Safer surfing in Safari

Let Catalina’s browser show you the web at its best, safely

Version 13 of Apple’s Safari web browser feels largely familiar but has a few new tricks. As in macOS Mojave, new windows show, by default, your Favourites, displayed as large icons, plus your Frequently Visited sites – similar to Top Sites in earlier versions. A third section now adds Siri Suggestions, although this section remains unseen until Siri has something to suggest, based on your activities in other apps. ≈-click any empty part of the window to turn these three sections on or off. You can also still set Safari > Preferences > General > ‘New windows open with:’ to revert to the old Top Sites view or to make new windows show something else, and the content of new tabs can be set separately.

If you type a web address into the URL bar that’s already open in another tab or window, Safari will now offer to switch to it rather than open it again – a godsend for people who never close tabs and end up with a zillion of them.

New in macOS Catalina, iOS 13 and iPadOS is Sign in with Apple. Supported by some third-party platforms, this lets you register for services without divulging personal information or linking to existing accounts. You can even use an automatically generated random email address, which is invisibly forwarded to your iCloud email by Apple. This also works in compatible apps.

Password pro

Another feature for your protection is the new warning that appears when you create a new password on a website that Safari detects is weak, meaning it could easily be guessed by someone (or an automated system) trying to hack your account (or millions of accounts). It’ll suggest a stronger password, which, as usual, it can remember for you and sync to your other devices via your iCloud Keychain so that you don’t have to remember it. You can cancel this and stick with your ‘rubbish’ password if you prefer, though. Check on all your website passwords in Safari > Preferences > Passwords, which will ask you to log in with your Administrator password or Touch ID before listing your logins, with passwords asterisked until you click on them, and warning triangles for those that are considered weak or used for multiple services.

If you’re using Dark Mode (see below), Safari shows websites with a dark appearance if they’re designed to support it. So far, that doesn’t apply to the majority of sites. Otherwise, they’ll appear as normal, but if you prefer white-on-grey text you can user Reader mode (click the lines icon that appears at the left of the URL bar on compatible pages). While in Reader, you can click the

‘AA’ icon at the right of the URL bar to change the background colour – which you can set back to white if you prefer.