WWDC is upon us and I always hold out hope that Apple is going to release a kick ass Safari update. Something that takes Apple’s awesome design and functionally skills and makes a better browser.
Now Safari 6 isn’t horrible, it’s actually a pretty darn good browser. However, there are a few things that make it hard to use.
Reopen Closed Tab Shortcut
Every other browser makes it easy to re-open a closed tab by hitting Shift + Command + T. Safari however decided that it should just be Command + Z; undo. That makes sense in some scenarios, but tab history should not be tied into the clipboards history. Functionally, that just doesn’t work.
Private Browsing
I’m not a fan of how Safari does private browsing at all. Instead of opening a new private window or tab, it takes over the entire browser. Suddenly all the site’s you’re currently in become private, log you out, and it’s all a bit confusing. I’ve got to say, Chrome has this down.
Bookmark Bar Icons
Why can’t I put icons in my bookmarks bar? Please let me do this.
Web Developer Tools
When the web developer tools were redesigned in Safari 6, it just confused developers. I still feel confused when I open them even though I’ve been forcing myself to learn them. Chrome and Firefox have a much better UX for the web developer tools in my opinion.
Extensions
The number of Safari extensions being created pales in comparison to Firefox and Chrome. Apple really needs to promote extensions, make them easy to find, and allow developers to make Safari do so much more.
I do love Safari, and I want it set it as my default browser, but I just can’t. I try and try but fail every time.
I really hope Apple comes out with a kick ass Safari 7, but a part of me thinks’ that’s just not going to happen. I think they like the simplicity and the control. The less is more approach usually works, but in the world of browsers, Safari isn’t gaining much ground.