Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Switching from Chrome to Safari...

navaira

navaira

macrumors 601
Original poster
May 28, 2015
4,109
5,356
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hey all,

I decided to switch from Chrome to Safari because of my Air's 6hrs battery life while using Chrome.

There are two things that I don't know how to solve (and google didn't help with those).

1. Is there an extension that would enable "zoom to width"? One of the websites I use on daily basis has lots of blank space after I zoom in once, but when I zoom in again the content doesn't fit anymore.

2. Is there a way to make the address/search bar active in new tabs? I went through preferences twice and don't see it. On Chrome Cmd+T puts the cursor right in the address field, on Safari it doesn't.

Edit: 3. Is there a way for Safari to remember the zoom I use on every website? As long as I stay in the same tab it remembers, but in a new tab it goes back to original size.

Thanks a lot for any responses! (He said, watching battery life increasing because of Chrome not running)
 
Last edited:
#1 Well if you go into System Preferences > Trackpad, you will see a setting for Tap to zoom, this zooms in the text to fit the edge of the Window, pretty handy, I use it a lot, do the gesture again to restore the view.

#2 I think you can just hit tab after cmd + T and it will highlight the field for you.

Last note, Safari does not have Flash, Chrome has it embedded which is probably why you had low battery life. You might try installing a click to flash extension in chrome to help with that if you find yourself going back to it. I'd stay away from installing Flash Player as a stand alone app on my Mac though. Chrome has a better implementation of it anyways.

Takeaway: If you have to use flash go to chrome, don't try to install it natively or you'll be seeing the same battery life problems even using Safari.
 
1) That works! Would be good if I could make it "stick" though. Chrome does that well. But thanks :)
Edit: when I click on a link on the website I'm looking at, I have to double-tap again. Uhh...

2) Again, that works, thank you! I'll just have to get used to it.

I got a Flash "click to play" for Chrome, there's way too many websites that arbitrarily decide I WANT to watch every embedded clip. Sometimes more than one at the same time :p

I'm going to stick with Chrome for Flash and Safari for everything else.
 
Yeah but it's built into the OS, can't really complain about not having to find and install another extension. Yes I know you have to zoom back in but at the same time what you are wanting to zoom in to on the next page could in a different place. It also works with content as it zooms in on the placeholders for the content not the actual content itself.

It's not a sin to use chrome either :D, just some tips I've learned from doing and trying on my own for the past 10 years. I know it's not what you wanted to hear but just the same I hope it helps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira
Yeah, I love Chrome, but it's SUCH a battery hog... I didn't even realise – I was like "why is my new Macbook Air's battery only lasting six hours?" – until I looked at Activity Monitor.

Chrome is a desktop browser obviously.
 
@navaira
Hello m8. The only perfectly working method for the "zoom-problem" is to use an extension called ZoomBySite.
I tried everything some years ago. Nothing worked the way I liked, except the above mentioned extension. It does all what you have asked in your post (remembers the set size for all the sites for good etc.).

P.S.: pm me, if you have any questions concerning the extension. Good luck!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 997440, navaira and mildocjr
Ulenspiegel said:
@navaira
Hello m8. The only perfectly working method for the "zoom-problem" is to use an extension called ZoomBySite.
I tried everything some years ago. Nothing worked the way I liked, except the above mentioned extension. It does all what you have asked in your post (remembers the set size for all the sites for good etc.).

P.S.: pm me, if you have any questions concerning the extension. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Can this zoom text only?
 
You can use "Zoom text only" in Safari with it, which scared me for a moment ;)
[doublepost=1460666628][/doublepost]Yaaas! Set homepage to "empty page" and every new tab starts with cursor in the address bar. One step closer to perfection.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 997440
And one more thing... we're announcing iPhone 7! Oh, not that thing.

The textarea parts of the page, like the one where I am typing now, make the text much smaller than the page content's text size. I can use the "do not show text smaller than..." preferences option, but it makes other websites look wonky. Is there a way to increase only text input field text size? (There's way too much "text" in those sentences...)
 
navaira said:
And one more thing... we're announcing iPhone 7! Oh, not that thing.

The textarea parts of the page, like the one where I am typing now, make the text much smaller than the page content's text size. I can use the "do not show text smaller than..." preferences option, but it makes other websites look wonky. Is there a way to increase only text input field text size? (There's way too much "text" in those sentences...)
Click to expand...

Same here. If I exit the rich text editor (click wrench in upper right hand corner at reply box heading) the text equalizes to the page content size. Actually it's bigger. You can go back and forth between the editors, as needed.
 
navaira said:
Hey all,

2. Is there a way to make the address/search bar active in new tabs? I went through preferences twice and don't see it. On Chrome Cmd+T puts the cursor right in the address field, on Safari it doesn't.
Click to expand...

When I type cmd-T in Safari, I get a new tab with the cursor in the search/address field. I have new tabs set to open to a blank page in preferences.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back