Ever since Safari 13, the Mac browser now prompts you every time you try to download a file. In this way, it behaves much like Safari for iOS. It’s a security feature, clearly designed to stop websites sneaking files onto your computer. But perhaps you value the convenience of uncontrolled downloads more than this added security? If so, you’re in luck, because you can turn this feature off. Better still, you can still block Safari downloads from “bad” sites, even while allowing new ones automatically.
How to highlight text and add post-its in Safari
There are a handful of webpages I keep referring back to, often reading the same parts over and over. They may be part of an instruction manual, or other reference material1. And sometimes, while researching an article, I want to highlight sections and phrases to find them more easily. Just like using a highlighter marker on a sheet of paper.
Until now, I’ve never found good way to do it. Apps required me to sign up for an account, or store my highlights on their servers, or pay a subscription. Or the app was just plain clunky. Then I found Highlighter for Safari.
iOS 13.2.2 finally brings big memory bug fix
iPhone and iPad owners received a critical software update this morning aimed at fixing one of the most annoying bugs in iOS 13.2.
iOS 13.2.2 and iPadOS 13.2.2 come just over a week after Apple released iOS 13.2, which contains a nasty memory bug that causes apps to quit unexpectedly in the background. The recent iOS 13.3 beta added a fix for the memory bug, but now everyone can enjoy the bug fix without having to install beta software.
Apple under fire for sending browsing data to China
Apple is under fire for sending Safari browser data to China.
It is known that Safari can send information to Google Safe Browsing to protect users against online phishing and scams. But it seems Apple’s browser is also sending similar data to Tencent in China.
How to post to Instagram on your Mac
If you know the trick, you can use Instagram on your Mac. And I don’t just mean viewing your timeline in Safari. I mean uploading pictures, adding filters, the lot. What’s more, it’s dead easy. Interested? Here’s how it works.
How to use Safari’s download manager in iOS 13
In iOS 13 and iPadOS, Safari gets a download manager. If you tap (or click, with the new iOS mouse support) on a link to a file, that file will now get downloaded to a folder. What’s more, you can change the location of that download folder.
This is one of the small but essential new features in iPadOS that really turns the iPad into a viable MacBook replacement, even for those who aren’t yet used to the arcane ways of iOS. Let’s check it out.
How to use Safari’s amazing new settings in iOS 13
Safari’s new “desktop-class” features are getting all the press in iPadOS, but the new download folder, and better website support aren’t everything. There’s also a new in-app settings panels with a ton of options — per-site text size, for example — and even a new font in the Safari Reader View. Let’s check it out.
Everything you need to know about iOS 13
iOS 13, which launches today, is less about a grand, orchestrated new direction, and more about lots of really, really useful little features and tweaks. For instance, one of the best changes is that Safari on iPad is now a proper desktop browser, just like you have on you Mac. And then there’s the new top row of the share sheet, which gives one-tap buttons to share to friends via iMessage.
Or, in iPadOS 13, which ships at the end of the month, you can plug in pretty much any USB device and it will work. Hard drives, SD cards full of movies, anything.
So, while you’re waiting for the new version of iOS to install on your device(s), check out all the new iOS 13 features right here.
Apple clamps down hard on web tracking
The team that develops WebKit for Apple’s Safari browser is taking a strong stand against companies tracking people on the web.
They call out tracking as an infringement of user privacy, and promise WebKit will block it wherever possible.
iOS 13 beta 5 arrives along with new tvOS 13 build
Developers received a fresh batch of new beta builds this morning in the form of iOS 13 beta 5. Apple seeded the new software updates just under two weeks after the last set of betas came out, bringing fresh changes to mouse support on iPad, smaller quick action menus and tons of bug fixes.
Finally, iOS 13 can create reminders from Mail
We already know that Apple has completely made over the Reminders app in iOS 13, adding a new, more powerful layout, and some excellent quick-entry tools so you don’t have to tap the screen like a million times just to remember to take out the trash when you get home.
But Reminders has also gotten its virtual claws deeper into the rest of iOS. Today we’ll see two great integrations that you might not have heard about yet.
How to save all open tabs to a folder in iOS 13 Safari
If you currently use a third-party bookmark manager, you might be able to ditch it when you upgrade your iPhone or iPad to iOS 13. The main new feature is that you can now save all your open tabs into a bookmark folder, then reopen all the links in that folder with one tap. But that’s not all. Thanks to iPadOS’ new contextual menus, the built-in bookmarks got way easier to use.
Check out Safari’s new pop-up tab control panel in iOS 13
In iPadOS, Safari sports a brand-new popup menu that lets you rearrange, copy and close tabs just by long-pressing on them. It offers only a few options, but they prove so useful that you will use this trick all the time.
Check out yet another great Safari feature in iPadOS.
Third betas for iOS 13 and iPadOS arrive for devs
Apple seeded the third beta build of iOS 13 and iPadOS to developers this morning, bringing a host of new tweaks and bug fixes to test devices just before the 4th of July break.
iOS 13 beta 3 arrives just over two weeks after Apple dropped the last developer beta. The first iOS 13 public beta came out a week ago. Apple also released the third betas of tvOS 13, watchOS 6 and macOS Catalina today.
iOS 13 Safari stops you from opening the same site twice
Did you ever type in a URL, only to find later that you already had that site open in another Safari tab? Well, never again, because in iOS 13, Safari will prompt you to open that original tab instead.
All the new keyboard shortcuts in iPadOS Safari, listed
Safari in iPadOS is “desktop-class,” according to Apple. And part of that definition means Safari offers plenty of keyboard shortcuts, just like when you use Apple’s web browser on a Mac.
Just a quick look at the screenshots below will show you how many more Safari shortcuts are available in iPadOS than in iOS 12: Holding down the ⌘ key now reveals two panels in the pop-up help screen, instead of just one.
Let’s take a look at the new Safari keyboard shortcuts in iPadOS.
What’s new in iOS 13 beta 2
The second iOS 13 and iPadOS betas bring both good news and bad. Unless you’re a total “thrill-seeker,” it’s still not a good idea to install these betas on your main iOS device. In fact, there will be far more spills than thrills: The code remains raw and buggy as hell.
I have iPadOS running on an old iPad. While this latest version seems much less ragged around the edges, many apps still crash. And I still can’t make the Slide Over apps hide themselves at the side of the screen. Nor do all my favorites appear in the Files app.
The good news is that, despite this, the latest betas offer several new features — and lots of stuff has been fixed. Let’s take a look at the highlights of what’s new in iOS 13 beta 2.
Safari saves you from forgotten tab chaos in iOS 13 and iPadOS
Safari is getting a huge upgrade on iPad with the release of iPadOS, but there are some improvements that iPhone users can also enjoy in iOS 13. One of those is a new feature that saves you from forgotten tab chaos.
You won’t have to worry about closing dozens of tabs you forgot all about anymore.
Safari snaps full-page screenshots in iOS 13
iOS 13 is bringing some huge improvements to Safari, including a desktop-class version for iPadOS that is nearly as good as Safari on Mac.
One of my favorite new Safari features didn’t get any stage time during the WWDC 2019 keynote, but it completely changes the way screenshots in Safari are handled. You’re going to love it.
Safari in iPadOS is almost as good as macOS [Opinion]
Apple promised the Safari browser coming to iPads later this year will be “desktop class.” That’s a vague term, but tests with the first beta of iPadOS 13 show that it comes very close to the macOS version. There’s still room for improvement, though.
Even so, this is a major milestone for Apple’s tablets. Limitations in Safari have held the iPad back for far too long.
iPadOS adds time-saving keyboard shortcuts for Safari
Apple is making it even easier for iPad users to access Safari features with a physical keyboard. The newly-announced iPadOS adds dozens of keyboard shortcuts to this browser, on top of the ones already there.
Apple reveals new way to stop ads from tracking you
Apple revealed this morning that it has new plan to stop online ads from tracking internet users across the web.
With some new technology that will soon be implemented in Safari, Apple thinks it has found a way to give both advertisers and privacy advocates what they one. It’s called Privacy Preserving Ad Click Attribution and even though the name is lame, it could be a game changer.
How to detach MacSafari’s download popover to make a proper window
Did you ever wish that Safari on the Mac had a proper download manager? Or at least a proper download window,
instead of the popover that sticks to the browser window and gets in the way until you close it?
Well, today your wishes will come true. Or this one modest wish will come true at least.
How to block ads and malware on iOS
Way back in iOS 9 days, Apple added “content blocking” to the iPhone and iPad. More commonly known as “ad-blockers,” this tech lets you use third-party apps to block ads, malware, trackers, comments, and more, in Mobile Safari. Apple itself doesn’t do any more than make blocking possible. To actual decide what to block, you need a third-party app.
Enabling ad-blocking is easy, once you know how, and you can set-and-forget it once done. Or you can keep on top of things, adding custom rules, and white-listing trusted websites. Here’s how.
Rumor roundup: What to expect in iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 [Video]
The last few weeks have been packed with rumors and leaks about what Apple may have in store for us with iOS 13 and macOS 10.15. With so much information coming out day after day, it’s hard to keep track of all the possible rumors.
Fortunately for you, we’ve compiled the full list of expected features coming this year to iOS and macOS. From dark mode to iPad updates, and new Mac apps to Siri improvements, here’s everything we are expecting (so far) in iOS 13 and macOS 10.15.