iOS 5: Tabbed Browsing And Safari Updates

Tabbed browsing isn’t new. In fact there are browser apps already available for iOS that features tabbed browsing, but either way we are happy that Apple has decided to sit up and take notice of what users want in their browsers and finally implemented tabbed browsing in their native iOS browser app, Safari.

Tabbed browsing in Safari finally makes it easier to swap between web pages which beat their previously rather clumsy system where we had to zoom out of the browser window we were in and scroll to the one that we wanted. Not exactly the most elegant or convenient of solutions which is why tabbed browsing is such a breath of fresh air. Pages are also cached so that when you swap between tabs the pages remain as you had left them before.

Other Safari browser updates include a “Reader” feature that allows you to lose all the junk, i.e. the photos, videos, etc and just focus on the text, especially if that’s what you wanted to read. It’s not exactly new especially for Mac users as this feature was already brought onto the desktop version of Safari but for iOS users this could be a decent way to speed up loading times and also help conserve bandwidth.

iPad users can also rejoice because while viewing a webpage in landscape mode, sliding the keyboard upwards splits it into half, ideal for thumb typing especially for those who found the regular typing to be a somewhat cramped experience. Text macros also aids in helping you autocomplete URL’s to helps to search for URL’s that contain those words. Once again, these features are nothing revolutionary but they do bring about new conveniences to iOS devices.