5 ms·

I suspect that's why Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of the screen in iOS Safari. For better or for worse, it now stands out a lot more from the search bo

I suspect that's why Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of the screen in iOS Safari. For better or for worse, it now stands out a lot more from the search boxed within websites.

reayn 5y ago
I personally think the reason was to further reduce the need to move your thumb from the bottom of the screen. The current iteration of safari is the only mobile browser I have ever used where I feel comfortable browsing and switching tabs with only one finger. It's surprisingly well implemented, though some actions (such as accessing history or site settings) take a couple extra taps.
- llaolleh 5y ago
  Chrome rolled out that update on mobile but for whatever reason they rolled it back. It's a much better design choice imo when you get used to it.
- Semaphor 5y ago
  What does it do better than Firefox Mobile? It has all settings, URL bar, and tabs at the bottom as well.
  - reayn 5y ago
    I've yet to try firefox mobile on my phone, I've had no reason to switch from safari (most of my browsing is on Brave on my laptop anyway), but I'll give it a shot. Safari in iOS 15 also has extension support, and apps like Hyperweb[0] make the experience very pleasant. I also love the icon :P 0. https://hyperweb.app https://hyperweb.app
  - causi 5y ago
    Probably doesn't have Firefox's infuriating tab manager that throws an idiotic "well golly you closed a tab!" popup over the next tab you intend to open.
    - Semaphor 5y ago
      Good point, I don’t browse a lot on mobile, but now that you say it, I’ve had that annoy me before ;)
    - frosted-flakes 5y ago
      They've fixed that on Nightly, for what it's worth. There is now padding at the bottom of the tab list. Also, undo-ing a closed tab puts it back where it was, not at the top of the list.
      - causi 5y ago
        I bet they still have the New Tab button floating off by itself instead of in the navigation menu where it belongs.
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      That was annoying as fuck, but it seems to finally have gone away from the latest Android version. Now it pushes the tab list up and appears below it.
- dhosek 5y ago
  The big challenge I have with this is that while the Safari bar is at the bottom, search within sites (say, Wikipedia) is still at the top. This ends up making it harder for me to redevelop muscle memory for searches/urls at the bottom
  - freediver 5y ago
    Position of address bar is an option you can change.
    - dhosek 5y ago
      The thing is, I think having the address bar at the bottom makes a lot of sense on the phone.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    I think the purpose is (at least in part) precisely to "split up your muscle memory", so you don't use the same pattern for different kinds of searches. With browser search at the bottom of the UI, it's better differentiated from the Web site's search input at the top of the page.
notsureaboutpg 5y ago
They did this because Firefox (and other mobile browsers) has been allowing the option for years. It works better for one-handed usage. It's the kind of change that it takes a few days to get used to and then you never want to go back, that's the place where Apple really shines since they can force their users to adjust (most other products have to worry about users dropping off if configuration changes too much).

I suspect that's why Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of the screen in iOS Safari. For better or for worse, it now stands out a lot more from the search boxed within websites.

reayn 5y ago

I personally think the reason was to further reduce the need to move your thumb from the bottom of the screen. The current iteration of safari is the only mobile browser I have ever used where I feel comfortable browsing and switching tabs with only one finger. It's surprisingly well implemented, though some actions (such as accessing history or site settings) take a couple extra taps.

llaolleh 5y ago
Chrome rolled out that update on mobile but for whatever reason they rolled it back. It's a much better design choice imo when you get used to it.
Semaphor 5y ago
What does it do better than Firefox Mobile? It has all settings, URL bar, and tabs at the bottom as well.
- reayn 5y ago
  I've yet to try firefox mobile on my phone, I've had no reason to switch from safari (most of my browsing is on Brave on my laptop anyway), but I'll give it a shot. Safari in iOS 15 also has extension support, and apps like Hyperweb[0] make the experience very pleasant. I also love the icon :P 0. https://hyperweb.app https://hyperweb.app
- causi 5y ago
  Probably doesn't have Firefox's infuriating tab manager that throws an idiotic "well golly you closed a tab!" popup over the next tab you intend to open.
  - Semaphor 5y ago
    Good point, I don’t browse a lot on mobile, but now that you say it, I’ve had that annoy me before ;)
  - frosted-flakes 5y ago
    They've fixed that on Nightly, for what it's worth. There is now padding at the bottom of the tab list. Also, undo-ing a closed tab puts it back where it was, not at the top of the list.
    - causi 5y ago
      I bet they still have the New Tab button floating off by itself instead of in the navigation menu where it belongs.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    That was annoying as fuck, but it seems to finally have gone away from the latest Android version. Now it pushes the tab list up and appears below it.
dhosek 5y ago
The big challenge I have with this is that while the Safari bar is at the bottom, search within sites (say, Wikipedia) is still at the top. This ends up making it harder for me to redevelop muscle memory for searches/urls at the bottom
- freediver 5y ago
  Position of address bar is an option you can change.
  - dhosek 5y ago
    The thing is, I think having the address bar at the bottom makes a lot of sense on the phone.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  I think the purpose is (at least in part) precisely to "split up your muscle memory", so you don't use the same pattern for different kinds of searches. With browser search at the bottom of the UI, it's better differentiated from the Web site's search input at the top of the page.

notsureaboutpg 5y ago

They did this because Firefox (and other mobile browsers) has been allowing the option for years. It works better for one-handed usage. It's the kind of change that it takes a few days to get used to and then you never want to go back, that's the place where Apple really shines since they can force their users to adjust (most other products have to worry about users dropping off if configuration changes too much).