8 Exciting New Safari Features on macOS Sonoma

macOS Sonoma has brought a wave of exciting updates to the Safari browser. With a strong focus on security and privacy, Safari has become a top contender among browsers like Chrome and Edge. If you're a Safari enthusiast, you're in for a treat with the new features added to Safari on macOS Sonoma. Let's dive in and explore these exciting additions.

1. Browsing Separation With Profiles

Finally, you can create profiles in Safari to keep your work and personal life separate. This allows you to have separate settings, history, cookies, extensions, tab groups, and favorites for each profile, making your life more organized and hassle-free.

To create profiles in Safari:

1. Open Safari browser and click on Safari in the top menu bar.
2. Choose Create Profile.
3. Under the Profiles tab, click on Start Using Profiles.
4. Enter the name, choose a symbol and color, and decide whether to keep the current bookmarks in your profile or inside a new folder.
5. Click on Create Profile to confirm.

Now you have a new Safari profile. You can repeat the process and create multiple profiles for different purposes.

2. Web Apps for Quick Access

The Dock is where you can find your recently used and favorite apps for quick access. Now, you can save your favorite websites to the Dock as well.

These saved websites function like regular apps, providing a seamless browsing experience. It's a convenient way to access your frequently visited websites quickly and efficiently.

To save a website to the Dock:

1. Open the website in Safari.
2. Click on File in the top menu bar.
3. Choose Add to Dock.
4. Enter the name of your Web App and customize the icon.
5. Click on Add.

The web app will be added to the Dock, and clicking on it will open the website.

3. Enhanced Private Browsing With Locking

Private Browsing is designed to keep your browsing history, cookies, and other data private. In macOS Sonoma, Safari automatically locks your Private Browsing window when you're not actively using it, ensuring that your tabs remain protected.

To unlock the window, use your FaceID on your iPhone or your Touch ID/password on your MacBook. If you prefer, you can enable or disable this feature from Safari settings.

4. Advanced Privacy Protection

Safari has upped its privacy game by blocking websites and advertisers from tracking your online activities. With more aggressive tracker blocking and fingerprinting protection, your online actions are better protected, ensuring your browsing behavior remains confidential and secure.

This privacy protection is automatically enabled in private browsing, but you can choose to enable it for all browsing sessions.

5. Stop Tracking With Link-Tracking Protection

Safari's Private Browsing now includes Link-Tracking Protection, which removes tracking elements from URLs. This prevents destination websites from collecting information about your click-through behavior, enhancing your online privacy.

While this feature improves data privacy, it can pose challenges for marketers who rely on user behavior data for targeted ads and measuring campaign success.

6. Custom Search in Private Browsing

You can now set a unique search engine specifically for Private Browsing. This allows you to use a different search provider while in Private Browsing mode, keeping your search activity separate and anonymous from regular browsing.

To set a custom search engine for Private Browsing:

1. Open Safari browser and click on Safari in the top menu bar.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Select Search and open it.
4. Open the drop-down menu beside Private Browsing Search Engine.
5. Choose your preferred search engine.

From now on, any online search during Private Browsing will use the chosen search engine.

7. Efficient Tab Management

With Safari 17, managing multiple tabs is now easier than ever. You can select and manage multiple tabs simultaneously, allowing you to move them around the tab bar or organize them into tab groups. This feature is particularly useful for users with many open tabs.

To select and manage multiple tabs:

1. Click on one tab to select it.
2. Press Command and click to select multiple tabs.
3. You can also press Shift and click on two tabs to select everything in between.
4. Now, you can drag the selected tabs in the tab bar, sidebar, or another window. You can also add them to a new Tab Group.

8. Streamlined Search Experience

Safari now provides easier-to-read and more relevant search suggestions, enhancing the search experience. This improvement makes it quicker and more user-friendly when searching for websites or information.

Switch to Safari!

After using Safari for years, I would never switch to any other browser. It's highly optimized for Apple devices, and these new features have only made it better. Whether it's creating separate profiles for work, making the most out of private browsing, or enjoying efficient tab management, Safari has it all. If you're still using Chrome or another browser, now is the perfect time to switch to Safari.