Latest Safari Technology Preview contains updated tab bar design

Apple on Wednesday released a fresh version of Safari Technology Preview with a handful of tweaks including an updated tab bar that iterates on a divisive design first revealed with macOS Monterey.

Issued to developers and interested end users through Apple's developer portal, the latest version 128 of Safari Technology Preview features a modified tab bar that sits below the address and search text entry field.

In initial versions of the next-generation browser included with early macOS Monterey beta releases, tabs were relocated to sit in line with the address bar and navigation controls. Apple put an emphasis on a space-saving GUI, moving page refresh and sharing buttons into a drop-down menu nestled within each tab.

The changes were confusing for some testers, leading Apple to revert some of the more drastic graphical modifications back to something closer to Safari's current design. Those adjustments were incorporated into last week's macOS Monterey beta release and are also offered in today's Safari Technology Preview. Tab Groups, a feature that helps users organize open tabs, is also included.

Those who prefer the condensed Safari interface can enable it in the app's settings menu.

Also included in today's Safari Technology Preview are new features like Live Text, passkeys in iCloud Keychain, and support for WebGL 2.

Safari Technology Preview 128 can be downloaded from Apple's developer webpage.

7 Comments

am8449 392 comments · 15 Years

About 3 years ago

I'm starting to worry that Apple is listening to the tech pundits too much. Getting used to a new way of doing things always takes time, but tech pundits have a perverse incentive to complain loudly and quicker than the other guy. Think of all the decisions and designs Apple has made that were initially panned by tech pundits, even by those that were loyal to Apple. I'm not saying Apple shouldn't listen to outside opinions at all, but what's the right balance?

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

am8449 said:

I'm starting to worry that Apple is listening to the tech pundits too much. Getting used to a new way of doing things always takes time, but tech pundits have a perverse incentive to complain loudly and quicker than the other guy. Think of all the decisions and designs Apple has made that were initially panned by tech pundits, even by those that were loyal to Apple. I'm not saying Apple shouldn't listen to outside opinions at all, but what's the right balance?

If Apple's own testers found it confusing then that probably carries more weight than the pundits.

elijahg 2822 comments · 18 Years

am8449 said:

I'm starting to worry that Apple is listening to the tech pundits too much. Getting used to a new way of doing things always takes time, but tech pundits have a perverse incentive to complain loudly and quicker than the other guy. Think of all the decisions and designs Apple has made that were initially panned by tech pundits, even by those that were loyal to Apple. I'm not saying Apple shouldn't listen to outside opinions at all, but what's the right balance?

Change for the sake of change isn't always good. iOS Safari's new address bar at the bottom is better than it was in previous betas for example but is still in the way of content way too much. Getting used to it being in the way is like getting used to having a thorn in your finger, why should people get used to a design that is a regression?Either way it has been widely panned but they're still continuing with it, so not sure Apple is listening to tech pundits at all.

Apple has always made big changes in the early developer betas and depending on the pushback they get, they usually tone them down a bit; but not always. If someone at Apple is being extra stubborn on something the change will stay until the next major version of i/mac/iPadOS.

rcfa 1123 comments · 17 Years

am8449 said:

I'm starting to worry that Apple is listening to the tech pundits too much. Getting used to a new way of doing things always takes time, but tech pundits have a perverse incentive to complain loudly and quicker than the other guy. Think of all the decisions and designs Apple has made that were initially panned by tech pundits, even by those that were loyal to Apple. I'm not saying Apple shouldn't listen to outside opinions at all, but what's the right balance?

Haha, the unified tab bar was clearly designed for i(Pad)OS, where it works reasonably well.

It was a half-baked decision to bring it over to macOS, because in macOS there’s also the toolbar. So unless you essentially disable the toolbar by removing all buttons, you can’t properly work with the unified tab bar under macOS.

Similarly “tab groups”: great feature for i(Pad)OS, but for macOS it would need to be “tab AND window groups”, because e.g. shopping for vacuum cleaners on a mac you’d not necessarily have a tab for each vacuum cleaner you research but a window for each of them, so you can compare them side by side, a possibility that under i(Pad)OS is impossible/severely limited, which is one of many reasons iPadOS isn’t a very productive environment to work in, unless you do very specialized, one-track-minded work. But Apple neglects to reflect the different work modes, and limits macOS by designing around the limitations of i(Pad)OS

What is alarming is that Apple let’s i(Pad)OS drive all features. Whatever happened with separate operating systems and UIs for different modes of working? macOS essentially turns into iPadOS with Windows and a real file system, instead of being an environment optimized for mouse; and yet one can’t install it on a iPad Pro 12” with MagicKeyboard, which in essence is the better MacBook Air than the MacBook Air.

michelb76 692 comments · 8 Years

am8449 said:

I'm starting to worry that Apple is listening to the tech pundits too much. Getting used to a new way of doing things always takes time, but tech pundits have a perverse incentive to complain loudly and quicker than the other guy. Think of all the decisions and designs Apple has made that were initially panned by tech pundits, even by those that were loyal to Apple. I'm not saying Apple shouldn't listen to outside opinions at all, but what's the right balance?

Well they could have tried working with their own software for a bit to find out why people got angry. If you change the most important app on the system in a way that severely impacts almost everyone, then yes, people complain.