Latest iOS 18.4 Beta Lets You Turn Off Privacy-Compromising Search Feature

iOS 18.4 includes a new Safari feature that puts your searches front and center, showing your recent search history whenever you open up a new Safari tab and tap into the search field.

ios 18 4 safari search
When the feature first came out in the iOS 18.4 beta, there was no option to disable it, but Apple rectified that with the fourth beta update. In the Safari section of the Settings app, there is now a "Show Recent Searches" option that can be toggled off.

Disabling Show Recent Searches returns the Safari search interface to its iOS 18.3.2 behavior, where recent searches are not shown when tapping into the search window of a new tab.

Apple appears to have added the option to toggle off the search feature after receiving feedback during the iOS 18.4 beta testing period.

While some users may like the option to have recent searches readily available when opening up a new Safari tab, having searches so visible may not be desirable for those who sometimes need to hand over their iPhones and iPads to someone else.

iOS 18.4 is still being beta tested, with Apple aiming for an early April launch date. The update also includes new emoji characters, Apple Intelligence Priority Notifications, Visual Intelligence for the iPhone 15 Pro, a Vision Pro app, and more. All of the features in the update are listed in our iOS 18.4 beta guide.

Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18
Tag: Safari
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

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Top Rated Comments

Devnul0 Avatar
16 weeks ago
Even better … how about leaving what I had on the screen, on the screen so I can refer to it as I'm typing my search query? I can't do that today because it brings up the start page when I start typing.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coolaaron88 Avatar
16 weeks ago
Its nice to have options
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
QCassidy352 Avatar
16 weeks ago

Are you searching for furry content? Who cares?

And if you're handing your phone to a stranger or someone else, forget it. You've given them the unlocked keys to the kingdom already.
There are plenty of innocent reasons you might not want a search history to pop up. Searching for gift/surprise ideas for family members is the one that comes most readily and obviously to mind (family members also likely being the ones to whom you’d hand your phone). Or something about a topic you don’t want to pop up for minor children—and no I don’t mean adult content but maybe just something innocuous that’s not for all ages (current world events or politics, for example, are not things I need popping up for my kid, who can read but not understand such headlines).

In any case… even if it were just to protect searchers of furry content, why NOT have the option? Aren’t options good?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Anonymous123 Avatar
16 weeks ago
It’d also be nice to have this option in other apps where search history is saved, such as Mail, Music, #images search within Messages, etc.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jbc25 Avatar
16 weeks ago
I'm glad they're releasing a new version that can do this, but there's honestly no good reason why the option to turn it off shouldn't have been there from the beginning. Better late than never, but this reflects a growing trend of bizarre design/feature decisions at Apple lately.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Astuces iOS Avatar
16 weeks ago
No reason to turn this off... I like this lol
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)