Safari is the browser you'll find on your Apple devices, and according to the company, it's "the world's fastest browser," more than 50% faster than Chrome at loading frequently visited websites. (Safari's home page also has benchmark reviews and comparisons.) Plus, because it's designed specifically for Apple devices, it's built to preserve battery life (helps you save battery). Offers an additional hour of browsing compared to Chrome and Firefox, Apple says). However, Safari is not the only option you have for a browser if you are an Apple user, although it is the most convenient option since it comes standard on Apple, everything. Knowing about its features, privacy protection, user experience, and more will help you decide if this is the browser to use or replace.
Features
Safari's smart search lets you search from the address bar, and if you've added your favorites to your custom home page (more details in a second), they'll appear as icons when you click the search box. When the field is empty, click the magnifying glass on the left side to search for a recent search again.
Personalize the Start page with one of your own photos for a more personal feel (Image credit: Apple) You can customize the Start page with an image of your choice, as well as your iCloud tabs, favorites, reading list, and / or Siri Suggestions. With Safari, in-browser 4K HDR video playback is available for Apple TV+, Netflix, and YouTube. You can also start a text message conversation or make a phone call by clicking a phone number in Safari. You can sync bookmarks, history, passwords, and tabs across your Apple devices. When your iOS, iPadOS, or Mac devices are close to each other, you can use the handoff feature to beam what you're doing from one device to another. Apple Pay is also available in Safari, allowing you to make transactions using Face ID or Touch ID.
While Safari doesn't have as many extensions as other browsers, there are still some useful ones (Image Credit: Apple) If you can't get enough functionality out of Safari's built-in features, you can also extend what it can do by installing third-party extensions.
As with other Apple products, privacy is built into Safari (Image credit: Apple)
Privacy
When you load web pages in Safari, each one is considered a separate process. This means that if there is any harmful code, it will be contained in the single page and will not affect the rest of the application or you will not have access to your other data.
You can see which websites are following you online right from the Privacy Report button in Safari's toolbar (Image credit: Apple) Safari's Smart Tracking Prevention identifies trackers and stops them from following you online. It's common for advertisers to create a fingerprint of your device that they use to target you based on features like fonts and plug-ins you've installed. Safari's fingerprint defense only shares an optimized profile of you with the websites you visit, making it harder to identify you. App tracking transparency allows you to control which apps can track your activity across other apps and websites. Also, a notification will inform you if you try to access a suspicious website and Safari will prevent it from loading.
iCloud Keychain serves as Safari's built-in password manager (Image credit: Apple) In iCloud Keychain, you can securely store your passwords and then autofill them if needed. This syncs across all your devices. And with password monitoring, you'll be alerted when a password breach occurs.
Safari also offers a weekly progress report that has even more details about the sites that have been following you online (Image credit: Apple) The Privacy Report button in the toolbar shows you how your privacy is being protected while you're on the go. online. You'll see a snapshot of the cross-site crawlers that Safari doesn't allow you to profile on the site you're visiting. There is also a weekly privacy report for a broader view.
User Experience
As with most Apple products, if you've been using Safari long enough, it's hard to keep going. For those who swear allegiance to Apple, this may be the only browser that matters. If you've never strayed from Safari in the past, there's a good chance you'll find another browser too difficult to learn right now, making the user experience second nature. That said, even if you're open to other browser options, Safari is still perfectly pleasant to use on both desktop and mobile. It has all the essentials: bookmarks, playlist, extensions, etc. - which you wouldn't want to be without, and it's just basic (without being too simple) enough that you don't have a learning curve.
Safari is Apple's default browser and is available on Apple computers and mobile devices, such as iPad and iPhone. Safari won't work on Android, and while you can find a way to run it on Linux or Windows, it's not recommended - Apple's lack of support for different operating systems means your device could be vulnerable.
Competition
Chrome is probably Safari's biggest competitor, just like Android takes on iOS. And if you're looking to outfit your browser with everything you could possibly need in terms of extensions, Chrome will be the most flexible option, if you can get familiar with using it. When it comes to security, Firefox is often considered a leader, but Mac users generally feel pretty secure with the operating system to begin with, and Safari feels like another branch on an already secure tree.
Final verdict
If you've already invested in the Apple ecosystem, Safari is a reliable and convenient browser option. It's already on your devices so you've probably used it somewhere and got used to it. It's not as flashy as something like Chrome, but if you can get what you need without committing too much (or not at all), the question every Apple user has at one point is: why switch?