iOS 15: 10+ Safari Tips to Boost Your Web Browsing Experience

These iOS 15 Safari tips and tricks will make the iPhone’s default browser experience even better.

With iOS 15, Safari has a few new tricks up its sleeve, including Shared with You, Tab Groups and Private Browsing. But like many apps, the neatest features may not be obvious. So to help you make the most of your Safari experience, we’ve compiled a list of the best iOS 15 Safari tips and tricks that you can put to good use when browsing the web.

If you’ve upgraded to iOS 15, then it’s important to get familiar with new Safari features. Here are the best iOS 15 Safari tips and tricks to help you browse the web faster and more efficiently on an iPhone.

Best iOS 15 Safari Tips and Tricks for iPhone

Without further ado, here are 11 best iOS 15 Safari tips and tricks to enhance your web browsing experience:

#1. Disable website tinting in Safari

iOS 15 include a new feature in Safari known as ‘Website Tinting’. This means the address bar automatically becomes the same color as the webpage a user is browsing.

The idea behind tinting is that it allows the browser interface to fade into the background and create a more immersive experience. However, the effect doesn’t sit well with everyone. It can be switched off though.

To Turn Off ‘Website Tinting’ in Safari on iOS 15:

1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone
2. Scroll down and tap Safari
3. Under the “Tabs” section, turn off the switch next to Allow Website Tinting

#2. Quickly Refresh a Webpage in Safari

Within the address bar, Apple still includes a refresh icon that you can tap to reload the currently viewed page. However, iOS 15 has made it easier and more fun to refresh web pages when using Safari on iPhone.

A downward swipe on any webpage‌ is all it takes to refresh a webpage in Safari. This alternative to having to tap on the reload icon is especially useful if you like to keep the address bar at the top of the screen, where tapping the reload icon can be less convenient.

To refresh a web page when using iOS 15 Safari:

1. Load up a web page in Safari.
2. Scroll all the way up by tapping on the Status Bar.
3. Pull down to perform a page refresh.

#3. Use Tab Groups in Safari

Tab Groups are like folders, and let you better organize all of your Safari tabs.

You can give your Safari Tab Groups custom names, and make them “Private” as well.

To make Tab Groups in Safari on your iPhone with iOS 15:

1. Launch Safari app on your iPhone and open the tab screen. You can do this by tapping the icon located in the bottom-right corner that looks like two squares.
2. On the tab screen, tap the option that tells you how many tabs you currently have open in the bottom-middle of the screen. This will launch the Tab Groups page .
3. Select New Empty Tab Group to start a Tab Group with nothing in it, or New Tab Group from X Tabs to put all your currently open tabs into a new Group.
   Pro tip: You can also select Private beforehand to start a new Tab Group in Incognito Mode.
4. Give your Tab Group a name, and then tap Save .
5. The new Group will appear. You can switch between your Tab Groups by tapping the Group’s name at the bottom of the screen again.

To delete a Tab Group or edit its name, open the Tab Groups page and swipe left on the Group you want to change.

All of your Tab Groups sync across your devices so you can access them on iPhones and iPads running iOS and iPadOS 15 as well as on Macs running macOS Monterey.

#4. Customize Your Safari Start Page

Safari is more customizable in ‌iOS 15‌, and you can edit what’s available on your start page. When you customize the start page, you can select a background image to use, as well as choose new sections to display on the start page. These sections include your Favorites, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, Privacy Report, and more. With the right customizations, you can definitely make Safari on iPhone and iPad feel more like your own.

To customize your start page in Safari on iPhone:

1. Open Safari app on your iPhone.
2. If you are on an existing webpage, press the Tabs button and open a new tab.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the start page and press Edit.
4. If you want to use the same start page customization across all of your iPhones, iPads, and Macs, make sure the toggle for Use Start Page on All Devices is set to ON (green). This ensures that you start page appearance and settings is synced through iCloud.
5. You’ll be presented with sections for Favorites, Frequently Visited, Shared With You, Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, and iCloud Tabs. Tap the toggles for the sections that you want to display to ON (green).
6. If you want to rearrange the order that these sections appear in, just drag-and-drop with the handle into the order that you like.

#5. Hide Your IP Address From Trackers in Safari

In the settings for Safari, you can adjust the ability to hide your IP address, so you can browse with the security you want.

To hide your IP address from websites and trackers in Safari on iPhone:

1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap Safari.
3. Scroll down, and under ”Privacy and Security” section, press Hide IP address.
4. Tap From Trackers.

#6. Use Live Text in Safari

Obviously, you can select text on a web page in Safari without doing anything special. But with iOS 15, you can select text in images as well.

To use Live Text in Safari:

Simply press-and-hold on any image in a web page until the context menu pops up. You’d normally see options to Share, Add to Photos, or Copy an image. But now you’ll see an additional option: Show Text.

In Safari, long-press on an image to bring up the context menu, then select Show Text to enter Live Text mode.

Select that option and the image will be focused on, with the text highlighted. You can then select it as you do text in any app: by tapping and holding, then dragging the selection box around the text you want. Just as in the Camera and Photos apps, it will recognize addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

#7. Move Safari’s Address Search Bar Back to Top

One of the changes in iOS 15 is that the address bar and tabs are now at the bottom of the page when browsing on Safari. If you don’t like the address bar living at the bottom of the screen, you’ll be happy to know that you can move it to its original position at the top, like it was in iOS 14.

To Put the Address Bar at the Top Again in Safari in iOS 15:

1. Start the Safari app on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. Tap the ”aA” icon in the left side of the address bar.
3. Tap Show Top Address Bar in the popup menu.

You can also control this design change in Settings. Here’s how:

1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone
2. Scroll down and tap Safari
3. Scroll Down and Tap ‘Single Tab’ so there is a tick underneath.

When you next open Safari in iOS 15, the address bar will be at the top.

#8. See All the Web Links Shared With You in Messages

It’s not always possible to view a link someone sends to you right right away. And even when you can, you might want to refer to the link again later. Having to trawl through your messages to find them isn’t fun.

Thankfully, Apple has addressed this issue in iOS 15. All the links that get shared with you inside Messages !automatically get bundled together in a new section inside Safari, so they’re easy to find — even days later.

To Find shared links inside Safari in iOS 15:

You’ll find the new Shared with You section simply by opening a new tab in Safari. It appears at the very top of the page on iPhone. To open a new tab, follow these steps:

1. Launch Safari app on your iPhone.
2. Next, tab the Tabs button in the bottom-right corner, than tap the plus button.
3. By default, you’ll see only the most recent links that have been shared with you. To view them all, tap the Show All button. Tap any link to open it right away.
4. Tap and hold a Shared with You link to view additional options, including open in background and open in tab group. You can use this action to remove a link from the Shared with You section, and to reply to it in Messages.

If you don’t see the Shared with You section, scroll to the bottom of the Start Page and tap the Edit button, then toggle the switch next to Shared with You to include it.

#9. Search using your voice in iOS 15 Safari

Safari’s new voice search feature is incredible. To search using your voice in Safari, simply tap in the address bar, tap the microphone icon, speak a search query, the moment you’re done talking, the search takes place automatically, without you having to tap or type anything else. It’s very convenient.

#10. Tab Grid

In ‌iOS 15‌, open tabs are displayed in a grid view instead of a card stack. The grid makes it much easier to see which tabs are open, plus you can tap on the tab button (which is two overlapping squares) to bring up the grid interface that shows all of your open tabs. Tapping on the “X” in the corner of any tab closes it.

#11. Understanding what Is Landscape Tab Bar in Safari’s Settings?

Inside iOS 15’s Safari Settings, you’ll see an option called Landscape Tab Bar, which is enabled by default. When you use your iPhone in landscape mode with Safari, you will see all the open tabs on the top, just like you see on a computer browser.

When Landscape Tab Bar is off, this thin strip showing your open tabs is not available.

READ FURTHER ARTICLES!

• iOS 15: 10 Best FaceTime Tips and Tricks for iPhone
• 30+ Best iOS 15 Tips and Tricks to Try First
• 13 iOS 15 Settings You Should Turn On Right Now!

Your favorite iOS 15 Safari tips and tricks?

There you go! So, these are the best Safari tips and tricks in iOS 15. Hopefully, this guide has introduced you to several iOS 15 Safari tips and tricks that you weren’t aware of previously. What are your favorite iOS 15 Safari tips and tricks? Drop a comment and let us know!