Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 24 With User Timing and Link Preload

Wednesday February 22, 2017 10:02 AM PST by Juli Clover
safaripreviewiconApple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.

Safari Technology Preview release 24 includes fixes and improvements for Web API, JavaScript, CSS, Web Inspector, Rendering, Accessibility, and more. Both User Timing and Link Preload are new experimental features in this version of Safari Technology Preview.

The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.

Tag: Safari Technology Preview
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Watabou
39 months ago

Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?


I do. It's order of magnitudes faster than Firefox/Chrome and more efficient as well. Firefox feels laggy and doesn't feel native to me despite running Electrolysis. Chrome just seems to slow down after I open a large number of tabs and I don't think it handles resources as well as Safari does. Also, I trust Apple more than Google to handle all my data. I also use iCloud Keychain so all my passwords are available on my iPhone, and the integration is really nice.

Safari "just works (tm)" for me. Simple as that really.
Rating: 27 Votes
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RockstarSR
39 months ago

Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?


I do. I'm a developer too. Except for lack of some plugins that Chrome has, Chrome does nothing better than Safari. I find Safari to be faster and more stable than Chrome.
Rating: 18 Votes
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keysofanxiety
39 months ago

Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?


Yes I do.

- Gesture support. Browsing is a buttery joy.
- iCloud Keychain. Big long passwords that I don't have to remember, effortlessly synced between my devices. New ones set up in a single click for new logins.
- Security.
- Privacy/tracking. Frankly I trust Apple more than I do Google.
- Resource usage. I haven't had any real resource issues with Safari. I have with Chrome. YMMV.

I only keep Chrome on my Mac if I need to access a website with Flash content.

Firefox on Windows, Safari on macOS/iOS.
Rating: 12 Votes
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nwcs
39 months ago

Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

I do. It's the default, works fine, works fast, and bookmarks are easily synced to my phone and windows boxes.
Rating: 10 Votes
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keysofanxiety
39 months ago

Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.


Well it's got a market with iOS too.

Safari on Windows was a good idea at the time, and very much a product of its time, but just look how Safari is now on the Mac. Brimming with gesture support and so many other things that means it sings on macOS.

With the driver hell that is Windows — a thousand different hardware components and millions of potential hardware configurations — it would be an enormous effort to try and make Safari vaguely comparable on Windows to how it looks and runs on macOS. And for what purpose? They'll make no money from it. They won't make an immediate dent against the browsers dominated by so many other companies.

iTunes on Windows is a necessity; everybody and their dog has an iPhone. A new browser on Windows is redundant, at best.
Rating: 6 Votes
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err404
39 months ago

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.

The reverse is also true; Chrome/Firefox have nothing special which will compel me to use them over Safari on macOS.
The killer feature for me is the shared keychain between my Mac and phone.
Rating: 6 Votes
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macintoshmac
39 months ago

Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.


Did you have this template ready to post for the inevitable moment a new version of Safari TP comes out? No one is forcing you to use Safari, why the hate?
Rating: 4 Votes
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ArmPol
39 months ago
I have tried Chrome several times but always go back to Safari, it does everything I need and just 'feels right'.
Rating: 3 Votes
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zhang96
39 months ago
Safari is exceptionally battery-friendly and beautiful.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Vashetti
39 months ago
Still 419 out of 555 on html5test.
Rating: 3 Votes
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