Safari, for all its quirks, still dominates the web browsers on Apple products, but it's also the laziest browser in terms of innovation compared to what competitors offer on Android.
With iOS 18, Apple is taking full advantage of AI, and the ripple effects of that approach are reflected in the latest builds of iOS and iPadOS. A lot of attention has also been paid to improving the web browser experience.
But there are a few features that really stand out, and they greatly improve one of Safari's fundamental utilities: presenting on-screen information in a less-stressful way.
Finally, a valuable reader
When Apple announced Reader Mode across all platforms in Safari, I dismissed it as just a minor update, but the execution really stood out to me, especially the tasteful background colors and how clean everything looks right from the get-go.
As soon as you visit a compatible website, you'll see a “Reader mode available” message in the URL bar, and in case you missed it, the icon on the left edge of the pill-shaped bar will change to resemble a note held vertically.
Tapping on it will open a small window with two prominent buttons: Show Reader and Listen to Page, both of which are exactly what they sound like. When you enable Reader Mode on a webpage, it will no longer pick a random background color; instead, it will play along with your phone's default light/dark mode settings. That means that if you have Light Mode enabled, Reader Mode will choose a black background theme.
In case you're wondering, there are four colors to choose from: white, black, gray, and beige. The dark version looks the best, but for reading, the beige color scheme is the best, as it has a vintage newspaper feel. It's funny that Reader Mode doesn't work on Apple's website. Ironic, right? Jokes aside, you can adjust the size and font without getting lost in a maze of hidden settings.
Apple has created a neat scrolling font list in the same popup window as the core reading controls, alongside page magnification adjustments. Another subtle perk is that Reader Mode can be set to launch automatically on any website.
For example, if you're currently reading this article on Digital Trends, tap on the three-dot ellipsis icon in the Reader Mode window, and when the window expands, enable the toggle that says “Automatically use Reader.”
Of course, since it's the season for AI, some of Apple Intelligence is coming to Safari's Reader mode, which only makes sense if it serves a purpose and isn't just a gimmick, as we saw recently with Google's Pixel Studio app.
You might also have noticed that just below the headings on web pages, there's a pink icon with the word “Summary” in bold. This is exactly what it does: when you tap it, you'll see colorful waves pass over the text for a few seconds, and then the summary will appear at the top of the page.
But where this summary falls flat is that it's not always accurate. Sometimes it leaves out the most important elements of a story, but otherwise it does a pretty good job of boiling down a long story into a concise version. This isn't surprising, since the summary feature in the Mail app makes similar mistakes. As the saying goes, for an AI, this is just business as usual.
On the Android side, things are a bit more complicated: Chrome for mobile doesn't have a native Reader mode. You have to download Google's dedicated app from the Play Store, go back to Chrome, tap the floating shortcut, and enable Reader mode on any web page. Apple has done a better job here, and it shows.
Click, and you're done.
In 2019, Google added the Infinity Gauntlet to its search results. Clicking on the apocalyptic hand caused half of the search results to disappear and disintegrate into atoms, in an animation similar to the one that caused the Avengers to vanish when the Mad Titan snapped his fingers.
Apple added a similar feature to Safari in iOS 18. But rather than subversively restoring balance to the universe, it cleanses web pages of visual distractions — think intrusive ads, scrolling widgets, popup videos, and other unwanted items.
Clear anything. Headlines, images, embeds, popups, unwanted social icons, anything. Go ahead and erase the entire text and stare at the blank space on the bright OLED screen. Tap the Reader Mode icon in the URL bar,[気を散らす項目を非表示にする]Just select
Now scroll through the web page until you find the distracting element, select it, and it'll disappear like sand in a desert storm. It's a pain, but a beautiful thing to behold compared to the convenience of a clean Reader Mode display.
But I see this more as a fail-safe measure for web pages where Reader Mode can't be enabled (such as Apple's own webpage explaining the new features in iOS 18). Seriously, I'm not sure how happy advertisers are with this feature, but it certainly impacts the click-driven rules for studying (i.e. rewarding) the impact of ads.
Other useful information
There are a few other new features that have gotten less attention, but are here nonetheless. The highlights are the handy addition of a more prominent flash of important information on a webpage. Apple has also made its native browsing tools context-aware. The Reader Mode control and voice reader features only appear on webpages where it makes sense; they won't appear on banking websites, for example.
For example, say you visit a website with content in a language that's not your native language. Instead of hunting through menus for a translation button, in iOS 18 you can simply tap once on the left edge of the URL bar and a quick popup will reveal the translation button. Apple has also taken tools that were previously hidden behind several layers and made them prominently visible as scrolling lists in the main Safari toolbar. This includes core tab controls, page actions, and link behavior.
In addition, you can adjust its position to your liking depending on how often you use it. Finally, Apple's browser now supports web app extensions and content blockers. There are many other technical changes happening behind the scenes, which you can learn more about on Apple's website.
Overall, Safari in iOS 18 (and iPadOS 18) isn't revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, but the new features here are well executed, and I'd rather embrace that than an ambitious but buggy mess.
But best of all, this is a feature set that's actually useful. It's not a set of fancy AI tricks that require loads of expensive computing power. It's all in apps that you access regularly for meaningful tasks. And I love that.