macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15.1 Release Candidates Limit Safari Color Tab Bar Option to Compact View

With the macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15 release candidates that were seeded to developers today, Apple has eliminated the option to use the Color Tab Bar with the separate tab design in Safari.

macbook pro tab bar blending safari 15

A tab bar with color in Safari 15

If you want to have a color tab bar that blends in with the background color of a website, you need to toggle on the Compact Tab Bar, which is the tab bar design that Apple introduced with macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15 updates. "Show Color in Compact Tab Bar" is an option that can be enabled in both iPadOS 15.1 and macOS Monterey.

On the iPad, the option is available in the Safari section of the Settings app. Scroll down to the bottom to find it and toggle it on, and then the color tab interface will show up when the ‌iPad‌ is using the Compact Tab Bar.

On the Mac, the Show Color in Compact Tab Bar option can be toggled on in the Safari preferences under Advanced and then Accessibility.

Apple today updated macOS Monterey to change the tabs back to the original tab design, essentially undoing many of the design changes that were introduced in Safari with the initial release of the Monterey beta. As of now, the standard Big Sur design is the default, and the Compact Tab Bar is an optional change that can be toggled on.

It is not surprising that Apple has made this change as the color tab bar interface was designed for the new look in Monterey and not the older Big Sur design that Apple has now reverted to.

Tag: Safari
Related Forum: macOS Monterey

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Top Rated Comments

DHagan4755 Avatar
49 months ago
Apple is listening. Thank god.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
calstanford Avatar
49 months ago
Honestly, Apple software development teams are run by clueless people. It's sad to see.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ErikGrim Avatar
49 months ago

Honestly, Apple software development teams are run by clueless people. It's sad to see.
They really thought they had an improved design with the compact view. And it does make sense to free up real estate on smaller screens. It was when they tried to unspool it and backtrack into a traditional tab design it fell apart – especially since they lost faith in the compact design as the default. This is the best of both worlds - a functional design as default with the compact design for people who prefer it (and there's quite a few).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nicole1980 Avatar
49 months ago
This whole safari thing feels like APPLE is so damned determined to ”innovate” that they’re making changes in the long shot hopes it will be viewed as another groundbreaking change ... when in fact, it’s just a stupid change for changes sake.
Please Apple, innovations will come, and you’ll recognize them when you see them. But for gods sake quit trying to FORCE IT and just do dumb ****.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
randomthoughts Avatar
49 months ago
Finally discovered who’s been leading the Safari UX team…



Attachment Image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kiensoy Avatar
49 months ago
It’s been fun to follow all this Safari fiasco.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)