iOS 7: Three Tips to make Mobile Safari Work for You

One of the most radically changed apps in iOS 7 is Safari. Obviously it looks quite a bit different from its predecessor, and much of the functionality found in the previous version has been re-worked for the new look. For example, the way tabs are viewed in the app has been updated to accommodate an infinite number of pages along with a handy swipe gesture for closing them. Quite a few other features have been changed and the new way in which three of them work will be covered here.

Safari's New .com button

First, let’s address the the removal of the .com button. Since the original iPhone, Safari has sported a special .com button to tag onto the end of URLs. It was extremely useful. However, with iOS 7’s unified address and search bar, Apple opted to replace the button with a simple period. Thankfully for people who enjoyed the feature, all you have to do is tap and hold the period to bring up a selection of common URL suffixes from which to choose.

iCloud Tabs in Safari

iCloud Tabs have been moved as well, but to an arguably more convenient place. To see your list of iCloud tabs, simply tap the “tabs” button to view all open tabs and scroll down. There you’ll find all open windows and tabs from your other Macs and iDevices.

Safari's Magical, Vanishing Toolbar

Lastly, Apple has taken a page from Google’s book by hiding Safari’s controls once you start scrolling. It’s great for providing more space for the site you’re viewing, but how do you get the controls back once they’ve gone?

Many have noticed that scrolling back up tends to get them to show up again, but there’s an easier way: To view Safari’s controls once they’ve gone away, just tap the title at the top of the page. Alternatively, you can tap the region at the bottom of the screen in which the toolbar resides when it’s visible.

If you have any other iOS 7 Safari tips, feel free to share them in the comments!

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