Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 24 With User Timing and Link Preload

MacRumors · Feb 22, 2017

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.

Article Link: Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 24 With User Timing and Link Preload

d5aqoëp · Feb 22, 2017

Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.

Vashetti · Feb 22, 2017

Still 419 out of 555 on html5test.

Nick A · Feb 22, 2017

Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

Watabou · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

I do. It's order of magnitudes faster than Firefox/Chrome and more efficient as well. Firefox feels laggy and doesn't feel native to me despite running Electrolysis. Chrome just seems to slow down after I open a large number of tabs and I don't think it handles resources as well as Safari does. Also, I trust Apple more than Google to handle all my data. I also use iCloud Keychain so all my passwords are available on my iPhone, and the integration is really nice.

Safari "just works (tm)" for me. Simple as that really.

RockstarSR · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

I do. I'm a developer too. Except for lack of some plugins that Chrome has, Chrome does nothing better than Safari. I find Safari to be faster and more stable than Chrome.

keysofanxiety · Feb 22, 2017

d5aqoëp said:
Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.

Well it's got a market with iOS too.

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.

nwcs · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

I do. It's the default, works fine, works fast, and bookmarks are easily synced to my phone and windows boxes.

macintoshmac · Feb 22, 2017

d5aqoëp said:
Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.

Did you have this template ready to post for the inevitable moment a new version of Safari TP comes out? No one is forcing you to use Safari, why the hate?

keysofanxiety · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

Yes I do.

- 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.

macintoshmac · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

Comes preinstalled, and gives no reason to look elsewhere. Like a good wife, keeping the man happy enough that he does not go astray.

MrNomNoms · Feb 22, 2017

d5aqoëp said:
Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.

I use it because it is integrated in with iCloud - I like to keep all my devices sync'ed so that I can share bookmarks and passwords between my iMac, MacBook and iPhone. If I had a Android phone then I'd most likely be running Chrome because Google would be my cloud service I'd have to use. That being said there are many who use Safari because it is the most power efficient especially for those of us who have notebooks especially those those notebooks such as the MacBook which have super low power processors which requires software vendors to spend an adequate amount of time optimising their code instead of just exacting beefier hardware thrown at the problem.

macintoshmac · Feb 22, 2017

keysofanxiety said:
I only keep Chrome on my Mac if I need to access a website with Flash content.

Precisely what I did on my old 2011 MBP. On the new 2016, I am using Firefox for some sites that are antiquated and/ or demand Flash.
[doublepost=1487788495][/doublepost]

Vashetti said:
Still 419 out of 555 on html5test.

Is there any website that you visit regularly that breaks on Safari, or did you bench it just for statistical information?

err404 · Feb 22, 2017

d5aqoëp said:
BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.

The reverse is also true; Chrome/Firefox have nothing special which will compel me to use them over Safari on macOS.
The killer feature for me is the shared keychain between my Mac and phone.

zhang96 · Feb 22, 2017

Safari is exceptionally battery-friendly and beautiful.

Vashetti · Feb 22, 2017

macintoshmac said:
Is there any website that you visit regularly that breaks on Safari, or did you bench it just for statistical information?

Not at all. Just Chrome and Firefox regularly trounce Safari on html5score. And this score of 419 hasn't changed for several STP iterations now. In fact I think it was actually higher a few iterations ago.

Robert.Walter · Feb 22, 2017

d5aqoëp said:
Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

BTW Safari has nothing special which will compel me to use it over Chrome/Firefox on macOS.

It has iCloud Keychain integration. Do the others offer Apple Pay integration too?

DotCom2 · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

I do. Tell me why I SHOULDN'T please.

C DM · Feb 22, 2017

Hopefully more of this will be making its way to the publicly available (final) version of Safari sooner than later.

Starfia · Feb 22, 2017

Absolutely – exceptionally good iCloud integration, a stable dev platform, full mobile support, and an interface and features I use virtually all of.

Chrome, Firefox and Opera all feel sort of odd for subtler reasons, but I occasionally try them and pay attention to them when developing. (Thank goodness we're out of last decade for that. Whew.)

solipsism · Feb 22, 2017

Has any technology from this year-old experiment been incorporated into the shipping versions of Safari in macOS or iOS?

d5aqoëp said:
Does Safari even have a market outside macOS?
If they want Safari to be truly universal, they should release it for Windows and linux too.

1) How can you write that with a straight face without considering iOS?

2) A browser app doesn't have to be universal. Even the browser engine doesn't have to be universal. What needs to ideally be universal is having the underlying language being recognized and parsed the same way regardless of browser app.

Amazing Iceman · Feb 22, 2017

I only use Safari. No reason to use Chrome which I find to be a privacy intruder, or Firefox at it seems unstable.
I don't use Flash nor Java, so I'm good.
I may try these Technology Preview builds one of these days.

itguy06 · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

I do. It works fast, well, and is intrgrated into the OS. Doesn't look But Ugly like Chrome.

justperry · Feb 22, 2017

Nick A said:
Serious question, does anyone actually use Safari as their main browser? If so, why?

Seems like most users do use Safari, and why not, it is by far the better browser if you are using MacOS/OS X.

Dranix · Feb 22, 2017

I do, too - Chrome is never a option as google is not to be trusted with ANY data at all.

Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 24 With User Timing and Link Preload

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