All new with Safari in iOS 15: redesign, tab groups, live text, privacy updates and more

Apple’s Safari app has undergone several changes during the iOS 15 beta testing process. Apple started with a radical new design that moved the address bar from the top of the app’s interface. and introduced a floating tab bar, but after a multitude of complaints, there were several redesigns that culminated in an option to completely undo the OSiOS 15‌ design.

This guide covers all the features added to the ariiOS 15‌ Safari app, including new design options.

Design changes

Safari started with a new floating tab design that moved the address bar and tabs to the bottom of the iPhone interface, but now the design change is optional.

In the Safari section of the Settings app, you can choose the tab view. The “Tab Bar” option moves the address bar to the bottom of the Safari interface, which is the new design.

There’s a dedicated control bar at the bottom of the Safari interface, and on top of that, a built-in tab bar and an address bar. You can swipe left and right to change tabs or tap the bar to search for or type in a new URL. The dedicated control bar was added in a later beta ‌iOS 15‌ and offers access to forwarding / rewinding, sharing tools, bookmarking tools and tabs.

To access web page settings, tap AA or reload a page by tapping the reload button. With this tab bar interface, when you browse a webpage, the entire tab bar scrolls down so you can see more of the website. You can recover it with one touch.

If you choose “Single Tab” instead of “Tab Bar”, the address bar and tabs will remain at the top of the Safari window, which is what iOS 14 works on. The design of the Single Tab option does not change from ‌iOS 14‌, with the same control bar available at the bottom of the interface. You cannot slide your tabs using the single tab interface, and you will need to use the tab switch.

You can switch between the lower tab bar and the single tab interface by tapping the “Aa” button next to any URL.

Website dyeing

Available in the Settings app, Allows Website Dyeing to match the reduced Safari address bar interface with website colors to make it blend better with the background.

Website tint on the left, off on the right

This only applies when you browse a webpage and have narrowed down the address bar. In both single tab and tab bar modes, the interface takes on the colors of the website at the top and bottom, with the coloring extending to the iPhone status icons.

Horizontal tab bar

With the new horizontal tab bar settings, when you use your ‌iPhone‌ in landscape mode with Safari, you’ll see a Mac-style tab bar that shows all the open tabs, and you can swipe them.

Pull to upgrade

A swipe down to any ‌iOS 15‌ webpage will refresh the page, and this is an alternative to having to tap the reload icon.

Tab groups

OSiOS 15‌ tabs can be saved in Tab Groups, which provide a way to keep a set of tabs that you have open without having to turn those tabs on.

If you plan a trip, for example, you can save all tabs in a “Vacation” group, access them when needed, and leave your device free for other content when you’re not actively planning. If you have a set of websites that you always open for work, you can save them in a dedicated tab group.

To create a tab group, simply open all the websites you want to include, tap the tab button with the down arrow, and then tap Tab Group New at [#] Tabs. You can also use this option to create a new empty tab group to which tabs can be added later. Touch and hold any open tab (or the main address bar if you have the single tab view turned on) to add it to a tab group.

To load a tab group, tap the Tabs button, then click the group name in the list. All your tab groups sync across your devices so you can access them on iPhone and iPad devices running iOS and iPadOS 15, as well as Macs running macOS Monterey.

Tab overview grid

In OSiOS 14‌, all open tabs are displayed in a card-like interface that you can swipe, but in OSiOS 15‌, open tabs are displayed in a grid view.

You can tap the tab button (which are two overlapping squares) to display the grid interface that shows all open tabs. If you tap the “X” at the end of any tab, it closes.

Customizable home page

Safari is more customizable in OSiOS 15‌ and you can edit what’s available on your homepage. This is a feature that was available on macOS, but is now also available on iOS devices.

To customize the home page, open a new blank tab, scroll to the bottom of the window, and tap the “Edit” button.

You can choose to have the homepage show Favorites, frequently visited sites, content shared with you, privacy report information, Siri suggestions, playlist, and iCloud tabs.

There is an option to use the same home page look on all devices and a switch to upload the background image you want.

Improvements in the prevention of smart tracking

With updates to Smart Tracking Prevention, a feature that prevents websites from tracking your activity on the web, crawlers now don’t have access to your IP address to create a profile for you.

HTTPS update

Safari on ‌iOS 15‌ automatically updates sites that are known to support HTTPS from HTTP, which is unsafe.

ICloud private relay

‌ICloud‌ Private Relay is a privacy feature that ensures that all Safari traffic is encrypted.

As explained in our privacy guide, ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay protects your IP address and unlinkes websites you visit using two separate Internet relays.

‌ICloud‌ Private Relay sends all web traffic to a server that Apple maintains where information such as the IP address is removed. Once the information is removed, the traffic (your DNS request) is sent to a secondary server maintained by a third-party company, where it is assigned a temporary IP address, and then the traffic is sent to its destination.

Having a two-step process that involves both an Apple server and a third-party server, ‌‌iCloud‌‌ Private Relay prevents anyone, including Apple, from determining a user’s identity and linking it to the website that user visit.

With this system, Apple knows your IP address and the third-party partner knows the site you’re visiting, and because the information is unrelated, neither Apple nor the partner company has a complete picture of the site you’re visiting and your location, and neither website you are browsing. Websites usually have access to this data and, combined with cookies, can use it to create a profile of your preferences.

Web extensions

Safari on ‌iOS 15‌ supports web extensions, with web extensions that can be downloaded and installed through the App Store. Available extensions include content blockers, VPNs, and more.

Live text

With ‌iOS 15‌, iPhones and iPads can use a new live text feature to detect text in any image, and this includes images you’ll find in Safari.

You can select, copy, paste, and translate any Safari image that contains text. To use live text in Safari, tap and hold any image, then tap “Show text.” From here, you can select the text and interact with it like any other text on an ‌iPhone‌.

Shared with you

Shared with you, a new option available on the Safari homepage, groups all the links you’ve sent to the Messages app and other social networking apps that support the Shared with you feature.

This new section is designed to ensure that you don’t miss the links that were sent to you and lets you know who sent you a link so you can get back to it with what you thought.

Guide suggestions

Questions about new Safari changes to OSiOS 15‌, do you know of any features we’ve left out, or would you like to comment on this guide? Email us here.