Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Surveys and Polls
You're in Charge: What would you change about Safari?
Here comes another "You're in Charge" boys and girls. We've covered Mail and iChat so far, and this time around we want your thoughts on Safari. It's an excellent browser, and even more appealing if you have a .Mac account. While Firefox claims the extensibility crown, Safari is certainly no stranger to add-ons and plug-ins, as PimpMySafari.com can attest to.But even with the tools available, and Safari's graduation from the Acid2 test with 10.4.3, I'm sure you all still have wishes, dreams and requests for Safari's abilities, and we'd like to hear them. With the healthy community of plug-in developers out there, chances are someone with skillz might be listening too. So have at it, TUAW readers: you're in charge - what would you change about Safari?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Ted said 8:05AM on 11-16-2005
It would be nice if it properly supported the post editing components of both blogger.com and Wordpress.
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markus said 8:18AM on 11-16-2005
i hear you on this. i'd love if safary would even handle the basic BB Coda Tags in a right manner - like in todays board software. not to dream of the web based rich text editors
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XiozTzu said 8:33AM on 11-16-2005
* Make extensions easier to install, like Firefox
* Enhance SafariBlock to be on par with Adblock Plus functionality so I don't have to mess with manually blocking ads.
* Put a text search bar on the bottom of window, again like Firefox.
* Make Safari compatible with windows so I can use it at work.
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Klar said 8:36AM on 11-16-2005
I wish sometimes that I could drag tabs into a different order, or even to a different window for better organization.
I would also echo comments 1 and 2.
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arkowi said 8:36AM on 11-16-2005
1. start with firefox.
2. make firefox faster.
3. replace firefox icon with safari icon.
4. enjoy.
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Joe Clark said 8:45AM on 11-16-2005
Save my damned tabs.
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section8 said 8:48AM on 11-16-2005
Colorized source codes!
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Elroy Jetson said 8:52AM on 11-16-2005
1. XUL for Safari
2. reordering of tabs
3. site sharing with other Safari users (collaboration with overlay and interactive chat)
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Tony said 11:00AM on 11-16-2005
Let me drag tabs left and right (or between windows) to re-order them.
Include the ability to force a proxy server refresh, since I currently have to open ye olde Internet Explorer to be able to do that.
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Julien Collot said 5:30PM on 11-16-2005
Same user interface as iTunes 5/6
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Eric said 8:56AM on 11-16-2005
1. Mail-like metal feel, not brushed metal.
2. Save open tabs and content for next launch preference.
3. Allow different search engines, like Firefox.
4. Allow for better cookie removal/retention.
5. Make the first time you click on Bookmarks work instantly, not delayed, even if this means a slightly slower launch time.
6. Make "Private Browsing" passworded, so this can only be accessed by people who know the password. Private Browsing is not good for office environments and for families with kids.
7. Install with Quicktime, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player plugins already installed and ready to go. Having to do this yourself to see some video content is a drag.
8. Inform the user when updated Realplayer and Windows Media Player plugins are available and allow these to be installed automatically.
9. Have a preference to add a Bookmark to a folder in alphabetical order and not just to the end of the list for that folder.
10. Allow Tabs to be moved and even dropped onto other Safari windows.
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Lola said 8:58AM on 11-16-2005
No more colorized beach balls, especially when loading RSS feeds. And make it easier to manage RSS feeds.
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jomy said 8:57AM on 11-16-2005
Port it to Windows.
Millions of PC users have fallen in love with iTunes and ditched Windows Media. I'd give them the opportunity to ditch IE as well.
As long as 85% of the population uses IE on Windows, lazy web developers are going to develop sites that are incompatible with other platforms. This is a major road block to switching. Have you visited gap.com or oldnavy.com lately using Safari?
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ScottBruin said 9:00AM on 11-16-2005
- favicons in the bookmark bar (like Camino) would be nice
- other search sites available in the search bar
- built in Sogudi (http://www.kitzkikz.com/Sogudi)
- search as you type (i.e. like Firefox's)
- bookmarking that made more sense
- "add bookmark here" for each submenu in the Bookmars menu and in bookmarks bar
and most importantly...
- change right-click on back button to how it used to be (i.e. same as click and hold)
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Rory said 10:00AM on 11-16-2005
I would like to see built in alerts for when you close a window. I currently use the Taboo plugin to get them but it should really be a built in feature.
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Mike Lauder said 9:07AM on 11-16-2005
Stop Safari opening links from other applications in a new tab of the foremost window if it doesn't have the location bar displayed. It's really annoying when it opens new tabs in a small pop-up window that you're using for something else!
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Nuno Sousa said 11:34AM on 11-16-2005
GOD YES! I've been waiting for this one. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make the "Find..." feature better! Like Firefox! I hate having the dialog popup and block something that I am reading at that moment, or when I'm viewing a page full of text with a lot of colors, if you try to find a word you won't be able to see where it is!
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Shahin Shokoui said 9:29AM on 11-16-2005
Advanced cookies handling / draggable tabs / favicons
And right Ted:
“It would be nice if it properly supported the post editing components of both blogger.com and Wordpress.“
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LD said 9:36AM on 11-16-2005
I would make it based off the Mozilla project. More specifically I would make it Firefox, completely compatible with all Firefox's extensions. There are a million browsers out there, Safari offers me nothing, certainly not worth the extra effort Apple has put into it simply to call it their own.
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icerabbit said 9:38AM on 11-16-2005
1. Stability.
Every few days (or sooner or later) I have to crash Safari because it becomes unresponsive, and starts taking up to 100% or more cpu power when new tabs or windows are requested. It beachballs until all new tabs have been fully loaded. Force-quit. Restart Safari. Request same bookmarks. All is well.
It's like Safari collapses under its own weight, and just eats up more and more memory till it can't function any more. It's doing it as I type this with Safari taking 90+% CPU 313MB real memory and 645MB Virtual memory on a DP 2.5 G5 with 2.5 GB RAM.
2. Full screen maximization without having to drag the window open further or resorting to a javascript hack. Let the green plus circle maximize the window. I have the same opinion for all apps. The zoom thing switching between two states doesn't do it for me.
3. Rearranging tab order
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