Apple’s Safari browser has been around for a long time, and over the years it’s been improved to the point where it’s now a very solid choice for most people. As you’d expect, it boasts the standard features found on most modern browsers, including bookmarks, tabbed browsing, a password manager, private browsing options, a dark mode, a Reading List that you can return to later (and read offline), plus a Shared with You section on the Home page that lists links you’ve been sent in Messages.
The Reader View is one of Safari’s hidden gems as it turns any webpage into a clean, clear article devoid of ads and other distractions. Coming later in 2024 is a refined Reader mode that will include an AI-powered summary and a table of contents, so you can quickly get the information you require. A new Highlights feature will bring up the most relevant information on a webpage, plus a Viewer will pops out videos on a site so you can control it in it’s own window.
If you want to use Safari for work and personal activities, then you can set up dedicated profiles of each, complete with separate bookmarks, extensions and cookies.
The Quick Note feature, as the name suggests, allows you to instantly grab text or images from a webpage and have them appear (complete with links) in the Notes app.
Tab Groups is a handy feature that allows you to assemble particular tabs together by a category of your choosing, so you don’t have to search for them among your other open tabs. This is useful if you’re planning a holiday, event or researching another interest. Best of all, the Group Tabs sync to Safari on your iPhone, iPad or other Macs. They’re also shareable, so you can send them with friends, colleagues or family who can instantly see all the pages and links–perfect if you’re all collaborating on a project. You can also pin tabs within these groups and give them customized start pages too.
Privacy is an important part of Apple’s offering, with Intelligent Tracking Protection there to stop advertisers from watching what you do. This is accompanied by anti-fingerprinting settings that prevent sites from looking at your hardware and software configuration to work out who you are online, plus security features that block sites that could contain malware.
Later in 2024 Apple will introduce a new Password manager in macOS Sequoia, but Safari already supports PassKeys. These are encrypted logins that seek to eventually do away with passwords altogether. You can check out more details in our how to use PassKeys guide.
There’s also full integration for Apple Pay, making it easy to buy items online, either through the Touch ID sensor on compatible Macs (or the Mac keyboard with Touch ID) or via Face ID on your iPhone. See our How to use Apple Pay on a Mac for more details.
In its current form, Safari is better than ever, and that’s before you start exploring the available extensions that can increase its capabilities even further. The truth is, the best browser for your Mac is probably already installed.