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iOS 15: Check Out Safari's New Tab Bar, Tab Groups, and Tab Switcher

Can someone explain the difference between the iOS Safari "extensions" feature they're adding vs. the one who've had for years?

I am guessing that whereas the old system is limited to content blockers and actions that the user must initiate from the share/action menu, iOS 15 is going to have true extensions that run as the page loads. Correct?
 
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Feyl said:
I think we're at the period of time when Apple should make a toggle for every new feature to be able to turn them off. Apple systems are seriously bloated.
Click to expand...
Yes I agree,
Like do we need a contacts app when we have a phone app
or compass app when we have maps app
or voice memos app when we have a notes app

All the functionality can be incorperated.
 
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I never liked a bunch of open tabs. Always felt too clunky and disorderly to me. I much prefer a clean and orderly list of bookmarks. It's a much faster way for me to open a site.

I only have multiple tabs open briefly (maybe ten at the most). When I have to switch between multiple sites. Then close them all. Rather than let things turn into a rats nest of open tabs I no longer need.

I just can't see how people function with dozens of open tabs, let alone 100+ tabs. By that point it's a huge mess. When it could be in a list sorted by category (folders) then alphabetically. It might take a couple seconds longer to load a site. But that's more than made up for in the time saved locating the tab.

These features wouldn't sway me anyways. I much prefer the Duckduckgo browser app.
 
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TrenttonY said:
Yes I agree,
Like do we need a contacts app when we have a phone app
or compass app when we have maps app
or voice memos app when we have a notes app

All the functionality can be incorperated.
Click to expand...
But then everyone will whinge that the apps are to bloated.
 
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I am not a fan of this. It seems like change for the sake of change, while being confusing to non-techie people that are used the way things are now.

For example I've been teaching my grandma that no matter where she is on the internet, she can always press on the top bar and type in whatever she wants to do a Google search. It's like that on desktop, it's like that on iPad, it's like that on nearly every conventional browser. This will just confuse her, for seemingly no benefit.
 
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oneMadRssn said:
I am not a fan of this. It seems like change for the sake of change, while being confusing to non-techie people that are used the way things are now.

For example I've been teaching my grandma that no matter where she is on the internet, she can always press on the top bar and type in whatever she wants to do a Google search. It's like that on desktop, it's like that on iPad, it's like that on nearly every conventional browser. This will just confuse her, for seemingly no benefit.
Click to expand...
I mean, the bar is at the bottom instead of the top. That’s the only change. Give her some credit for knowing the difference between the top and the bottom.
 
TrenttonY said:
Yes I agree,
Like do we need a contacts app when we have a phone app
or compass app when we have maps app
or voice memos app when we have a notes app

All the functionality can be incorperated.
Click to expand...

Overall, I don't like the changes but then I see some of the ideas people post in these comments and it makes me appreciate that things could be worst...
 
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TrenttonY said:
Yes I agree,
Like do we need a contacts app when we have a phone app
or compass app when we have maps app
or voice memos app when we have a notes app

All the functionality can be incorperated.
Click to expand...
Because it is wrong to assume those items are always related simply because that is the way you use them.

Probably half the contacts I have on my phone do NOT have a phone number. Some are email only, some are just an address, and even some (like my nieces and nephews who don;t even have a phone) are in there simply so I can have their birthday in there so it shows up on my calendar.

Some are in there just so I can block them from ever contacting me no matter which method they may use. Hah!

Apple non longer requires you to keep most of their apps on the phone or even on the screen. If you are not using it, delete it or hide it.
 
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I've only got iOS15 on my ipad at the moment so I don't know if the iPhone is comparable, but I hate the new Safari sidebar implementation when in landscape mode...

opening a bookmarked site used to be 3 taps...

click on Bookmarks in the toolbar to open the bookmark sidebar
click the bookmark I want
click on Bookmarks in the toolbar to close the bookmark sidebar.

Now I have to

click on the toolbar to open the sidebar
click Bookmarks
click the bookmark I want
click < Safari to get back to the main sidebar page
click on the toolbar to close the sidebar

And that is just for bookmarks at the top level... for bookmarks in folders you have to tap all the way back up the folder tree one level at a time to get back to the main sidebar page in order to be able to close it.

Portrait mode is better as the sidebar automatically closes when you select a bookmark but there is still the extra tap to get into the Bookmarks list from the sidebar.
 
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TrenttonY said:
Looks terrible, and clunky.
The tab view is a major step backwards, makes the current one look so modern.

like seriously how many sub-menus and contextual menus can you have?
Click to expand...

What?
Honestly I think this is a MAJOR bonus for those with iPhone 11-13 Regular/Pro/Pro Max models for ability to reach so many frequent functions within Safari that I hope all other 3rd party browsers follow suit or make improvements.

Those users that wanted a bigger screen yet did not like the inability to reach for core functions may feel more comfortable, especially as this year the 13 mini will be phased out (praying Apple doesn't make a dumb move again). Hoping in 22 the 13 Mini physical dimensions becomes the iPhone SE 3.

The amount of contextual menu's isn't overdone but if it's easily accessible then its all good. you do use Windows or macOS or Linux right? There is a boatload of contextual menu's hidden until accessed on all those platforms.
 
TrenttonY said:
Yes I agree,
Like do we need a contacts app when we have a phone app
or compass app when we have maps app
or voice memos app when we have a notes app

All the functionality can be incorperated.
Click to expand...
I agree. But Apple seems to like making things more complicated like they did with iTunes.
 
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I have iOS 15 Dev.BETA1 on both my iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPad Pro 12,9 5.Gen and I love it. Especially on my phone it's so much better having the bar at the bottom. I have no issues with opening sites either. I simply hit the bar at the bottom and it shows all my favourites and 99% of all pages I'm going to open is in my favourites list.

That's how I use Safari most of the time. Using the bar and opening favourites. I do have to agree that the new tab view is not that great. It's using so much space so if you have a few tabs it becomes cluttered rather quick and I don't have any efficient way of closing tabs quickly.
 
antiprotest said:
Can someone explain the difference between the iOS Safari "extensions" feature they're adding vs. the one who've had for years?

I am guessing that whereas the old system is limited to content blockers and actions that the user must initiate from the share/action menu, iOS 15 is going to have true extensions that run as the page loads. Correct?
Click to expand...
iOS currently only has content blockers (which are basically static lists of parameters that remove content from portions of a page).

Extensions are a lot more flexible than that.
 
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Looks great. They should try to move all the bars to the bottom. Makes so much more sense. And finally the tab switcher from another era is gone.
 
TrenttonY said:
Looks terrible, and clunky.
The tab view is a major step backwards, makes the current one look so modern.

like seriously how many sub-menus and contexual menus can you have?
Click to expand...

To each their own! This makes it soooo much easier to use Safari on iOS. You don't really use the sub-menus unless you actually want to use tab groups.

At any given point I used to have 40-100 tabs open on iOS. Before this, it made it such a hassel getting rid of tabs because you had to look at them one by one to determine if you need it. Now you can glance and right away close the ones you do not want.

Tab groups are also perfect for me. I was shopping for a new workout bench and had a few tabs open with different ones but I never got a chance to finish the comparison and purchase. Now all those tabs live in their own tab group for me to easily find and resume where I left off.
 
12643 said:
Horrible.
Click to expand...
For me it’s the opposite. You spend 5mn learning different interactions then everything feel smooth.
100% better than before, such a GREAT idea to group tabs & being able to share them all at once …
Moving from tab to tab with a swipe is great as well, url on the bottom is genius is was a pain to reach the top on iOS.

Finally someone is trying to enhance the UX on one of the most used app on earth.
It's understandable that people resist change though …
 
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