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iPadOS 15 Gains macOS Monterey's Redesigned Safari Tab Interface

It seems like Safari 15 for iPadOS is coming along, regardless of how you feel about the look of it all. There's been plenty of negative feedback, and Apple's followed through and brought back some (basic) options again. There's still plenty of work to be done, but it's starting to look like macOS' Monterey Safari counterpart more and more.

Safari 15 on iOS, though, seems to still be pulling a lot from the iPadOS version of Safari, which is going for more of the Desktop-like experience. Putting the location of the URL Bar aside, so much was scrapped and initially dumped into the "More ..." button, and then half**ed put back.. Kind of just putting bandaids on us to placate us all thru 'till September. I'm happy to see iPadOS get all of these improvements, but Safari on iOS 15 right now is mess (insert dumpster fire meme.gif).
 
Amazing how Apple now ignores all the basics of usability and good UI design.

  • The contrast of selected and unselected tabs is just not enough it's also not obviously clear which is which at a glance
  • Closing a background tab now takes two clicks/taps (bring tab to front, close the tab) instead of one previously – how is this an improvement?
  • The tappable surface of the new "buttons" is smaller than before and hard to hit
  • If you're going to change the appearance of tabs, wouldn't it be better to try to unify their design and interaction throughout the OS. On macOS we have three types (and it's handled differently on iOS/iPad OS again):
    • Tabs inside system preferences have a button-like appearance, but are stuck together in a shared beveled frame
    • Tabs in applications and the Finder have "classic" tab appearance
    • Tabs in the browser look like buttons now and behave differently as well
Jeez. Apple used to be the king of UI design, now their UI department seem to be run by total amateurs.
 
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Devnul0 said:
To me they've always been tabs connected to pages just like physical tabbed pages in a paper notebook or tabbed file folders in a cabinet. And as such it has always made the most sense to me to have them just above the content, and connected to it. Not independent buttons, and not at the top of the screen.
Click to expand...
Exactly and if they're going to change how tabs work they should do that consistently throughout the OS's UI and not just for Safari. That's like changing the functionality and shape of the acceleration pedal on your car, but not the brake or clutch.
 
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cmaier said:
In what way is it better designed? It seems worse in almost every possible way - controls that don’t appear when you need them, more taps required for common operations, touch targets that move in random ways, inability to see title bars, legibility problems caused by background coloration under text, etc.
Click to expand...
For one, it's one bar instead of two. As a result, you get more useful screen estate and less static UI. It also looks more elegant.
I haven't experienced any of the issues you listed. Controls work perfectly fine, no coloration glitches, etc.
 
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macrumors_account1111 said:
For one, it's one bar instead of two. As a result, you get more useful screen estate and less static UI. It also looks more elegant.
I haven't experienced any of the issues you listed. Controls work perfectly fine, no coloration glitches, etc.
Click to expand...
Really odd, that you are responding to posts from 2021. It is 2025 now move on. Way past 2021 and iPad iOS has been updated many times now! But, yet iPad iOS bookmarks still suck and were way better before! 😀
 
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gank41 said:
No, because you replied to an almost 4 year old post. They're saying that lots have changed since then and the experience isn't the same.
Click to expand...
It's odd that I replied to a 4 y.o. post because I replied to a 4 y.o. post? Make that make sense.

That lots has changed is irrelevant because the topic of discussion (tabs) hasn't. Thankfully.
 
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