Let’s be honest: Safari is likely the most-used app on your iPhone. Whether you are settling a dinner table debate, looking up a recipe, or doing some late-night online shopping, that blue compass icon is your gateway to the world. But despite using it dozens of times a day, most of us barely scratch the surface of what Safari can actually do.
Apple has packed its browser with powerful features designed to make your life easier, yet many of them are tucked away behind long presses, swipes, and hidden menus. If you are still tapping the back button repeatedly or scrolling endlessly to find a specific tab, you are working harder than you need to.
Ready to transform your browsing experience from basic to power-user status? Here are the hidden Safari tips that will change the way you surf the web on your iPhone.
1. Tame the Chaos with Tab Groups
If you are the type of person who currently has 47 tabs open—ranging from a news article you meant to read last week to a pair of shoes you might buy—this feature is your new best friend. Introduced in recent iOS updates, Tab Groups allow you to organize your browsing habits into neat, separate compartments.
Imagine you are planning a vacation. Instead of having flight options mixed in with your work research and social media tabs, you can create a dedicated "Italy Trip" group. Here is how to do it:
- Open Safari and tap the Tabs icon (the two overlapping squares in the bottom right corner).
- Tap the middle button at the bottom of the screen (it usually says "Start Page" or "X Tabs").
- Select New Empty Tab Group to start fresh, or New Tab Group from X Tabs to corral everything you currently have open.
- Name your group (e.g., "Recipes," "Gift Ideas," "Work").
Now, you can switch between your "Work" brain and your "Vacation" brain with just a couple of taps. The best part? These groups sync across your iPad and Mac, so your research is waiting for you wherever you go.
Pro Tip: Do you have a habit of never closing tabs? Let Safari be your cleaner. Go to Settings > Safari > Close Tabs and change it from "Manually" to "After One Month." Safari will quietly tidy up your digital clutter in the background.
2. Master the "Bottom Bar" Swipe
When Apple moved the address bar to the bottom of the screen a few years ago, it was controversial. However, once you get used to it, it is actually a massive ergonomic win—especially if you have a larger "Max" or "Plus" iPhone. The best feature of this design is the ability to switch tabs with a simple gesture.
Stop tapping the "Tabs" button just to switch back to the previous page. Instead, try this:
- Place your thumb on the address bar at the bottom of the screen.
- Swipe left or right directly on the bar.
- You will instantly glide between your open tabs.
It feels incredibly fluid and makes comparing two websites—like checking prices on Amazon versus a competitor—lightning fast. If you absolutely hate the bottom bar, you can move it back to the top by tapping the "aA" icon in the search bar and selecting "Show Top Address Bar," but give the swipe gesture a week before you revert. It is a game-changer for one-handed use.
3. Banish Distractions with Reader View
We have all been there: you click on an interesting article or a recipe, and suddenly your screen is bombarded with pop-up videos, newsletter sign-ups, and ads that dance around the text. It makes reading on a mobile screen a nightmare.
Enter Reader View. This feature strips away all the junk code, leaving you with just the text and relevant images in a clean, easy-to-read format. It is particularly amazing for cooking blogs where you just want the ingredients list without scrolling through the author's entire life story.
To activate it:
- When you are on a cluttered page, look at the address bar.
- Tap the "aA" icon on the left side.
- Select Show Reader.
Once you are in Reader View, you can tap the "aA" icon again to customize your experience. You can change the font, increase the text size, or even change the background color to black (perfect for reading in bed without waking your partner).
Did you know? You can set specific websites to always open in Reader View. Tap the "aA" icon, select Website Settings, and toggle on "Use Reader Automatically." Now your favorite news site will always look clean and crisp.
4. Search Within a Page (The "Control+F" Trick)
On a desktop computer, hitting "Control+F" (or Command+F) to find a specific word on a webpage is second nature. On an iPhone, however, many users doom-scroll endlessly trying to find a specific paragraph. There is actually a built-in search function, but it is somewhat hidden.
There are two ways to find text on a page in Mobile Safari:
- Method 1: Tap the address bar as if you were going to type a new URL. Type the word you are looking for. Instead of hitting "Go," look at the bottom of the suggestions list under the header On This Page. Tap that, and Safari will highlight the word on the current screen.
- Method 2: Tap the Share icon (the square with the arrow pointing up) at the bottom of the screen. Scroll down and select Find on Page. A search bar will appear just above the keyboard.
This is incredibly useful for navigating long terms of service agreements, finding a specific date in a Wikipedia article, or locating a return policy on a retail site.
5. The Power of the Long Press
If you take nothing else away from this guide, remember this: When in doubt, long press. Apple has hidden shortcut menus all over Safari that are accessed by holding your finger down on an icon or link for a second longer than a tap.
Here are three "Long Press" shortcuts that save serious time:
- The Back Button: If you have gone down a rabbit hole and clicked through ten different pages, you don’t have to tap "Back" ten times. Long press the Back arrow in the bottom left. A history list will pop up, letting you jump straight back to the first page you started on.
- The Tabs Icon: Long press the Tabs icon (bottom right) to instantly see options like "Close All Tabs," "Close This Tab," or "New Private Tab." It is much faster than entering the tab overview screen.
- The Bookmarks Icon: Long press the Open Book icon to quickly add the current page to your Reading List or Bookmarks without navigating the share menu.
By integrating these tips into your daily scrolling, you will find that Safari becomes less of a passive window to the web and more of a powerful productivity tool. Give them a try on your next commute or coffee break!