Haha wow people… if you honestly think I'm trolling, that's kind of sad.
Let me set it straight.
I am a long time (18+ years) Apple user. I am a developer for OS X and iOS. This is why I buy and will continue to buy Apple products. Don't tell me to go buy something different if this issue bothers me.
It is not a deal breaker. I can live with it. I just wanted to put some feelers out to see if this bothered anyone else. Standard web browsing practice is to always show the URL or at least a page title. This is an issue of CLARITY and SECURITY.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't clarity one of the three buzzwords of iOS 7? Look, I love iOS 7 and I think overall it is a huge step forward. I love Apple and appreciate what they're doing. And I even appreciate that for the vast majority of folks out there, this will be a non-issue.
However, there are real convenience, and much more importantly, security, concerns when your browser obfuscates the URL or even just the page title of the site you're viewing.
Do I understand why Apple did it? Sure. Can I live with it? Sure. Will I download Chrome? Hell no. I love iCloud keychain, iCloud tabs, reading list, and all of the other integrations that go along with Safari, and I will continue to use and enjoy Safari. This is just one little niggle that I thought I'd open to discussion for mature and intelligible people who either dislike or like this functionality.
Maybe my choice of words (read: maddening) wasn't the best. It does bother me regularly, as I'm just so used to following along my breadcrumbs via the URL as I explore web pages, and also verifying that websites aren't up to anything fishy.
Let's try to keep this civil, people. For everyone who had valuable input on this matter, I truly appreciate you. Whether you agree with me or not, I do not really care. I just wanted an open discussion to air out the pros and cons of this design decision.
That is all.