Safari
Apple's built-in web browser for macOS, iOS and iPadOS, based on the WebKit engine.
Liked for tight Apple-ecosystem integration and sync,1234 speed and battery efficiency,567 and rarely hitting broken sites in daily use.8910 The most common complaint is that it lags behind Chrome on web features, so some sites render or work badly,1112131415 and iOS users also report sluggishness and UI bugs.16171819
Why people recommend it
Apple integration · 3
Commenters value syncing passwords, tabs and 2FA codes across Mac, iPhone and other Apple features.
“It's always been fast and smooth, and the integration - like password sync and SMS 2FA keys - works great.”
“I use Safari because it syncs well between macOS and iOS”
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“Safari because of the seamless integration with Apple platform features and because it is the most energy efficient browser”
Speed & battery · 3
Commenters describe it as fast, lightweight and battery efficient on Mac and iPhone.
“I use Safari because it’s fast and battery efficient.”
“Safari is a highly capable browser, light weight, great performance on both iphone and mac”
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“I use chrome for work but safari for personal and rarely see the same issue with safari”
Site compatibility · 3
Long-time users say they rarely or never hit sites that fail to work.
“I switched from Chrome to Safari about 5 years ago and can count the number of websites I’ve had issues with on one hand”
“I went to Safari from Firefox and I don't think I've run into a single compatibility issue.”
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“I have been using Safari Full time for ~13 years already”
Privacy & trust · 3
Some trust Apple more than Google with their browsing and like its secure defaults.
“I would definitely use Safari on Windows cause I trust Apple more with Privacy”
“I trust Apple with Safari/iOS more than Google with Chrome/Android”
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“I very much appreciate the secure baseline Safari settles on.”
Simplicity · 3
Users say it gets out of the way and does what it should without fuss.
“Safari is my main browser at home and has been pretty much since its inception. Periodically I go off and use Firefox”
“Safari - does what it says on the tin and does it well, I like Safari”
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“Design, care for simplicity and detail”
Built-in features · 3
Reader mode, Hide Distracting Items and Add to Dock web apps are praised.
“For Safari users, don’t overlook that beautiful “Hide Distracting Items” menu”
“I use Safari, and I have it set to automatically pop into Reader mode”
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“Safari's Add to dock is decent start”
Caveats and dissent
Web compatibility · 3
Several commenters report broken sites and missing or slow web features compared with Chrome.
“I use safari regularly and it has not really kept up.”
“Safari lags behind Chrome in features, WebKit lags behind Blink in cross-platform support”
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“in Safari showModal for a dialog tag causes recalculating layout for EVERY element on a page, it’s up to 59x slower than chromium”
iOS bugs · 3
Safari on iOS is called sluggish and glitchy, with unwanted UI changes.
“Safari is just so sluggish”
“Safari on iOS, in particular, is very bad.”
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Extensions · 3
Users complain about few extensions and App Store friction for installing them.
“Safari is my main browser at home and has been pretty much since its inception. Periodically I go off and use Firefox”
“Safari is always the best on my Mac”
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“Safari lags behind Chrome in features, WebKit lags behind Blink in cross-platform support”
Cross-platform sync · 3
It cannot sync with Windows, Linux or Android, which rules it out for multi-OS users.
“want all my stuff synced across them, something I can't do with Safari.”
“Safari lags behind Chrome in features, WebKit lags behind Blink in cross-platform support”
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“Safari is a highly capable browser, light weight, great performance on both iphone and mac”
Many tabs · 2
Some see slowdowns or memory-related tab reloads with many tabs or heavy sites.
“I have been using Safari Full time for ~13 years already”
Vertical tabs · 2
Its vertical tab option is seen as weaker than other browsers' versions.
“Safari's equivalent is a poor substitute”
“switched to Safari with a combination of SupaSidebar[1] for the spaces/vertical tabs and OpenIn [2]”
Often compared with
3 moved from Firefox to Safari
1 moved from Safari to FirefoxChrome46 comments mention both
4 moved from Chrome to Safari
2 moved from Orion to Safari
1 moved from Safari to Orion
1 moved from Safari to Brave
2 moved from Arc to Safari
1 moved from Safari to Zen
1 moved from Vivaldi to Safari
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Apple's new 'Switch to Safari' campaign details why you should ditch Chrome 16 mentions
- Ask HN: What browser do you use? 9 mentions
- Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome) 5 mentions
- I switched to Brave 4 mentions
- Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO 4 mentions
- Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser? 4 mentions
Data: safari.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 46
“Since then I've waffled between Orion and Safari.”
“switched to Safari with a combination of SupaSidebar[1] for the spaces/vertical tabs and OpenIn [2]”
“except on mac where i still use safari”
“I would definitely use Safari on Windows cause I trust Apple more with Privacy”
“I've tried Safari every time someone raves about it, and every time I've felt vindicated.”
“Safari I definitely have.”
“Might as well use safari as it’s better integrated. And it supports uBlock origin (lite).”
“There’s just a ton of clunky ux on safari.”
“Safari is a highly capable browser, light weight, great performance on both iphone and mac”
“It's always been fast and smooth, and the integration - like password sync and SMS 2FA keys - works great.”
“I use Safari because it’s fast and battery efficient.”
“Safari lags behind Chrome in features, WebKit lags behind Blink in cross-platform support”
“Generally not a bad browser. Equivalent and superior to Chrome is certain aspects.”
“the only other browser I use is Safari”
“I use chrome for work but safari for personal and rarely see the same issue with safari”
“in Safari translating a page requires reloading the page - which can cause issues on forms that use POST.”
“Safari is always the best on my Mac”
“I had switched to Firefox on Linux/Windows and Safari on Macs.”
“"Safari is the new IE."”
“i use safari on my other mac, it’s fine most of the time”
“I still daily drive Safari and use it as my main browser.”
“I switched from Chrome to Safari about 5 years ago and can count the number of websites I’ve had issues with on one hand”
“I use safari regularly and it has not really kept up.”
“Safari is the ultimate way to browse HN.”
“If Safari worked in all major OSs like Chrome, Brave and Firefox, I could consider that.”
“On Safari, fingerprinting doesn't survive in incognito mode.”
“it's tied to your Apple account. You risk losing your browser history etc.”
“I use Safari currently at home”
“For weeks I used Safari to access some homelab stuff”
“Now I have both Safari and Firefox open all the time”
“I use Safari because it syncs well between macOS and iOS”
“Safari is written by a company that has no vested interest in seeing the web be good enough to replace native apps”
“I use it as my daily driver and rarely get issues related to unsupported APIs.”
“I have had wayyy more issues on Safari.”
“Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like.”
“I like Vanadium (Chromium) a lot more than Safari.”
“on mobile it's Safari”
“I use Safari on both and I never even had to "set up" anything.”
“I use Safari, but whenever I go on a pilgrimage to try a different browser”
“I went to Safari from Firefox and I don't think I've run into a single compatibility issue.”
“Safari because of the seamless integration with Apple platform features and because it is the most energy efficient browser”
“the navbar in Safari sometimes is there, sometimes it’s a blank rectangle”
“Safari on iOS, in particular, is very bad.”
“Safari is just so sluggish”
“Safari on iOS is a prime example of this.”
“in Safari showModal for a dialog tag causes recalculating layout for EVERY element on a page, it’s up to 59x slower than chromium”