iOS 13 Can Auto-Close Safari Tabs for You Based on When You Last Viewed Them

In iOS 13, Apple has added new functionality in Safari that should enable iPhone and iPad users to better manage their open tabs.

Because of the way Safari for iOS displays tabs in a vertical array, the amount of open tabs in the browser can often get out of hand, and sometimes number in the tens or even hundreds.

D8ovBA8UEAAPwiX


However in iOS 13, Safari will offer to automatically close tabs that have not been viewed recently after one day, one week, or one month. The new Safari function can be changed later in the Settings app.


Apple unveiled iOS 13 last week at WWDC. The newest version of the operating system for ‌iPhone‌ (and the ‌iPad‌, though the ‌iPad‌ version has been renamed to iPadOS) introduces a long list of new features and some changes that are quite exciting. Be sure to check out the video above for more.

(Thanks, Chris!)

Related Forum: iOS 13

Top Rated Comments

madsci954 Avatar
64 months ago
I’m I the only one who opens at most 2, rarely 3, tabs in a browser, then closes them when I’m done?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
64 months ago
I went to use my wife’s xr and she had 300+ tabs open. I looked at her like ??? She said, what’s wrong with that?

So when iOS 13 comes around I’m setting this option on her phone.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dz5b609 Avatar
64 months ago
I’m I the only one who opens at most 2, rarely 3, tabs in a browser, then closes them when I’m done?
I think a lot of people (including myself) are using tabs as reminders for stuff.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spartan Weaver Avatar
64 months ago
Woo hoo I'm popular! :P thanks Macrumors.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Grey Area Avatar
64 months ago
I went to use my wife’s xr and she had 300+ tabs open. I looked at her like ??? She said, what’s wrong with that?
I just counted (and closed) the tabs on my SE: there were 506 of them. :) And yes, what is the problem with that? I do not think they are doing much in the background, they sure aren’t updating themselves.

To be honest, I have never really thought of them as tabs, given that they neither look nor behave like desktop browser tabs. Rather, to me they were something like a browser history.

I’m not even sure why there would be so many open ones otherwise, it is not like I create them by explicitly opening links in a new tab.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
64 months ago
I’m I the only one who opens at most 2, rarely 3, tabs in a browser, then closes them when I’m done?
Every few weeks I have to hold it down and click on the "Close 500 tabs" button. That is the limit. I am a tab whore.
[doublepost=1560184983][/doublepost]

How could one find a previously open tab within 300? Safari became a digital garbage can. lol.
If you tap to go to the top of your tabs, and then pull down, there is a search bar.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...