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The new tab/address bar thing could be the reason I switch back away from Safari after using it as my main browser for a few years due to its energy efficiency

The new tab/address bar thing could be the reason I switch back away from Safari after using it as my main browser for a few years due to its energy efficiency compared to Firefox and Chrome. What UI designer thought taking away more space for the tab bar was a good idea? Does that person even use a web browser?

oneplane 5y ago
Do you honestly think this is a one-person job? While you might question the outcome of product development, assuming that a multi-billion R&D budget accounts for 1 designer is just unhelpful. Even just the WebKit commits with Apple engineering contacts is enough to build a whole company around...
- geerlingguy 5y ago
  One person had the initial idea; the hive mind doesn't make radical changes like this on its own. A lot of times, you can end up with amazing new ideas that way, but sometimes a change based on ego / "that person is just so brilliant" is just bad. The tab bar thing is going to be Touch Bar 2.0, I think. The question is, how long is Apple going to push it? I was hopeful the Touch Bar would die with M1 Macs...
  - oneplane 5y ago
    I'm sure there is one (administratively) responsible person in the end, but I haven't every had a large-scale design lean on just 1 person or have very low-quantity lynchpins. I doubt Apple's inner workings are simplistic in such a way that one person with some sort of clout pushed this with no further thought. At the end of the day this is just speculation but purely negative speculation is just some form of populism/FUD and makes everything worse.
- TwoBit 5y ago
  I'm not arguing this change as good or bad, but the pattern of one or two key people deciding something and others getting on board to implement it is common.
Tempest1981 5y ago
They're optimizing for a user with a 13" display, who never opens more than 5 tabs, and rarely switches pages.
- mark_l_watson 5y ago
  They are. They are optimizing for end users not developers. This UI change must be driving people who keep many tabs open nuts (I am not one of these people, I like a tidy environment with only a few tabs open that support my current activity). Maybe Apple has decided to nudge users in the direction of Marie Kondo; if a tab does not spark joy get rid of it. For me, whenever I switch tasks or activities, I usually quit out of safari and restart it. I like to concentrate on a single activity and not flit around trying to do many things at once. Maybe Apple is trying to healthier use of devices, as in providing Screen Time usage reports.
  - Tempest1981 5y ago
    I'm envious that you can prevent interruptions to such an extreme. For the highly-organized, I hear there is a "tab group" concept, for additional joy. Not sure how that "plays" with multiple windows.
xvector 5y ago
This is really interesting because it might be the reason I switch to Safari after using Firefox for years. All I really want is proper site isolation after this.
apple4ever 5y ago
Yup I've used Safari since OmniWeb was canceled. This was the first time I thought about switching - that's how bad I find the UI. I'm thinking of going with Vivaldi if I do, and Firefox secondarily.

oneplane 5y ago

Do you honestly think this is a one-person job? While you might question the outcome of product development, assuming that a multi-billion R&D budget accounts for 1 designer is just unhelpful. Even just the WebKit commits with Apple engineering contacts is enough to build a whole company around...

geerlingguy 5y ago
One person had the initial idea; the hive mind doesn't make radical changes like this on its own. A lot of times, you can end up with amazing new ideas that way, but sometimes a change based on ego / "that person is just so brilliant" is just bad. The tab bar thing is going to be Touch Bar 2.0, I think. The question is, how long is Apple going to push it? I was hopeful the Touch Bar would die with M1 Macs...
- oneplane 5y ago
  I'm sure there is one (administratively) responsible person in the end, but I haven't every had a large-scale design lean on just 1 person or have very low-quantity lynchpins. I doubt Apple's inner workings are simplistic in such a way that one person with some sort of clout pushed this with no further thought. At the end of the day this is just speculation but purely negative speculation is just some form of populism/FUD and makes everything worse.
TwoBit 5y ago
I'm not arguing this change as good or bad, but the pattern of one or two key people deciding something and others getting on board to implement it is common.

Tempest1981 5y ago

They're optimizing for a user with a 13" display, who never opens more than 5 tabs, and rarely switches pages.

mark_l_watson 5y ago
They are. They are optimizing for end users not developers. This UI change must be driving people who keep many tabs open nuts (I am not one of these people, I like a tidy environment with only a few tabs open that support my current activity). Maybe Apple has decided to nudge users in the direction of Marie Kondo; if a tab does not spark joy get rid of it. For me, whenever I switch tasks or activities, I usually quit out of safari and restart it. I like to concentrate on a single activity and not flit around trying to do many things at once. Maybe Apple is trying to healthier use of devices, as in providing Screen Time usage reports.
- Tempest1981 5y ago
  I'm envious that you can prevent interruptions to such an extreme. For the highly-organized, I hear there is a "tab group" concept, for additional joy. Not sure how that "plays" with multiple windows.

xvector 5y ago

This is really interesting because it might be the reason I switch to Safari after using Firefox for years. All I really want is proper site isolation after this.

apple4ever 5y ago

Yup I've used Safari since OmniWeb was canceled. This was the first time I thought about switching - that's how bad I find the UI. I'm thinking of going with Vivaldi if I do, and Firefox secondarily.