Safari Changes on iOS 26 Go Beyond the Address Bar

[Slix]

The extra work is a single meta tag. Not a big deal but I guess some web developers are forgetful (or don't test on iOS).

edit: Apparently iOS respects the one that Android uses now. It's just

<meta name="mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">

for both. If you want icons to show up properly on the Home Screen / splash screen, that's still up the web app developer to configure.

Ah, I didn't realize it was down to one meta tag now. When I tried this out a bunch of years ago, it was a couple meta tags, along with the home screen icon, and any outgoing links would bounce you over to Safari in a new tab so it was really clunky. I wonder if any of that is made better now.

It's still a bit funky with the Dock apps that Apple put into macOS a bit ago, so I guess we'll see.

 

[whelmedjedi]

Button for adding new tab should return back to bottom menu. It was way more practical. My thumb still looks for it. Also they should add tabs button back, next to address bar. Its current unavailable for compact ui style. Its currently only available with bottom ui style.

 

[atoqir]

Before anything else, I would appreciate a focus on the fundamentals. Many sites don't work properly using Safari, but work fine on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. To me, that seems like a Safari problem. Also, it would be nice if there was a solution to the page-loading issues. Many sites that have inline adverts bounce all over the place. When you navigate to their site you get 95% of the content right away. Then all this other content starts loading (usually adverts) and content starts shifting around. Often I end up click on the wrong thing because of this shifting. I'm not claiming to have a solution, but it would be nice if this problem was solved.

Safari supports extensions.

Use Adguard for free adblocking
Use Vinegar for ad free YouTube in Safari
Use SinkIt for Reddit for ad free Reddit with some additional functionality in Safari
Use SinkIt for Twitter for ad free Twitter with some addition functionality in Safari

And if you have DarkReader installed everything gets forced switched to light and dark mode.

Zero ads, zero bandwidth loss, zero frustrations and zero dollar.

 

[klasma]

“Find on Page” being under a mile of buttons and expanding menus is hillarious…does nobody at Apple use mobile safari? It was bad before being in the share menu…but now it’s so far down it took me decompiling the entire OS to find it…

You can define favorites in the Share menu (“Edit actions…” at the bottom of the menu) that appear at the top of the menu.

When typing something in the address bar, there is also an option “On This Page” in the completion dropdown.

 

[contacos]

I hate what they have done to Safari on iOS 26. The blur at the very top and the bottom of the page is so distracting, it adds unnecessary noise when you try to read a page, especially while scrolling. Itkterally drives me insane. It's less noticable in dark mode, thank God.

Also, why on earth did they move the buttons for adding another tab to the top left!

There is also the bug (BETA I KNOW) that you cannot open a private tab if you have a screen time code enabled for some reason. Not sure why these things are related?

 

[ttyRazor]

You can simply swipe left on the address bar to open a new tab.

Assuming you’re on the last tab already. If not you’re just swiping over to the next tab

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I hate what they have done to Safari on iOS 26. The blur at the very top and the bottom of the page is so distracting, it adds unnecessary noise when you try to read a page, especially while scrolling. Itkterally drives me insane. It's less noticable in dark mode, thank God.

This is driving me up the wall, too. It doesn't help that this blur stretches so far into the screen, on my 6.3" screen I feel like I'm losing a whole inch to needless blur and gradient.

 

[whelmedjedi]

I hate what they have done to Safari on iOS 26. The blur at the very top and the bottom of the page is so distracting, it adds unnecessary noise when you try to read a page, especially while scrolling. Itkterally drives me insane. It's less noticable in dark mode, thank God.

Also, why on earth did they move the buttons for adding another tab to the top left!

There is also the bug (BETA I KNOW) that you cannot open a private tab if you have a screen time code enabled for some reason. Not sure why these things are related?

I also hated unnecessary shadow effect on top and bottom when its over a text. Reported to apple via feedback app. Hope they change it.

 

[redheeler]

Ah, I didn't realize it was down to one meta tag now. When I tried this out a bunch of years ago, it was a couple meta tags, along with the home screen icon, and any outgoing links would bounce you over to Safari in a new tab so it was really clunky. I wonder if any of that is made better now.

It's still a bit funky with the Dock apps that Apple put into macOS a bit ago, so I guess we'll see.

I imagine you still need

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

and the icons same as before, with this only making the one meta tag in my comment not needed. Someone else can confirm if there are other changes as I don't have the iOS 26 beta!

 

[mikebenton]

Safari supports extensions.

Use Adguard for free adblocking
Use Vinegar for ad free YouTube in Safari
Use SinkIt for Reddit for ad free Reddit with some additional functionality in Safari
Use SinkIt for Twitter for ad free Twitter with some addition functionality in Safari

And if you have DarkReader installed everything gets forced switched to light and dark mode.

Zero ads, zero bandwidth loss, zero frustrations and zero dollar.

Solid feedback. The only drawback is that I'm super paranoid about installing 3rd party software. I've always had the belief that nothing is 'free'. I'm not familiar with the options you mentioned, but I'm sure they're not a charity businesses - they have to pay their bills in some way.

 

[hagar]

What about the confusing interface? Who understands the difference between profiles, tab groups, tab group favorites, favorites bar, icloud tabs, …

 

[Shin-Ra]

Quantum-secure TLS, relevant to Safari and any application using the network APIs URLSession and Network.framework

Get ahead with quantum-secure cryptography - WWDC25 - Videos - Apple Developer

Learn how to protect your app's sensitive user data from the emerging threat of quantum computing, and safeguard user privacy. We'll...

developer.apple.com

In iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26 and visionOS 26, TLS-protected connections will automatically advertise support for hybrid, quantum-secure key exchange in TLS 1.3. This allows negotiation of a quantum-secure key exchange algorithm with TLS 1.3 servers that support it, while helping to maintain compatibility with servers that do not yet support this new algorithm. Use of quantum-secure encryption, also called “post-quantum encryption”, is designed to prevent an attacker from recording TLS connection traffic and later using a future quantum computer to decrypt the contents.

Prepare your network for quantum-secure encryption in TLS - Apple Support

Learn about quantum-secure encryption in TLS and how to check if your organization's web servers are ready.

support.apple.com

 

[sdz]

Still no Web Inspector for iPad OS?

 

[eXoenDo]

Apple needs to change the new Gabe button to be on the bottom right when your in the all tab view. It is annoying having to reach to the upper left to open a new tab.

Why in the world was the "new tab" + icon moved to the top left corner?! What a stupid change. Everything about this Safari redesign makes the app more cumbersome and slow to use.

They fixed this in Beta 2!