Safari bookmarks are now a nightmare as well. The sidebar automatically reverts to root every time it's closed.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPadOS 15 Safari Sidebar and Bookmarks
- Thread starter stoplis
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've noticed the latest STP for macOS removed the option to automatically hide/close the SideBar when navigating away from a link. I don't remember the exact wording, but it was an option in the STP for macOS in Preferences/Advanced. I know it's not iPadOS, but they seem to mimic each other more and more.
Unbelievable. Shall not be ‘upgrading’. What a calamity Apple are becoming, a little bit at a time. Imagine adding friction to a previously excellent UI and being totally okay with that…
Seems weird to push a "trend" on users like this, but whatever. I wonder if they have anyone on their team older than 30....
Honestly half the time I think they have just lost the plot. Tabs, tab groups or whatever is no reason to break a previously working sidebar. They made a passing attempt at fixing it but still failed. If they can break it they can fix it, but it appears they have better things to worry about than their users. I know software is complex and challenging but this should be fairly basic stuff for any half competent development team. It’s such a blunder that people should be sacked for putting it into production. Instead they’re probably on a diversity training course or something ?
All I want them to do is persistently remember my last selection in the side bar. If I leave it on bookmarks thats what I want. This seems to partially work but it eventually resets to the top level.
The Safari Tech Preview used to do this, but as of the latest version it no longer does. Seems like a lot of regressions overall.
I own and use two iPads, i have them in different location. One is an Air 2 running latest iOS 14 and the other is an 8th Gen running 15.1
I enjoy using my ancient iPad so much more.
The new one is a nightmare, so many bugs and nonsense with Safari.
The Sidebar while improved is still horrible.
I have said it before but I have my doubts that senior Apple people actually use an iPad regularly for anything serious.
I am absolutely convinced they don’t use an iPad in landscape mode, they must use it like a iphone.
I enjoy using my ancient iPad so much more.
The new one is a nightmare, so many bugs and nonsense with Safari.
The Sidebar while improved is still horrible.
I have said it before but I have my doubts that senior Apple people actually use an iPad regularly for anything serious.
I am absolutely convinced they don’t use an iPad in landscape mode, they must use it like a iphone.
Last edited:
Yeah, so for a few reasons I had little choice but to 'upgrade' to Safari 15 in macOS and it's actually worse than the iPad. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's unfathomable that Apple could have done this to iPad and Mac by mistake. It simply has to be deliberate. There's no other explanation. It isn't a bug. The definition of a bug is unexpected behaviour. No way did this go through the entire beta process in both macOS and iPadOS unnoticed. It's so bad I am beginning to question if Apple are the company I once thought they were. Amazing how such a small thing can completely wreck a user experience. This is the kind of thing Apple traditionally always got right. In my opinion anyway.
I 100% agree with you. All of these changes are being made deliberately. It seems so drastic, too. I’m sure these changes are being made with the best of intentions, and I’m sure, internally, people are probably asking the same “why did they do this?!?” questions we are. And it seems like the decision makers are letting them ride it out. What’s really frustrating is that the STP for macOS prior to the current one fixed a lot with the SideBar, which was great! But now the current STP has reverted all of those changes again. So yeah, it’s all on purpose. I’ve recently used this shortcut to export my entire Safari Reading List to Reeder:
Exporting Links from Safari Reading List via Shortcuts for Mac
A few weeks ago in the second lesson of the Automation Academy for Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members, I wrote about how I’ve been using Reminders as a read-later app in addition to traditional task management. The full details are in the story, but to sum up: using a combination of...
www.macstories.net
With all of the changes Apple’s making with Safari, I can’t rely on their Reading List integration anymore. It’s just easier for me to use a better app.
Last edited:
Anyone able to say if there are any positive changes to this in the final iPadOS 15.2? If not then I think I’ll skip it. Every Apple update I’ve installed recently has broken something or other. At this point it feels best to avoid everything they release.
Obviously YMMV, but in my case I'm seeing a noticeable performance improvement on my 2018 iPad Pro. Prior to iPadOS 15.2, I was seeing a lot of audio drop outs and disconnects with my PowerBeats Pro along with AirDrop not always being an option and some Safari issues. Had a few other oddball issues, too, and now everything's been great for me. But again, it's largely going to depend on your specific usage and apps installed.
Have you perceived any improvements in app and web tab persistence? I also roll with a 2018 Pro and since iPadOS 15 it’s felt like I have about 256K of RAM…?
Actually, yeah? I think so, anyway. I tend to use iCloud Tabs or AirDrop to transfer Safari pages over to my iPad Pro, and then just kinda let them hang out there until I'm ready to read them thru the day. So at any point I could have zero to 5 to maybe even 15+ open tabs in Safari on my iPad. From what I have seen, I'm not seeing the pages reloading when coming back to them, but I think that also might vary largely depending on the page you're viewing.
IMO 15.1 & 15.1.1 were a step backwards for me, and now everything seems 'normal' to me again.
As far as bookmarks, there is not. Still a mess. I just can’t believe Apple does not realize this and take bookmarks the way they used to be. Crazy!
Nope. Looks like Apple could care less about this. No matter how often I try to get used to it, I can not. Just an all out dumb move by Apple.
It sucks and it’s become obvious they do not intend to address it. Never thought I’d see the day when Apple became actively hostile to the user experience. They have deliberately added friction to the UI. Every device I currently own either has at least one annoying bug or inexplicable design choice. Even my keyboard seems totally broken in iPadOS and has been since at least iOS 13. Totally discombobulating. Genuinely will be looking at alternatives the next time a hardware purchase comes around. Bad juju.
Watch these two buttons magically swap places when you are forced to manually open and close the sidebar (because they broke the auto open and close).
Also note that the ‘x’ to close tabs is always on the left of the tab. That is until you pinch out into tab thumbnail view, and as if by magic once again, the ‘x’ moves to the top right. Amazingly intuitive UI design! They should randomly swap all buttons around to keep people guessing. That would be really impressive ?
ABRACADABRA!
Also note that the ‘x’ to close tabs is always on the left of the tab. That is until you pinch out into tab thumbnail view, and as if by magic once again, the ‘x’ moves to the top right. Amazingly intuitive UI design! They should randomly swap all buttons around to keep people guessing. That would be really impressive ?
ABRACADABRA!
Attachments
Last edited:
Not for me, I’m sorry to say. 5th gen iPad. This has been broken for so many years I’ve lost all hope.
Still not fully fixed with iPadOS 17.01
what is interesting is that if you open a new window then it does auto hide for the first few times but then reverts back to the stuck pos
what is interesting is that if you open a new window then it does auto hide for the first few times but then reverts back to the stuck pos
I’m getting a new iPad whenever the new Air comes out. I wonder if I just set it up as a new iPad and download all apps I want individually if this would solve the issue for me, and not carry over the problem? Hell, I don’t know, it makes no sense that Safari works this way.