Apple Working on Safari Dark Mode Toggle for Viewing Specific Websites

[MacRumors]

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

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

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

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

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

Article Link: Apple Working on Safari Dark Mode Toggle for Viewing Specific Websites

 

[andrewxgx]

can you do a global switch please? i would very much like to have all websites in light mode when OS is in dark mode.

 

[HappyDude20]

Duh. It’s obviously only a matter of time.

It’s like they have to.

And they’ll add it as a new feature.

Lame. Whatever.

Edit: To add, this isn’t news. It’s just something that’s obviously coming by down the pike.

Imagine if Apple really was much more productive and more efficient? I know it’s easy to critique a trillion dollar company, especially as just a customer but here we are; that’s the beauty of these times. I can judge how lame this company acts in real time and am sure am not alone in thinking this.

 

[miniyou64]

Apple’s own Developer Portal doesn’t render correctly in their own browser, Safari, making it impossible to accept Developer agreements. You have to use Chrome or Firefox, and the Safari Team lead woman has the stones to get offended that people think Safari is bad. 😂

 

[OS X Dude]

The developer of Noir is gonna be ANNOYED.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

This just sounds weird to me.

What's next - only having some emails in dark mode? (I could actually see this as a security feature for helping people notice when they're being phished...)

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Dark Reader is a good extension for this now.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Safari is the IE of the Mac. The browser you use to get the one you really want.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

can you do a global switch please? i would very much like to have all websites in light mode when OS is in dark mode.

You can do that right now with the Noir app by setting light mode as the default.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Safari is the IE of the Mac. The browser you use to get the one you really want.

Debatable. I much more prefer Safari over Chrome's UI and since Apple changed how they distributed extensions a couple of years ago all of the extensions I need are available.

 

[Reapro]

Maybe they can fix their own dark mode. My Safari address bar is still ain't changing color, everytime I have to restart the freaking browser at day & night time.

 

[GraXXoR]

Safari is the IE of the Mac. The browser you use to get the one you really want.

Nope.
That's a sort of glib-slash-edgy soundbite comment trying to riff off the old Internet Explorer meme, but not actually true in this case.

I repair macs here in Japan and the very vast majority don't have chrome installed, or if they do it's some ancient version that hasn't been used/updated in years. Most laypeople seem satisfied with Safari.

 

[singularity0993]

As an app and web developer I completely agree that “Safari is the new IE”. Every web app we make must be specifically optimized for Safari because they simply don’t follow web standards. They also lack features without good reason, e.g. webkit animation is locked at 60fps, even if you have a 120hz display. Regex expressions lookbehind, which was standardized in 2018, still doesn’t work. And Safari is the only browser lagging behind. Just look at how many StackOverflow questions there are asking why xxx works on Chrome & Firefox but not Safari. If it weren’t for the iOS ecosystem we would have dropped Safari support already.

If Safari wasn’t preinstalled on Apple systems, I assume the majority of users would choose Chromium based browsers or Firefox instead. If this assumption turns out to be true, then Safari is undoubtedly the new IE.

 

[BrownyQ]

That's nice. I already paid for the Noir extension, and it works well enough for what I need.

But I'll use whichever gets me the best viewing experience.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

The developer of Noir is gonna be ANNOYED.

I don't think so. Noir (and Dark Reader) actually changes the CSS on light colored sites that don't support dark mode and adds different darkness levels. Unless Apple is implementing something similar (unlikely since this can sometimes affect site functionality) Noir's main feature is still worth it.

 

[coso]

I already paid for Noir but oh well

 

[uptownnyc]

Please do this on MacOS too!

I like my OS in light mode, but wish just Apple Music could operate in Dark Mode.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

I just want a default key combination for "TAKE THIS STUPID COMPUTER OUT OF DARK MODE RIGHT NOW!"

I HATE dark mode. It's like going back to the bad old days of 1980 when dark mode was all we had.

 

[nvmls]

They should rewrite this abomination from scratch at this point, instead of adding bells & whistles.

 

[mthomas184]

Apple’s own Developer Portal doesn’t render correctly in their own browser, Safari, making it impossible to accept Developer agreements. You have to use Chrome or Firefox, and the Safari Team lead woman has the stones to get offended that people think Safari is bad. ?

And it sucks using 2 browsers. I used Firefox on my Mac but since Firefox on iOS is so handicapped due to apple ridiculous webkit BS, I stuck with Safari there

 

[Rychiar]

Safari is the IE of the Mac. The browser you use to get the one you really want.

am I the only one who's never had a real problem with safari? its fast, simple and generally efficient here. occasionally it has issues with some government or medical websites but Macs in general had issues with some websites for decades

 

[dlewis23]

Apple’s own Developer Portal doesn’t render correctly in their own browser, Safari, making it impossible to accept Developer agreements. You have to use Chrome or Firefox, and the Safari Team lead woman has the stones to get offended that people think Safari is bad. ?

I just did this yesterday, accepting a dev agreement and it worked perfectly fine for me in Safari.

 

[-BigMac-]

They also lack features without good reason, e.g. webkit animation is locked at 60fps, even if you have a 120hz display.

REALLY???
Is this the case in iOS too?

 

[singularity0993]

REALLY???
Is this the case in iOS too?

Unfortunately, yes. See https://testufo.com

If you visit this website with a 120hz device using Safari you’ll see a notice that the framerate is locked at 60fps. This issue does not exist in Chrome (on macOS)

 

[webkit]

Nope.
That's a sort of glib-slash-edgy soundbite comment trying to riff off the old Internet Explorer meme, but not actually true in this case.

I repair macs here in Japan and the very vast majority don't have chrome installed, or if they do it's some ancient version that hasn't been used/updated in years. Most laypeople seem satisfied with Safari.

Although it can vary a bit by region, Safari does appear to be the go-to browser for most Apple OS users. Global Apple OS market share is currently around 23.7% while Safari market share is around 19.3%. Since Safari is only available for Apple OS, that would suggest that around 81.4% browser usage on Apple OS is with Safari.