Safari Changes on iOS 26 Go Beyond the Address Bar

by

One of the key changes to Safari on iOS 26 is a redesigned Liquid Glass address bar, with three layouts available to choose from. Beyond that, the upcoming software update includes a few smaller changes for the web browser.

safari liquid glass

Web Apps For All Websites

Starting with iOS 26, every website added to the Home Screen via Safari opens as a web app, even if it is not configured to be. On earlier iOS versions, websites that were not configured to open as a web app would open in Safari, meaning that the Home Screen app icons for those websites were effectively just bookmarks.

iOS 26 Safari Web Apps
Users can turn off "Open as Web App" while adding a website to the Home Screen if they prefer the app icons to still function as simple bookmarks.

This change also applies to iPadOS 26.

HDR Images

Safari now supports HDR images, five years after the browser gained support for HDR video.

HDR images have wider dynamic range and increased color gamut, making bright areas of the image appear brighter and dark areas appear darker.

This change applies across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and visionOS 26.

SVG Icons

Safari now supports the SVG file format for icons anywhere that they are shown in the browser, including in the bookmark bar and on the start page.

SVG icons have smaller file sizes than PNG icons, and they offer infinite vector scaling, meaning they can be resized without any loss in image quality.

More

Even more changes coming to Safari across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and visionOS 26 were outlined in a WebKit blog post last week.

iOS 26 and the other software updates are currently in beta.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26
Tag: Safari
Related Forum: iOS 26

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
Read Full Article • 213 comments
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Read Full Article • 106 comments
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
Read Full Article • 201 comments
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
Read Full Article • 81 comments
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
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...
Read Full Article • 24 comments
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
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 ...
Read Full Article • 257 comments
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
Read Full Article
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
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...
Read Full Article • 69 comments

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
sniffies
4 hours ago at 07:35 am
Quick tip on how to open tab overview with a single gesture: swipe up on the address bar
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bencordes Avatar
bencordes
3 hours ago at 08:17 am
Why in the world was the "new tab" + icon moved to the top left corner?! What a stupid change. Everything about this Safari redesign makes the app more cumbersome and slow to use.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xenden Avatar
Xenden
4 hours ago at 07:40 am
Apple needs to change the new Gabe button to be on the bottom right when your in the all tab view. It is annoying having to reach to the upper left to open a new tab.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
klasma
3 hours ago at 09:15 am

The mention of SVG immediately made me think of this frustrated Apple user from yesterday.
Not a lot of "customer SAT" going on here
? ?


SVGs are being used for phishing. They can contain javascript that is executed upon displaying the SVG, can submit data to an external host, or can contain malware payload as an embedded zip file or similar (https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1027/017/).

Here is a screenshot of an SVG that displays a fake Excel spreadsheet with a built-in login form that sends the data to attacker:



Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
4 hours ago at 07:39 am

SVG Icons

Safari now supports the SVG file format for icons anywhere that they are shown in the browser, including in the bookmark bar and on the start page.

SVG icons have smaller file sizes than PNG icons, and they offer infinite vector scaling, meaning they can be resized without any loss in image quality.
The mention of SVG immediately made me think of this frustrated Apple user from yesterday.
Not a lot of "customer SAT" going on here
? ?



Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikebenton Avatar
mikebenton
3 hours ago at 08:46 am
Before anything else, I would appreciate a focus on the fundamentals. Many sites don't work properly using Safari, but work fine on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. To me, that seems like a Safari problem. Also, it would be nice if there was a solution to the page-loading issues. Many sites that have inline adverts bounce all over the place. When you navigate to their site you get 95% of the content right away. Then all this other content starts loading (usually adverts) and content starts shifting around. Often I end up click on the wrong thing because of this shifting. I'm not claiming to have a solution, but it would be nice if this problem was solved.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments