iOS 15 Safari: How to change the address/search bar design on iPhone

9to5Mac By Michael Potuck August 18, 2021

[{"selector":"#anim-e3c6e5cf-ea0f-44ce-ba9b-c4730a13043c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Apple’s latest iOS release comes with an all-new Safari design that places the address/search bar at the bottom of the screen by default. But you can switch back to the classic iOS Safari design with a top bar. Here’s how to change the iOS 15 Safari address/search bar on iPhone.

[{"selector":"#anim-d09dcb6b-ed0e-4051-9933-c587178ff7cf","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Apple made its way through multiple iterations of the new iOS 15 Safari design and with the sixth beta , it included the option to switch between the controversial bottom address/search bar and the classic iOS Safari top address/search bar on iPhone.

[{"selector":"#anim-fe4020f3-d545-40c8-ad6f-28daba64ca4f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The latest release also includes the classic bottom menu bar instead of packing all of Safari’s buttons into the unified address/search/tab bar. iOS 15 is currently available as a public and developer beta with the official release set for fall 2021.

[{"selector":"#anim-b980a1ec-7999-4024-952a-7eb28c37c0af","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] How to change iOS 15 Safari address/search bar on iPhone • Running iOS 15, open Safari on your iPhone • In the bottom address/search bar, tap the “aA” icon on the left • Tap Show Top Address Bar To change back to the bottom bar design • Tap the “aA” icon in the top address/search bar • Choose Show Bottom Tab Bar Alternatively, you can also change the iOS 15 address/search bar by heading to the Settings app > Safari > swipe down and choose “Single Tab.”

[{"selector":"#anim-bdeb4683-31ff-4e7e-8aec-ab441da8c4f1","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Here’s how it looks to change the Safari address/search bar on iPhone:

[{"selector":"#anim-6b99c864-dd2e-44d9-b6cd-becb9b350e2c","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(71.29534%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Here’s how it looks to change the Safari address/search bar on iPhone:

[{"selector":"#anim-595499f3-5927-47e7-997c-17098a4493b7","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(109.13386%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Here’s how it looks to change the Safari address/search bar on iPhone:

[{"selector":"#anim-c76f58cc-f13a-4715-84f3-114514531b08","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] And here’s how it looks to change it back to the bottom address/search bar:

[{"selector":"#anim-d616b10d-2cfe-4fb0-94d3-f31c7b05efc4","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(108.73635%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] And here’s how it looks to change it back to the bottom address/search bar:

[{"selector":"#anim-30d161b7-9281-4096-bb0e-19e731534712","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The other way to change the address/search bar design is in the Settings app. In addition to changing between the bottom and classic top address/search bar designs, you can choose to enable/disable website tinting (matches the top iPhone status bar to websites’ colors) and enable/disable the landscape tab bar, however, the latter doesn’t seem to be working at the time of writing in iOS 15 beta 6.

[{"selector":"#anim-6bd19299-d33c-4523-9a98-55edc8543893","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(104.00000%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The other way to change the address/search bar design is in the Settings app. In addition to changing between the bottom and classic top address/search bar designs, you can choose to enable/disable website tinting (matches the top iPhone status bar to websites’ colors) and enable/disable the landscape tab bar, however, the latter doesn’t seem to be working at the time of writing in iOS 15 beta 6.

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[{"selector":"#anim-d8c4503b-3bda-422d-bdee-dc392cbfb453","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0c3f7771-0266-4867-b028-d269dfed92dd","keyframes":[{"transform":"rotate(-540deg) scale(0.1)","opacity":0},{"transform":"none","opacity":1}],"delay":0,"duration":1000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both","iterations":1}] Did you find this guide helpful? Read more 9to5Mac tutorials: