Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 70 With Bug Fixes and Feature Improvements

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced over two years ago 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 70 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for Web Animations, Intersection Observer, CSS, WebRTC, Rendering, Web Inspector, Storage, Media, Payment Request, and Security UI.

The new Safari Technology Preview update is available for both macOS High Sierra and macOS Mojave, the newest version of the Mac operating system that was released to the public in September.

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.

Top Rated Comments

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JesperA

14 weeks ago

Nope. Just tried it. It's still a YouTube problem not supporting the Mac/Safari platform.

Isn't it Apple:s fault for refusing to add full support for VP9?

Rating: 3 Votes

nutmac

14 weeks ago

This is WRONG. VP9 is not proprietary, it is open and royalty free (unlike HVEC). Apple should add the codec to their software.

Just because it is open source doesn't mean it's a standard. Alternatively, just because something costs licensing fee doesn't mean it's not a standard.

No major company outside Google is using VP9 for their contents.

Rating: 3 Votes

ThatGuyInLa

14 weeks ago

Nope. Just tried it. It's still a YouTube problem not supporting the Mac/Safari platform.

No, expecting YouTube to transcode millions of videos because Apple refuses to add a codec to Safari is absurd. Back to Chrome or Firefox....ugh.
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Isn't it Apple:s fault for refusing to add full support for VP9?

Yes.

Rating: 2 Votes

nutmac

14 weeks ago

No, expecting YouTube to transcode millions of videos because Apple refuses to add a codec to Safari is absurd. Back to Chrome or Firefox....ugh.

Technically, it's Google's fault. They developed a proprietary codec that is used only by Google, whereas just about every major modern streaming services and media formats use ITU-T (telecommunication) or SMPTE (movies and TV) standards.

But YouTube is one of the biggest streaming services out there (if not the biggest). So in the end, it's the users that suffer and Apple is in the best position to just suck it up and add VP9 codec to both macOS and iOS.

Rating: 2 Votes

PickUrPoison

14 weeks ago

At this point, I doubt Apple will support VP9. Apropos the xkcd comic in the previous post, there’s a new standard coming up, the Alliance for Open Media’s (AOMedia) open, royalty-free AV1 codec. It’s meant to replace VP9 and HEVC; YouTube started testing it a couple months ago.

Founding members of the consortium include Amazon, Apple, ARM, Cisco, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix and NVIDIA.

https://aomedia.org/

Rating: 1 Votes

xflashx

14 weeks ago

I just wished they would allow us again to install external extensions not downloaded from the MAS... :(

Rating: 1 Votes

daveak

14 weeks ago

Had this problem with 68, seemed a bit better with 69, but 70 isn't popping up in my software update just yet.

Normal Safari has the same problem.

Rating: 1 Votes

kurisub

14 weeks ago

Hope this fixes the disappearing playback controls and cut-off video on Youtube I've been having with the last version.

Rating: 1 Votes

nutmac

14 weeks ago

Google is a major company and ever major browser other than Safari supports VP9 acceleration. And please let me know where I mentioned it is "standard". It is definitely "a standard" that most browsers other than Safari enable.

Can you name a streaming service or media format, not owned by Google, that uses VP-9?

For that matter, can you name a standard that is used (not implemented) by only 1 company?

Lightning connector is a good example. It is used only by Apple devices. But products are made by many companies to satisfy the needs of Apple devices. That does not change the fact that it is a proprietary connector.

Also by your logic, if I make an open source audio format, that does not make it a standard.

I already established that because YouTube is so popular, Apple should just suck it up and add it to Safari for iOS and macOS. But I think you do not understand how standard is made. Standardization is done to increase compatibility, interoperability, quality, etc. between multiple firms and users. Since only YouTube (of Google) is using it, it is not a standard.