New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…

Original story (published on September 21, 2021) follows:

Apple recently released iOS 15 for all eligible devices. While the latest from Apple surely brings a ton of new features, Safari on iPhone is something Apple has been experimenting with for quite a while now.

Ever since the release of iOS 15 Beta, Apple has redesigned the app and was fiddling around with the search bar placement.

With iOS 15 Beta, Apple moved the Safari search bar at the bottom of the screen. But many complained that the floating search/address bar was taking up too much space and rendering websites unusable.

safari-inline

The bottom search bar placement also hid a lot of useful buttons that were present when it was on the top of the screen. This meant users had to dig in deep if they want to make use of certain functionalities.

For example, the bottom address bar required users to tap and hold the address bar if they wanted to reload, share or copy something from the page.

Some functions such as bookmarks, share buttons, and refresh page were also hidden from the main screen, but Apple added them back in iOS Beta 3.

This is really unusual since Apple tends to stick to new design choices. It also tells us that the developers understood that the changes were making things hard for users.

Safari-inline

With the changes in iOS 15 Beta 6, Apple decided to give in and let users choose between the new and old look.

Safari users were happy to see Apple giving them the option to undo all the changes the new operating system brought.

Depending on your preferences, Apple lets users choose between the ‘Single Tab’ that works similar to how Safari is on iOS 14 while the ‘Tab Bar’ option adapts the newer bottom bar approach.

iOS-15-Safari-bottom-search-bar

Initially, the bottom bar seemed like a bad idea but is quite handy if you get used to it. A simple left or right can help you switch tabs quickly. It also makes sense if you have small hands or want to perform one-handed operations.

The new version of Safari also lets you quickly switch between the old and new look by simply tapping the ‘Aa’ button present on the side of any URL.

That brings us to the question, do you like the Safari bottom search bar introduced in iOS 15 or do you prefer it on the top of the page? We would love to hear your opinion on the matter, so make sure to share your thoughts in the poll below.

Update (September 28)

03:57 pm (IST): Well, the results are out and a majority of you, 55%, like this change while 32% of you prefer the old look. 13% couldn’t care less about this.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated iOS Section so be sure to follow them as well.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Anurag Chawake
1373 Posts

My fascination with technology and computers goes back to the days of Windows XP. Since then, I have been tinkering with OS, mobile phones, and other things. When I am not working on anything, you will find me enjoying video games on some Discord server.

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