Safari 15 Users Say New Tab Design is Counterintuitive

[Tagbert]

YOUR WISHES ARE GRANTED ON SAFARI DARK MODE...
Am I the only one using it??
Active tab is lighter than the inactive one!
Try Dark Mode.

Yes, it is better in dark mode, but in normal mode the colors are backwards. I'm not willing to work in "depression mode" just to get Safari's tabs to make sense. 🙂

Sorry, I can't do dark mode. it really feels dreary and sad.I understand if you like it, but it is not for me.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Yep, this new Safari is a buggy mess, and there is NO excuse for this.

But at this point in my several decades of computing, this is nothing but a molehill, not a mountain.

Apple'll fix it, as usual.

 

[Tagbert]

The bookmarks sidebar is stupidly complicated in iPad OS 15.

I'm upset about what they did with the bookmarks icon in iPad OS 15 Safari. You used to be able to tap the sidebar icon in the header and display the bookmarks. Tap again to hide it. Where ever you were in the bookmarks, the position was retained.

Now, when you tap that icon, the sidebar panel appears but you are in a top level view, you have to drill down to where ever you were. Then to close the panel, you have to back up step by step the top view. You can't just open the panel, tap on a bookmark, close the panel. it becomes a multi step action each and every time.

 

[MaxBurn]

Related to this; is there a way in IOS to open the last tab you closed? Or a list of recently closed tabs somewhere?

Edit; long press +

 

[thkoch]

I tend to try to type into the tab bar into the safari URL bar, because the tab bar looks like a text input area. Also it's odd that you can't close an inactive tab

Same to me. I do like the design but it is confusing that the tab bar looks like this. On the other hand, I still do like the new safari…

 

[svenmany]

Part of the issue IMO is that the difference should be blatant, not subtle.
Depending what I have open, I have to take time to stop, check, and then proceed as the active tab is not always easily recognizable.

I don't find it to be subtle. To my eyes it's pretty blatant. I've tried light and dark mode and turned on and off "Show color in tab far".

Perhaps the difference is that it never occurred to me to consider the contrast between the text on the tab and the tab itself. I always look at the tab as a whole. So, I see the heightened contrast between the tab as a whole and the background that surrounds the tab to be very obvious.

I've been coding professionally since 1990 and using computers since the 70's. I've used Sun workstations, early Apple computers, all generations of Mac, text based PC's, all generations of Windows, and various Linux releases (from mid 90's to today). I just don't see the radically flawed departure that everyone is talking about. As an older person with less mental plasticity, I would have thought I would be the one having the problem. I generally find that Apple does B- level user-facing work, so clearly I'm not a fan of their talent in this area. But, this Safari change doesn't stand out to me as an Apple flaw.

I don't know much about Gruber other than that he wrote the original Markdown script in Pearl and he's a pundit. I see that he's 48; perhaps he is having vision issues; for me they started right around age 50. Wikipedia calls him a "UI designer". I wonder if there any examples of serious work he's produced or if he has any current work. If not then I give his opinions no more weight than my own.

 

[elptdbi3lYI]

Let's just hope that if these 'tabs' stay they don't make their way across to other parts of the system.

I think new tabs are making their way into macOS 13 and they're using Safari as testing ground, hopefully they'll rework them because compact mode just won't work in Finder and most other applications.

 

[vddobrev]

Hey Apple,

I fixed it for you…

View attachment 1856689

Perfect!

 

[ponzicoinbro]

​

As illustrated by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, there was never any ambiguity about which tab is active in previous versions of Safari, as an active tab is shown with lighter shading that matches the browser's toolbar.

Dear John Gruber

There’s no ambiguity about which tab is active in Safari 15. It’s got a different highlight around it and it is IN FRONT.

Also

I have a bloody fricken brain and my memory tells me which was the last bloody fricken tab that I was using.

If I can remember many things 40 years ago I can bloody fricken remember which tab I was using 10 seconds ago.

 

[hooptyuber]

Apple Music is great if you're into hip hop. If you are a blues/jazz guy like me, it sucks. Spotify (and Pandora, for that matter) have SO very many more blues artists.

Hey, you could always switch to Tidal (ha ha ha). They feature both kinds of music - hip and hop.

 

[dk001]

I don't find it to be subtle. To my eyes it's pretty blatant. I've tried light and dark mode and turned on and off "Show color in tab far".

Perhaps the difference is that it never occurred to me to consider the contrast between the text on the tab and the tab itself. I always look at the tab as a whole. So, I see the heightened contrast between the tab as a whole and the background that surrounds the tab to be very obvious.

I've been coding professionally since 1990 and using computers since the 70's. I've used Sun workstations, early Apple computers, all generations of Mac, text based PC's, all generations of Windows, and various Linux releases (from mid 90's to today). I just don't see the radically flawed departure that everyone is talking about. As an older person with less mental plasticity, I would have thought I would be the one having the problem. I generally find that Apple does B- level user-facing work, so clearly I'm not a fan of their talent in this area. But, this Safari change doesn't stand out to me as an Apple flaw.

I don't know much about Gruber other than that he wrote the original Markdown script in Pearl and he's a pundit. I see that he's 48; perhaps he is having vision issues; for me they started right around age 50. Wikipedia calls him a "UI designer". I wonder if there any examples of serious work he's produced or if he has any current work. If not then I give his opinions no more weight than my own.

I would call it a radical departure from the norm. Everything else is style A while this is style B. The color of the page you are in can change that current contrast. I have gotten to the point I look for the “X” to figure out the active tab. For me, instead of this subtle crap, make it freakingly obvious Active vs Inactive. If you have to hunt for your next click or touch, it’s wrong. It should be obvious and easily identifiable.

 

[banfiz]

I’m sorry I can’t see what you’re all talking about it’s bloody obvious which tab is active it’s the one that’s darker than all the others. Perhaps someone can explain to me how one dark tab is so hard to see?

 

[trip1ex]

I’m sorry I can’t see what you’re all talking about it’s bloody obvious which tab is active it’s the one that’s darker than all the others. Perhaps someone can explain to me how one dark tab is so hard to see?

you're doing it wrong. you're supposed to close your eyes first.

 

[dk001]

.
Many here can call it good or bad. A pita or the next best thing. I wonder why this is the ONLY browser I have this issue in.

 

[vddobrev]

I’m sorry I can’t see what you’re all talking about it’s bloody obvious which tab is active it’s the one that’s darker than all the others. Perhaps someone can explain to me how one dark tab is so hard to see?View attachment 1857463

Open two tabs only: 1) theverge.com; 2) forums.macrumors.com
Switch between the tabs - which one is active the light or the dark?

 

[trip1ex]

Open two tabs only: 1) theverge.com; 2) forums.macrumors.com
Switch between the tabs - which one is active the light or the dark?

light on the verge and dark on macrumors.

the active tab is the one that stands out from the rest. it's pretty easy.

I do think the dark colors are obnoxious on sites like The Verge tho. I can deal but I feel like if they keep the color thing they have to tweak it because as is is too tacky for Apple. And a little hard of the eyeballs as far as the dramatic change between tabs goes and reading the other tabs goes.

But this sort of thing with color is nothing new. I mean in the past they have had translucent headers by default which would let color leak through from whatever was behind it. It ran into similar issues where some background colors made readability worse.

 

[trip1ex]

also I might have a bit of a viewing angle problem with dark colored tab bars. I get a bit more clarity at the top of my screen by tilting the monitor downward. (or sitting up higher or putting the monitor up higher. ) Enough to make a difference in this case. Enough so the button tabs and surrounding color don't run together so much when the website has a dark tab color.

My monitor is a 144hz 1080p Asus. Not the bottom of the barrel, but it's not a 4.5k iMac IPS screen either in terms of clarity/color.

 

[svenmany]

Open two tabs only: 1) theverge.com; 2) forums.macrumors.com
Switch between the tabs - which one is active the light or the dark?

I see what you're saying - at last I get it! Well, at least what one person is complaining about.

Assuming you have the MacOS light mode on....

If you turn off "Show color in tab bar" it's consistently the dark one that's the active one. But, if you turn on that setting then The Verge is always the lighter tab, whether or not it's active. It's easy to argue that this is a problem.

What Apple is doing, which is completely consistent with my vision how I process a UI, is making the active tab have a higher contrast against what's behind the tab. If the background is changing from light to dark, the approach to tab shading has to change to maintain that contrast.

If you turn off "Show color in tab bar", do you see then that the active tab is always the darker one? Do you see that the active tab is presented in higher contrast against the background?

A flaw seems to be that Apple is giving us the ability to show varying colors in the tab bar; that is introducing such variability in the tab shading so as to confuse people. That variability in the tab shading has to be there to cater for variability in the background color behind the tabs - assuming their goal is to highlight the active tab using contrast against what's behind the tab.

As you're bouncing around different tabs, the relative approach to shading really should not change, or else you can get lost. So, providing the feature that allows the background behind all of the tabs to change is a mistake. Some people would be annoyed to lose that feature, but it would likely stop a lot of complaining from other people who are accidentally using that feature.

By "contrast", I'm definitely not talking about the contrast between the tab lettering and the background inside the tab itself. My eyes aren't good enough to notice that one (the benefits of poor eyesight). They really should increase the weight of the font when the shading of the tab is darker. As far as my eyes can tell, they don't alter the font weight at all (except when the Safari window goes into the background).

 

[vddobrev]

light on the verge and dark on macrumors.

the active tab is the one that stands out from the rest. it's pretty easy.

Indeed my point - which one is it? The light or the dark? In two tab only, none stands out, both are different, the active is either light or dark. And it does not stand out because there is no third tab to compare to.

 

[svenmany]

Indeed my point - which one is it? The light or the dark? In two tab only, none stands out, both are different, the active is either light or dark. And it does not stand out because there is no third tab to compare to.

Right...If you set "Show color in tab bar" to on, stop looking for light or dark. Look for contrast.

It's clear that many people's minds are wired to look for light and dark. I'm not one of those. I'm way more influenced by contrast.

If you need to maintain a consistent interpretation of light and dark, turn off "Show color in tab bar".

 

[Ankaa]

Also off topic but I agree that ‘natural’ scrolling is awful. I’m sure if your Mac laptop is the only device you ever use - you eventually adapt, but anyone who uses also uses PCs with scroll wheels every day has to have a consistent input experience. It’s annoying enough to me that the acceleration profiles for the mouse pointer is different on macOS and Windows.

So much this!

Throughout any given workday I switch back and forth between a Macbook without external input devices, an iMac either with Trackpad or Magic Mouse, a PC laptop with trackpad, a desktop PC with mouse with scroll wheel, my iPhone and my iPad.

People really underestimate this. They clearly only use one or two devices.

'Natural scrolling' is absolutely not natural if you use anything but your finger directly on the screen or maaaaybe a touchpad. Because it's counterintuitive. 'Natural scrolling' emulates you actually touching something, picking it up, and physically moving it along. You don't do that with a mouse or trackpad. Because there is a physical disconnect between where you scroll and where you look at.

 

[petvas]

Right...If you set "Show color in tab bar" to on, stop looking for light or dark. Look for contrast.

It's clear that many people's minds are wired to look for light and dark. I'm not one of those. I'm way more influenced by contrast.

If you need to maintain a consistent interpretation of light and dark, turn off "Show color in tab bar".

I agree. I am using the compact tab view and color is shown in the tab bar. I never had an issue immediately identifying which tab is the active one. Not a single time. I love the new design but I also want Apple to fix some bugs and behaviors:

• Opening links in new tab does not always work.
• Pages do get refreshed a lot and this shouldn't be the case on my MacBook Pro and my iMac. They both have enough RAM to deal with open tabs.
• There is no option to always assign specific websites to a tab group

 

[vddobrev]

Right...If you set "Show color in tab bar" to on, stop looking for light or dark. Look for contrast.

It's clear that many people's minds are wired to look for light and dark. I'm not one of those. I'm way more influenced by contrast.

If you need to maintain a consistent interpretation of light and dark, turn off "Show color in tab bar".

OK. For me it is not even about light or dark, or contrast. For me the active tab is the one that matches the content or the chrome, and is connected to the content. None of this is true in Safari 15.

 

[Tagbert]

I’m sorry I can’t see what you’re all talking about it’s bloody obvious which tab is active it’s the one that’s darker than all the others. Perhaps someone can explain to me how one dark tab is so hard to see?View attachment 1857463

I had to scan back and forth a couple of times to find it. the medium gray background doesn't pop against the lighter gray background tabs. Also, the colors are backwards. in the tab metaphor, the current tab should be lighter color. the inactive tabs should be darker. This is inverted.

 

[peppolone]

another problem is that if I have two tabs, the active one does not have the favicon but the x, so the inactive one is even more evident