Safari Gains Favicon Support in Tabs on iOS 12 and macOS Mojave

Apple at its WWDC keynote on Monday previewed iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, both of which feature Safari 12.

safari favicons
The latest version of Apple's web browser adds long-awaited support for favicons, which are the tiny icons that appear to the left of website page titles, in tabs and the bookmark bar. In many cases, a favicon is a website's or brand's logo.

Microsoft was first to support favicons with Internet Explorer in 1999, and Chrome and Firefox have displayed favicons for many years as well, so this was a long time coming for Safari. Apple confirmed the feature on the What's New in Safari page of its website, alongside a handful of other improvements.

Favicons may seem like a trivial new feature in Safari 12, but as John Gruber noted last year, many people used Chrome or other alternatives explicitly because Apple's web browser lacked support for the tiny icons.

I really can't say this strongly enough: I think Safari's lack of favicons in tabs, combined with its corresponding crumminess when displaying a dozen or more tabs in a window, is the single biggest reason why so many Mac users use Chrome.

Favicons are useful because they make tabs more visually distinguishable, especially for users with several tabs open at once. And, in bookmark bars, it is possible to simply display favicons instead of having lengthier website names, allowing for many more bookmarks to fit within the viewable area.

Favicons are not displayed by default, so the feature must be enabled in the browser's preferences on Mac or via the Settings app on iOS devices.

Mac:

  • Open Safari.

  • Click on Safari > Preferences in the Menu bar.

  • Click on Tabs.

  • Check the box beside "show website icons in tabs."

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch:

  • Open the Settings app.

  • Tap on Safari.

  • Toggle on Show Icons in Tabs.

Safari 12 is preinstalled on iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, available now in beta for registered Apple developers. It will also be available to download on the latest versions of macOS High Sierra and macOS Sierra in the fall.

Tag: Safari
Related Forums: macOS Mojave, iOS 12

Top Rated Comments

decksnap Avatar
63 months ago
This is oddly written. Safari always supported favicons in various ways. They just don’t use them on tabs.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coolfactor Avatar
63 months ago
I believe they supported it up until El Capitan or so. It's not like Safari never had support for favicons. It did, they removed it, and now it's back.
Favicons have always been supported, as others have mentioned already. The Safari team had just changed the browser to only display them in certain contexts. I think they were aiming for a clean, clutter-free appearance of Safari, something that is opposite to the direction other browsers were going in.

They were really trying to avoid Safari becoming a headache this, but clearly they went too far, and displaying the favicon is useful after all.



Attachment Image
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
flyinmac Avatar
63 months ago
Wow.... they introduced a feature everyone else had a decade ago.

A feature so common that I never even actively think about it.

Glad Apple figured out how to do this. Always late to the party. But given enough time, Apple will get around to figuring out how to get where everybody else has been.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
trusso Avatar
63 months ago
Glad it's optional. I don't need my tab-bar looking like Halloween.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProwlingTiger Avatar
63 months ago
Wow.... they introduced a feature everyone else had a decade ago.

A feature so common that I never even actively think about it.

Glad Apple figured out how to do this. Always late to the party. But given enough time, Apple will get around to figuring out how to get where everybody else has been.
I believe they supported it up until El Capitan or so. It's not like Safari never had support for favicons. It did, they removed it, and now it's back.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Codify Avatar
63 months ago
Finally!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Low-Energy Chip to Allow Solid-State Buttons to Work When Device is Off or Out of Battery

Wednesday March 29, 2023 1:54 am PDT by
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will use a new ultra-low energy microprocessor allowing certain features like the new capacitive solid-state buttons to remain functional even when the handset is powered off or the battery has run out, according to a source that shared details on the MacRumors forums. CAD-based render of new solid-state buttons on iPhone 15 Pro models The source of this rumor is ...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2023 Event Taking Place June 5 to 9

Wednesday March 29, 2023 9:58 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 34th annual Worldwide Developers Conference will take place from Monday, June 5 to Friday, June 9. Like WWDC 2020, 2021, and 2022, WWDC 2023 will be an online event for the most part, and it will be open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple will provide online sessions and labs, which will allow...
iPhone 15 Pro Multi Purpose button Mute Switch Feature Green 2

iPhone 15 Pro Rumored to Feature Multi-Use Action Button Instead of Mute Switch

Wednesday March 29, 2023 7:28 am PDT by
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are rumored to feature a customizable Action button like the Apple Watch Ultra, according to a MacRumors forum member who leaked accurate details about the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models last year. The source claimed the Action button will replace the Ring/Silent switch that has been included on every iPhone model since 2007. They did not...
iOS 16

Apple Releases iOS 16.4 With New Emoji, Safari Web Push Notifications, Beta Changes, Voice Isolation for Calls and More

Monday March 27, 2023 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 16.4, the fourth major update to the iOS 16 operating system that initially came out last September. iOS 16.4 comes two months after the launch of iOS 16.3, an update that added Security Keys for Apple ID. iOS 16‌.4 and iPadOS 16.4 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It can take a few minutes...
Apple Music Classical

Apple Explains Why It Launched an iPhone App Dedicated to Classical Music

Monday March 27, 2023 8:54 pm PDT by
Apple today published a support document explaining why it decided to release a standalone Apple Music Classical app for classical music. In short, Apple says the app was designed to support classical music's complex metadata:Classical music is different. It has longer and more detailed titles, multiple artists for each work, and hundreds of recordings of well-known pieces. The Apple Music...
iOS 16

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5

Tuesday March 28, 2023 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a day after the launch of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4. Registered developers can opt in to the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to Software Update, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option and toggling on the iOS 16 Developer Beta. Note that an...
home upgrade available feature

PSA: Apple Has Made Its New Home Architecture Update Available Again

Tuesday March 28, 2023 1:50 am PDT by
Apple has made the option to upgrade to new Home architecture available again with the release of iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3, after it temporarily pulled the update in December. After updating Apple devices to the latest software, users can once again opt to upgrade any homes set up in the Home app to the new Home architecture, which Apple says brings faster, more reliable ...