Am I the only one confused by new Safari design?

[macOS Lynx]

Ugh, hate how they changed the Tab Bar interface from Beta 5 to Beta 6.

at least they brought the option of 14’s single tab design.

 

[TinaBelcher]

This is getting ridiculous. At this point Apple seems to be regretting iOS 15 completely

 

[gank41]

This is getting ridiculous. At this point Apple seems to be regretting iOS 15 completely

They’re probably very close to a shipping version internally, and felt that providing the option to revert back to the old view was a viable compromise.

 

[zakarhino]

With the updates from beta 6 I feel like there's only four main things that irritate me about iOS 15 Safari:

1. The "new tab" button being on the far left side of the device is hard to reach when using my Max phone one handed.
2. Switching from regular tabs to private tabs is a chore and takes significantly longer than iOS 14. Some people think I'm joking when I say "significantly longer" but the process of quick switching from regular to private so I can search something tangential to what I'm currently browsing is something I do frequently.
   1. iOS 14's sequence, super quick, can be done without thinking because of muscle memory and consistent button placement.
      1. Press the tab button
      2. By the time your thumb moves to the fixed "private tabs" button area the button has already appeared and is pressable.
      3. Two presses total. Super quick, waiting for animations to finish is not a requirement to function.
   2. iOS 15's sequence, much slower due to longer animations such as waiting for the tab container menu to slide up. Requires thinking because the button is nondescript, smaller, and isn't necessarily in a consistent spot.
      1. Press the tab button
      2. Wait for the bottom controls to slide up.
      3. Press the tab containers button.
      4. Wait for the tab containers menu to slide up.
      5. List menu clutter (the private tabs button being flanked by near identical list menu buttons above and below) requires you to actively search for the hit box you need to press.
      6. Three presses total. Slow, requires you to wait for animations to finish before functioning. Considerably less muscle memory friendly.
3. The grid style tabs are less ergonomic and display less information than the previous stacked card style interface. The one thing iOS 15's card grid has going for it is that it's easier to compare content between tab thumbnails -- very useful when shopping. I think a quick switcher to switch between the stacked cards view (general browsing mode) and card view (shopping mode) would be nice. I feel like iOS 14's stacked cards are generally better because:
   1. Can see more of open tabs at once
   2. All the tab titles are in the same plane so scrolling through your open tabs is quicker because your eyes stay in a fixed spot or plane when scrolling vs. zigzagging your focus point left and right on iOS 15
   3. Flicking tabs to close them is much better for two reasons:
      1. Closing tabs on the left of the card grid in iOS 15 is a tad less ergonomically comfortable.
      2. Mass closing tabs is quicker. iOS 15 makes the tabs jump around in the card grid too much when trying to mass close tabs so again you have to wait for animations to finish before closing more tabs.
4. When using "bottom mode" both the top and bottom sections of the collapsed menu interface are ugly and take up a lot of room. Having content seamlessly flow in from the bottom of the device (and flow out at the top) when scrolling really makes the rounded corners of the display seem weirdly beautiful and organic. iOS 15 places big monotone blocks on the top and bottom of the display which literally boxes in the web content and makes the rounded corners look ugly like someone's trying to hide them by making the app content perfectly rectangular like the old iPhone displays.

I feel like many of these changes were designed by people that don't actually use their browser for anything outside of leisurely reading news sites at breakfast. That or designed by boomers that are super slow at using their phone (no disrespect, it's just that critical interfaces like these should accommodate fast operators whilst remaining intuitive to slow users. iOS 14 did this well IMO.)

 

[gank41]

With the updates from beta 6 I feel like there's only four main things that irritate me about iOS 15 Safari:

1. The "new tab" button being on the far left side of the device is hard to reach when using my Max phone one handed.
2. Switching from regular tabs to private tabs is a chore and takes significantly longer than iOS 14. Some people think I'm joking when I say "significantly longer" but the process of quick switching from regular to private so I can search something tangential to what I'm currently browsing is something I do frequently.
   1. iOS 14's sequence, super quick, can be done without thinking because of muscle memory and consistent button placement.
      1. Press the tab button
      2. By the time your thumb moves to the fixed "private tabs" button area the button has already appeared and is pressable.
      3. Two presses total. Super quick, waiting for animations to finish is not a requirement to function.
   2. iOS 15's sequence, much slower due to longer animations such as waiting for the tab container menu to slide up. Requires thinking because the button is nondescript, smaller, and isn't necessarily in a consistent spot.
      1. Press the tab button
      2. Wait for the bottom controls to slide up.
      3. Press the tab containers button.
      4. Wait for the tab containers menu to slide up.
      5. List menu clutter (the private tabs button being flanked by near identical list menu buttons above and below) requires you to actively search for the hit box you need to press.
      6. Three presses total. Slow, requires you to wait for animations to finish before functioning. Considerably less muscle memory friendly.
3. The grid style tabs are less ergonomic and display less information than the previous stacked card style interface. The one thing iOS 15's card grid has going for it is that it's easier to compare content between tab thumbnails -- very useful when shopping. I think a quick switcher to switch between the stacked cards view (general browsing mode) and card view (shopping mode) would be nice. I feel like iOS 14's stacked cards are generally better because:
   1. Can see more of open tabs at once
   2. All the tab titles are in the same plane so scrolling through your open tabs is quicker because your eyes stay in a fixed spot or plane when scrolling vs. zigzagging your focus point left and right on iOS 15
   3. Flicking tabs to close them is much better for two reasons:
      1. Closing tabs on the left of the card grid in iOS 15 is a tad less ergonomically comfortable.
      2. Mass closing tabs is quicker. iOS 15 makes the tabs jump around in the card grid too much when trying to mass close tabs so again you have to wait for animations to finish before closing more tabs.
4. When using "bottom mode" both the top and bottom sections of the collapsed menu interface are ugly and take up a lot of room. Having content seamlessly flow in from the bottom of the device (and flow out at the top) when scrolling really makes the rounded corners of the display seem weirdly beautiful and organic. iOS 15 places big monotone blocks on the top and bottom of the display which literally boxes in the web content and makes the rounded corners look ugly like someone's trying to hide them by making the app content perfectly rectangular like the old iPhone displays.

I feel like many of these changes were designed by people that don't actually use their browser for anything outside of leisurely reading news sites at breakfast. That or designed by boomers that are super slow at using their phone (no disrespect, it's just that critical interfaces like these should accommodate fast operators whilst remaining intuitive to slow users. iOS 14 did this well IMO.)

You scan also long press the Tab icon to get to a Private Tab, which then puts you in your Private Tabs group. One tap.




I also very loudly agree with your Point's #3 & #4. The old Rolodex style tab view works better on a phone, where as the new card style works great on an iPad or on a Mac. And while the whole idea of having the URL Bar at the bottom is great from an accessibility standpoint, it's clear that there's too much needed to sacrifice in order to make it work well. I know there's been plenty said against just providing all the customization options everyone wants, but in this case giving people the option to have the URL Bar at the top or Bottom at least solves the need for the accessibility feature. This clearly looks like the design going forward, though, as we're close to when they'll need to start putting iOS 15 on the new iPhones coming out in about a month or more. We'll still see plenty of tweaks before then, too. Try long pressing the URL Bar now on Beta 6 as opposed to in Beta 5. Now it just gives you the option to copy and do a voice dictation.. Most options from B5 are now tucked away in the Reader "Aa" icon which... also doesn't make much sense? You could just long press the URL Bar and see all of those options, and leave the "Aa" icon to literally just go to Reader view, instead of it still providing more options.. It's still far from perfect, but it's getting there.

 

[GDF]

I just can’t imagine how confused the general public will be by the new Safari look on iOS and iPad iOS. It is just a mess. There was nothing wrong with the way it was before. Still not easy to get to Bookmarks, especially on iPad. They should just scrap it and go back to the old Safari. This is not easier.

 

[tivoboy]

I just can’t imagine how confused the general public will be by the new Safari look on iOS and iPad iOS. It is just a mess. There was nothing wrong with the way it was before. Still not easy to get to Bookmarks, especially on iPad. They should just scrap it and go back to the old Safari. This is not easier.

This!

 

[Ansath]

I just can’t imagine how confused the general public will be by the new Safari look on iOS and iPad iOS. It is just a mess. There was nothing wrong with the way it was before. Still not easy to get to Bookmarks, especially on iPad. They should just scrap it and go back to the old Safari. This is not easier.

With that mentality we would still be using MacOS 1.0 and Windows 3.1 🤣

nothing can be changed for fear that people won’t cope with change.

 

[War833]

Having used ios15 on iPhone for a couple of weeks now, I love the tab bar on the bottom, having gestures to switch between tabs, create tabs, go to the tab view, etc. I find it very intuitive and a huge leap forward from the old Safari design which felt dated and clunky.

This is the future and I feel that, on this front, at least, Apple are back to leading.

 

[GDF]

So, bookmarks show up again with one click on iOS Safari, but unless I am missing it not on iPad iOS. Hopefully, that change will come next for the iPad.

 

[NorthernSkyLights]

I honestly thought the look on beta 5 of Safari look pretty good. Shame how they scrap it.

Though I do like how on beta 6 that it resembles more of how safari use to look. I suppose there a no win on this one. Since everyone complains about something. Heck safari could be offering free coffee at star bucks every morning when you open up safari and people would complain about that.

 

[petvas]

I actually prefer the new design on my iPad and I am using it. One compact tab bar for all my tabs and tab groups used to categorize/organize them. It works really well. I understand the criticism that the address bar is crowded, but at least on the iPad everything works well and I really do not understand why most journalists didn’t like it.
I haven’t used the iPhone version though, so I cannot comment on it.
I am happy though that now we have a choice and I hope that Apple doesn’t completely remove the new design..

 

[KittyKatta]

This is getting ridiculous. At this point Apple seems to be regretting iOS 15 completely

Thats not a bad thing. A lot of users don't like change and a lot of change has no benefit to the users. So I think the idea of Apple trying something new without killing the old way is great. This is Apple respecting the users.

(That said, it does feel like iOS15 offers so little considering the hardware once again leaped so far)

 

[petvas]

I just can’t imagine how confused the general public will be by the new Safari look on iOS and iPad iOS. It is just a mess. There was nothing wrong with the way it was before. Still not easy to get to Bookmarks, especially on iPad. They should just scrap it and go back to the old Safari. This is not easier.

I disagree. The new interface is not a mess. It introduces a new way to do things though and that is always challenging. Change is difficult to accept.
Having said that, especially on the iPhone it seems that the new design introduced unnecessary issues. On the iPad though the design is great, but only if used with tab groups.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore since Apple is now giving us a choice.

 

[GDF]

I actually prefer the new design on my iPad and I am using it. One compact tab bar for all my tabs and tab groups used to categorize/organize them. It works really well. I understand the criticism that the address bar is crowded, but at least on the iPad everything works well and I really do not understand why most journalists didn’t like it.
I haven’t used the iPhone version though, so I cannot comment on it.
I am happy though that now we have a choice and I hope that Apple doesn’t completely remove the new design..

At least Safari on IPhone iOS is better now and not such a big change. iPad iOS still has to change. There is no way that it should take two to three clicks to get to your bookmarks. There needs to be a bookmark area, like iPhone iOS, that is one click, just like there used to be on iPad iOS 14. I would bet that next week Apple will have that again. Will confuse way to many users.

People like you and I that are testing this will get it, but the general public will not as easily. Keep things simple and make a one click bookmark tab. That is the only change Apple needs to make, which they made this time to iPhone iOS.

 

[petvas]

At least Safari on IPhone iOS is better now and not such a big change. iPad iOS still has to change. There is no way that it should take two to three clicks to get to your bookmarks. There needs to be a bookmark area, like iPhone iOS, that is one click, just like there used to be on iPad iOS 14. I would bet that next week Apple will have that again. Will confuse way to many users.

People like you and I that are testing this will get it, but the general public will not as easily. Keep things simple and make a one click bookmark tab. That is the only change Apple needs to make, which they made this time to iPhone iOS.

Just click on the address bar and you get to see your bookmarks

 

[madeirabhoy]

Sorry if I’m being thick. I prefer the new lower safari bar so have kept that. What does landscape tabs do ? Tried it with it on and off and can’t see a difference.

IGNORE ME. stupid.

 

[Jayson A]

You can actually do this. In the overflow menu there’s an option “Hide Toolbar” that keeps it permanently docked. It isn’t a permanent option though so you have to enable it every time you change pages. It is really nice if you’re on an infinite scroll website, though.

Hopefully a future beta will turn that option into a toggle!

Yeah I meant like an actual permanent solution where it needs to be tapped to expand, but then it automatically hides and stays hidden until it's tapped again.

 

[Ludatyk]

I understand the criticism that the address bar is crowded, but at least on the iPad everything works well and I really do not understand why most journalists didn’t like it.

Well, for the iPad. The first issue and most importantly one… journalist didn’t want it to be changed in the first place, once it was changed thats when complaints stormed in. Change is the main culprit of the criticism for the iPad and it doesn’t help both Mac and iPad share the same design.

I believe Safari on the Mac saw a huge flood of complaints which it started the first rollback followed next with the iPad… And, another issue was with the compact bar that had the share button completely missing. I enjoyed the 1st beta… I thought it was perfect that way. But criticism brought along a standalone share button, for which it annoys me.

Journalist didn’t like how the compact bar dynamically changes... They thought it was confusing and it was hard to distinguish which one was the active tab.

I am happy though that now we have a choice and I hope that Apple doesn’t completely remove the new design..

On the iPad side… I believe the new design is here to stay. I highly doubt they make any changes… ever since Apple provided the option of compact or separate there has been no major changes to Safari.