It’s hard not to use Safari when you’re on a Mac. The browser is fast, lightweight, and doesn’t drain your battery too fast. With macOS Sonoma, Apple released Safari 17, which has a bunch of new features, including dedicated browsing profiles and the ability to turn websites into “apps.” Let’s take a look at all the new features worth checking out.
Keep work tabs away from your personal life
If you’re able to browse the internet freely on your work laptop, you should create separate profiles for work and personal stuff. You can set this up pretty easily and separate your bookmarks, browser extensions, history, cookies, and the Start Page. When you switch profiles, you’ll almost feel like you’re using a completely different device.
Better privacy while browsing
Safari 17 has improved its tracker blocking and browser fingerprinting protections. This makes it hard for shady advertising companies to learn more about your browsing habits. Safari also removes tracking URLs. All of this is enabled by default in private browsing mode, but you can enable it for all browsing windows too. Open Safari and click the Safari button in the top-left corner of the screen. Go to Settings > Privacy > Advanced Settings, and in the drop-down menu next to “Use advanced tracking and fingerprinting protection,” select in all browsing.
Private browsing is even more private
When you use private browsing mode in Safari, the browser will automatically lock your tabs when you stop viewing them. You’ll have to use Face ID, Touch ID, or your Mac’s password to unlock these tabs. This is a good way to keep your private windows hidden from others. You can even set up a different search engine in private browsing mode. Go to Safari Settings > Search and select a new search engine in the drop-down menu next to Private Browsing search engine.
Save your favorite websites to the Dock
If you visit certain websites regularly, Safari 17 allows you to convert these into “apps” that you can save to the Dock. We’ve got a detailed guide to help you set that up.
Automatically close Safari tabs on your Mac
Yes, you can finally tell Safari to automatically close all your open tabs. This feature has been available on your iPhone and iPad for a few years now, and it’s finally on the Mac. Check it out by going to Safari Settings > Tabs > Automatically Close Tabs.
The favorites bar now has favicons
This is a cosmetic adjustment more than anything else, but it’s going to make some people really happy. If you like a bit of eye candy in your browser, you’ll be happy to know that Safari 17 shows favicons in the favorites bar too. This will help you quickly identify the site you want to visit.
More control over what browser extensions can access
Safari allows you to set up privacy controls for your browser extensions. You can now choose to allow extensions on a per-site basis; for example, if you want to use a YouTube extension only on YouTube and one other site, you can do that now.
Use a desktop widget to track links saved for reading later
If you use Safari’s Reading List feature a lot, you can now add a desktop widget to track your saved articles. macOS Sonoma supports desktop widgets, and we’ve got a detailed tutorial on how to make the most of this feature. You get to choose from one of three different widget sizes. Depending on the space on your desktop and the number of articles in your Reading List, you can pick something that doesn’t disturb the aesthetics of your desktop.
