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Chrome Ditched Redesign That Was Similar to Safari in iOS 15, Says Former Google Employee

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Apple introduced a sweeping overhaul to its Safari browser's interface on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, with a redesign that includes an address bar that floats at the bottom of the screen, changes to the way users switch tabs, and more.

ios15-safari-reader-view.jpg

Apple says this new-look Safari has been "reimagined for the way we browse today." In iOS 15, for example, Apple says the new floating address bar means Safari "maximizes your screen space and stays out of the way as you scroll and explore." However, some of the changes on both desktop and mobile have been heavily criticized by some users.

It turns out Google tried something similar in 2016 for its own home-grown browser. According to Chris Lee, a former Google designer, Google began developing a redesign for the Chrome mobile app called "Chrome Home" that was very similar to the one Apple is currently aiming at for Safari.

Lee was a staff interaction designer at Google at the time, and on his personal blog (via 9to5Google), Lee says he created the "original concept and pitch" for an "ambitious redesign of mobile Chrome's main UI."
It brought Chrome's toolbar to the bottom of the screen and turned [it] into a peeking panel that could be swiped to expose additional controls.
Click to expand...
Swiping up on the address bar displayed the Discover and recent sites, Downloads, Bookmarks and History, while other features were accessible in a menu via an ellipsis (three dot) icon, which consolidated key browsing options and simplified one-handed operation in an era of growing screen sizes.

Lee says Chrome Home "caught traction internally, eventually becoming a Chrome org priority." However, after live beta tests and sustained experiments, the team received "a mixture of reactions."
The feature gained a cult following among the tech community, but for many mainstream users, the change felt disorienting. Chrome serves billions of users around the globe with varying tech literacy. Over the course of many iterations, I became increasingly convinced that launching Chrome Home would not serve all our users well.

So just as I strongly as I had pitched the original concept, I advocated for us to stop the launch - which took not a small amount of debate.
Click to expand...
Ultimately, the redesign was killed off in 2018. Lee suggests that though Chrome Home was short-lived that doesn't mean it was a wasted effort, but rather a lesson about "the intentionality needed to innovate within a product of massive scale."

For Safari users, the question now is whether Apple's mixed feedback from its beta testers will be enough to steer the browser's redesign towards an end result that's more broadly acceptable to its user base, or if the company's intention lies in forcing through a change that it believes will grow on people given time.

Updates to iOS 15 Beta 3 and macOS Monterey Beta 3 suggest it could be the former: Apple has walked back some of the design changes it had in mind for Safari on both desktop and mobile, but we won't find out what the finished article will be like until both operating systems are released in September.

Article Link: Chrome Ditched Redesign That Was Similar to Safari in iOS 15, Says Former Google Employee
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/27/chrome-abandoned-safari-like-redesign/
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The problem is that the prior bar was condensed into the top combined bar w/ the notch (even smaller when scrolling down) and you received the full screen all the way down from there. Now you lose all that acreen estate that the iPhone X was advertising for.

Big design flaw.
 
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Im hating it less now.

my main issue is getting to history. Its so buried.
Yes you can long press on the back button but thats only shows the active tabs history i believe.
They should add a show full history option to that or a quick shortcut somewhere.
 
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adammusic said:
Im hating it less now.

my main issue is getting to history. Its so buried.
Yes you can long press on the back button but thats partial history.
They should add a show full history option to that.
Click to expand...
Your history hey. 🤔😁😂
 
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dazlicous said:
Hate the Safari on iOS 15 on my phone. that floating bar at the bottom is horrendous

Never mind swipe down to refresh. If on forums not good either if you wanna refresh to check for new posts
Click to expand...
I think the redesign is fantastic. The New York Times app made similar changes, moving controls to the bottom of the screen, which also improved the experience.

But perhaps Apple could give users the option of going with the new design or the old for those who don't want to change.
 
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MacRumors said:
For Safari users, the question now is whether Apple's mixed feedback from its beta testers will be enough to steer the browser's redesign towards an end result that's more broadly acceptable to its user base, or if the company's intention lies elsewhere
Click to expand...
What is MR suggesting? That Apple is intentionally designing upsetting user interfaces?
 
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Apple needs to rethink this abomination too. I am no longer using Safari on my iOS 15 testing device. It is annoying and not intuitive at all. How is anyone supposed to know you can press and hold on three different areas of the address bar to get different menus with additional options that are not part of the "..." so stupid.

I do not know how Apple is using the internet "today" but that is not it. Usually I scroll and read from the top downwards with most information being provided at the bottom because websites tend to have the navigation on top anyway. However, now that stupid address bar bubble is covering that very content I am trying to read!

Also the argument with the "maximised content" is such BS because now you got this big white space between the notch and the website content instead
 
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All the loud voices need to adapt to it. Give the shouters a few months and they will come to love it.

also about google, this statement is ridiculous. I invented this back in 1995 when internet first started. Am I the cool girl now?
 
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MacRumors said:


Apple introduced a sweeping overhaul to its Safari browser's interface on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, with a redesign that includes an address bar that floats at the bottom of the screen, changes to the way users switch tabs, and more.

ios15-safari-reader-view.jpg

Apple says this new-look Safari has been "reimagined for the way we browse today." In iOS 15, for example, Apple says the new floating address bar means Safari "maximizes your screen space and stays out of the way as you scroll and explore." However, some of the changes on both desktop and mobile have been heavily criticized by some users.

It turns out Google tried something similar in 2016 for its own home-grown browser. According to Chris Lee, a former Google designer, Google began developing a redesign for the Chrome mobile app called "Chrome Home" that was very similar to the one Apple is currently aiming at for Safari.

Lee was a staff interaction designer at Google at the time, and on his personal blog (via 9to5Google), Lee says he created the "original concept and pitch" for an "ambitious redesign of mobile Chrome's main UI."
Swiping up on the address bar displayed the Discover and recent sites, Downloads, Bookmarks and History, while other features were accessible in a menu via an ellipsis (three dot) icon, which consolidated key browsing options and simplified one-handed operation in an era of growing screen sizes.

Lee says Chrome Home "caught traction internally, eventually becoming a Chrome org priority." However, after live beta tests and sustained experiments, the team received "a mixture of reactions."
Ultimately, the redesign was killed off in 2018. Lee suggests that though Chrome Home was short-lived that doesn't mean it was a wasted effort, but rather a lesson about "the intentionality needed to innovate within a product of massive scale."

For Safari users, the question now is whether Apple's mixed feedback from its beta testers will be enough to steer the browser's redesign towards an end result that's more broadly acceptable to its user base, or if the company's intention lies in forcing through a change that it believes will grow on people given time.

Updates to iOS 15 Beta 3 and macOS Monterey Beta 3 suggest it could be the former: Apple has walked back some of the design changes it had in mind for Safari on both desktop and mobile, but we won't find out what the finished article will be like until both operating systems are released in September.

Article Link: Chrome Ditched Redesign That Was Similar to Safari in iOS 15, Says Former Google Employee
Click to expand...
Get iOS 14’s Safari back, very simple. Failed experiment
 
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The current safari (and other browser) use far too much screen area on top, so that I only browse in max'ed windows (hiding all the menu/address/favorite/tabs) to get reasonable viewing experience on my 13" machine.

If they move it to the bottom, I hope we can hide it too.
 
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I like the changes on both desktop and mobile. Especially on mobile it makes it much faster and easier to use. Sure, there’s some kinks to work out like the address bar sometimes getting in the way but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.
Pulling down to refresh is very intuitive and in sync with how it works on most apps.
I can understand some prefer a separate row on iPad and Mac, and there’s an option for that now so all can be happy :)
 
idmean said:
What is MR suggesting? That Apple is intentionally designing upsetting user interfaces?
Click to expand...
That’s classic a approach, that way they can say “we improved the Safari UI on iOS 16” by just rolling back to prior iOS 14 Safari UI.
Just like they love to flip flop with iPhone bezel design.
 
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So Apple introduces disappearing address bars on the top of the screen long ago, not without some criticism (and without the option for a persistent address bar), with the excuse of offering more screen real estate. Then there’s this push for minimized bezels for more screen space, despite some of the usability issues the smaller bezels cause, and still with the annoyingly disappearing address bar. Then once this screen space is gained, there’s again an interface redesign with all kinds of new usability issues but with the excuse to offer more stream real estate for web pages. I have an idea. Why not make the screen and phone just a little bit bigger so we can live with the address bar on top like makes sense to most and that never disappears…. Surely apple can then stop the tinkering and leave the address bar persistent. Oh wait…
 
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dazlicous said:
Hate the Safari on iOS 15 on my phone. that floating bar at the bottom is horrendous

Never mind swipe down to refresh. If on forums not good either if you wanna refresh to check for new posts
Click to expand...
Only took a few days to get used to the change and actually prefer the direction they are going with the changes.
 
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