The second beta version of macOS Monterey has reached the developers, and now Apple has also started the public beta test. At one point or another there may still be changes, but overall the functionality of Apple’s next major operating system update (the new Safari 15) seems to be complete. Safari 15 follows the approach of getting more of the content of a website on the screen. Let’s briefly talk about the new safari.
Tabs And Tab Groups In Safari
So far, all browsers have a bar at the top of the window for the search and address field and a second bar for the open tabs. Sometimes the tabs are above the address bar like in Firefox, sometimes they are below it like in Safari. The new Safari 15 in macOS Monterey now combines both bars.
The search and address field is now part of the current tab and is shown when you click on a tab. This is unusual at first glance, but it should serve to create a little more space for the content of the respective website. The disadvantage is that there is less space available for the tabs. So if you always have a lot of tabs open at the same time, you can run into space problems.
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More Order Through Groups
However, this problem can be avoided by grouping the tabs in Safari 15 and quickly switching between the groups with one click. To create a tab group, you either first open the pages to be grouped and then create a group with them, or you create an empty tab group and then add pages to the group.
The commands responsible for the tab groups are displayed when you click on the small, downward-pointing arrow to the right of the sidebar symbol. Alternatively, you can show the sidebar and click on the symbol with the plus sign in the top right corner. You can also find the commands for the tab groups in the “File” menu.
Safari displays the name of the active tab group in the tab bar on the left. If you click on it, you can choose between the different groups in the menu that appear. Or you can show the sidebar and click on the name of a group. You can also switch between the tab groups using the “Window” menu or the command (⌘) -Shift (⇧) -arrow key (up or down) key combination.
If a tab group is marked in the sidebar, a click on the symbol to the right of the name shows the tab overview. As before, a symbol can also be added to the tab bar for this purpose. And as before, a preview is shown for each tab when you move the mouse pointer over a tab. In the context menu of a tab group in the sidebar, you can find the commands for renaming and deleting the group, among other things, the delete command is also available in the “File” menu. To remove a tab from a group, open the group and close the tab. Additional tabs can also be easily added to an open group.
The Sidebar In The New Safari
The sidebar is organized a little differently in the new Safari than before. There are no longer the two symbols at the top to switch between the bookmarks and the reading list, but you can choose between them under “Recorded links”. The item “Received links” is also new. The links that other users have sent messages via the app are displayed under “Shared with you”. In the message settings, sharing can also be deactivated under “Shared with you”.
If tabs are open in the window that has not yet been grouped, the number of open tabs is displayed at the top in the sidebar, and you can also display the tab overview for these by clicking on the icon on the far right. When switching to a tab group, these not yet grouped tabs are saved and you can return to them. If only groups are set up, the start page is the top entry in the sidebar. The same applies to the menu with the tab groups in the toolbar.
Changed Appearance
Another change in Safari 15 doesn’t affect functionality, but appearance. Safari 15 automatically changes the background color of the tab bar, depending on the background color of the website, or based on a color defined in the website’s HTML code via a meta tag. If you don’t want that, open the Safari settings and deactivate the “Show color in tab bar” option under “Advanced”.
The icon for the data protection report in the toolbar is no longer available in Safari 15. To display the report, click on the “More” symbol with the three dots on the right in the address field. This menu also contains the commands for reloading the page, activating the reader display, adding the page to the bookmarks or reading list, for sharing, and for the new quick notes. As before, the symbol for the reader display is automatically displayed if this display is supported by the website. The symbol with the curved arrow to reload the page, on the other hand, only appears when you move the mouse pointer into the address field.
Passwords And Security
The developers have revised the “Passwords” section in the Safari settings. It doesn’t matter where you make and edit the entries, they are automatically synchronized. Another new feature in the settings is “Hide IP address from trackers” in the “Data protection” section.
If this option is selected, the IP address is automatically suppressed for known trackers. This option is independent of the “Private Relay” protection function newly introduced under macOS Monterey. The changes in the mail program of macOS 12 Monterey are not that significant, but the developers have changed some subtleties.
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