Mobile Safari is the primary way that the majority of people access the Internet on their iPhones and iPads, but are you getting the most out of Apple’s default browser? While it’s quite likely that most of you will be familiar with many of these tips, there’s a good chance that you’ll learn at least one or two new things by watching the included video walkthrough.
Quickly open a new tab
Instead of tapping the Tab Switcher button to access the New Tab button, simply long-press the Tab Switcher button to reveal a quick New Tab shortcut.
Close all tabs
iOS 10 brought about a new feature that we’ve desperately needed for quite some time — the ability to close all open tabs in one fell swoop. To close all tabs, simply tap and hold the Tab Switcher button followed by the Close Tabs button.
Access recently closed tabs
Accidentally close a tab that you don’t mean to? You can easily access recently closed tabs by tapping the Tab Switcher button and long-pressing the New Tab button.
Access back and forward history
Safari allows you to quickly access back and forward history via a long-press on either the Back or Forward buttons in the bottom left-hand corner of the Safari interface.
Video walkthrough
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Paste and Go/Paste and Search
If you have a URL or a term that you’d like to search for stored in the iOS clipboard, a simple long-press on Safari’s address bar will reveal either a Paste and Go option (for URLs) or a Paste and Search option (for search terms).
Request Desktop Site
To quickly request the desktop version of a website you’re currently visiting, long-press the Refresh button on the right side of the address bar and tap Request Desktop Site at the bottom of the screen.
Find on Page
You can search for specific terms on a website you’re currently visiting by using the handy Find on Page option located in the Share Sheet. You can also invoke Find on Page by typing search terms directly in the address bar, and scrolling down to the end of the list to see if any results were yielded.
Quick Website Search
If you use a website’s built-in search option, Safari will intelligently make it possible to search the website directly from the address bar.
Quick Website Search, which can be accessed in Settings → Safari → Quick Website Search, allows you to quickly search the contents of your favorite sites, even when you’re not currently on that site. For example, just type “9to5 iPhone 7” to show 9to5Mac search results for “iPhone 7”. Remember, you must search the website via its built-in search at least once, before it’s added to Quick Website Search.
Quickly add sites to Bookmarks, Reading List, or Shared Links
If you’re visiting a page that you’d like to access later, a long-press on the Bookmark button will lend direct access to the Add Bookmark, Add to Reading List, or Add to Shared Links options.
Shared Links
Safari’s Shared Links feature is almost like a mini RSS application built right into the web browser. You can subscribe to your favorite blogs to aggregate posts, and subscribe to links shared via social media channels like Twitter. It’s an unheralded and underused feature in mobile Safari.
To add a new website to your Shared Links, tap the Share button and tap Add to Shared Links, or long-press the Bookmark button and tap Add to Shared Links. Shared links can then be accessed by opening the bookmark interface and tapping the Shared Links section in the upper right-hand corner.
Conclusion
Of course, there are many other Safari tips and tricks to be shared, such as the ability to use Safari Split View on iOS 10-equipped iPads. We’ll be back with more tips in a later installment. In the meantime, feel free to share some of your favorite iOS tips and tricks in the comments below.
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