Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 24 includes fixes and improvements for Web API, JavaScript, CSS, Web Inspector, Rendering, Accessibility, and more. Both User Timing and Link Preload are new experimental features in this version of Safari Technology Preview.
The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Top Rated Comments
Safari "just works (tm)" for me. Simple as that really.
- Gesture support. Browsing is a buttery joy.
- iCloud Keychain. Big long passwords that I don't have to remember, effortlessly synced between my devices. New ones set up in a single click for new logins.
- Security.
- Privacy/tracking. Frankly I trust Apple more than I do Google.
- Resource usage. I haven't had any real resource issues with Safari. I have with Chrome. YMMV.
I only keep Chrome on my Mac if I need to access a website with Flash content.
Firefox on Windows, Safari on macOS/iOS.
The killer feature for me is the shared keychain between my Mac and phone.
Safari on Windows was a good idea at the time, and very much a product of its time, but just look how Safari is now on the Mac. Brimming with gesture support and so many other things that means it sings on macOS.
With the driver hell that is Windows — a thousand different hardware components and millions of potential hardware configurations — it would be an enormous effort to try and make Safari vaguely comparable on Windows to how it looks and runs on macOS. And for what purpose? They'll make no money from it. They won't make an immediate dent against the browsers dominated by so many other companies.
iTunes on Windows is a necessity; everybody and their dog has an iPhone. A new browser on Windows is redundant, at best.