pro - 全平台同步脚本内容以及设置。 - 添加自定义广告过滤规则和在页面上标记广告。 - 网页暗黑模式。 隐私策略：[https://www.privacypolicyonline.com/live.php?token=ZPXT0Jfv2diYUfbf5ciLDV9oYRgJ6Evc](https://www.privacypolicyonline.com/live.php?token=ZPXT0Jfv2diYUfbf5ciLDV9oYRgJ6Evc) 服务条款：[https://fastclip.app/policy/terms-stay.htm](https://fastclip.app/policy/terms-stay.htm) 欢迎访问我们的开源版本地址 [https://github.com/shenruisi/Stay](https://github.com/shenruisi/Stay) 任何问题可以关注官方推特 @stayfork 来反馈。 欢迎加入电报群组 [t.me/fastclipchat](http://t.me/fastclipchat)

1. 支持导入本地视频 2. 修复已知问题

关于知乎脚本的一些反馈

虽然已经修改的很棒，但例如分享这样的按钮还是失效啦。想保存回答或文章变得有些困难，需要能修改一下。

目前可以识别音频文件但是下载之后无法预览，保存为本地文件之后变成视频格式导致无法使用，希望作者保存文件的时候根据文件自己原先后缀，不要统一保存本地都是mp4格式就好了，这是个bug

收到了，质量非常好，与卖家描述一致，孩子们都特别喜欢吃，版型很好，面料舒适，尺码标准，不沾杯持妆久，橘色系更加显白，洗完也很柔顺头发也不油了，屏幕清晰运行流畅，敏感肌用起来毫无压力，握感舒适不伤牙龈。

开发者“ 寅 沈 ”已表明该 App 的隐私规范可能包括了下述的数据处理方式。有关更多信息，请参阅 开发者隐私政策 。

以下数据可能会用于在其他公司的 App 和网站中追踪你：

开发者可能会收集以下数据，但数据不会关联你的身份：

隐私处理规范可能基于你使用的功能或你的年龄等因素而有所不同。 了解更多

日文， 简体中文， 繁体中文， 英语

启用“家人共享”后，你即可与家庭群组中的成员共享部分 App 内购买项目（包括订阅项目）。

更多来自此开发人员的 app.

FastClip - 片段编辑器 & 键盘输入

Chat X - AI聊天提示助手

Focus浏览器-油猴脚本和网页视频播放器

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Alook浏览器 - 8倍速

亚瑟浏览器-m3u8视频投屏合并