With iOS 18.4, Apple made a small tweak to Safari that could be polarizing because it puts your search history front and center. When you open up a new Safari tab and then tap into the search field, Safari shows your recent search history.
In iOS 18.3.1, opening up a new tab and then tapping into search does not show your history, and the view remains on the personalized Safari home page. iOS 18.3.1 has no clear view of prior searches at all, except that a recent search will show up in your suggested results if you search for the same thing again.
As noted by 9to5Mac, having Safari search so visible may not always be desirable if you're ever in a situation where you hand your iPhone or iPad over to someone else to let them use Safari or another app.
Of course, if you don't ever let anyone use your devices, having recent search available at a tap has the potential to be useful if you're often using the same search terms multiple times. Apple also offers a Private browsing mode where searches are not saved.
There is no setting in iOS 18.4 to disable the recent search view, but Apple may opt to tweak the feature before the beta sees a public launch. Users can also opt to clear their search history at any time with the "Clear All" option.
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why.
In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup.
If you skipped the iPhone...
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro.
The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence.
The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
Wednesday June 11, 2025 7:14 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple at WWDC previewed a bunch of new features coming in its updated operating systems, but certain changes will have been met with dismay by third-party developers who already offer apps with equivalent or similar features. In other words, their product has been "sherlocked" by Apple.
When Apple creates an app or a feature that has functionality found in a third-party app, it is referred...
Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by Juli Clover
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look.
Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles.
iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
A good change. As sometimes you just want to tweak a recent search and have to annoyingly retype it all.
I mean, typing the first character or two should do the trick for that. The privacy advantage of the current approach is that it doesn't disclose which suggestions are previous searches and which are search engine suggestions.
