iOS 17: Nine New Features Available in Safari

Apple adds new features to apps like Safari with each update to the iOS operating system. In iOS 17, Safari gets new privacy features, search changes, a better way to work with Siri, and more.

This guide shows you all of the new Safari features that came with iOS 17.

Profiles

In iOS 17, Apple adds a new ” Profile ” feature to Tab Groups, letting you split your browsing for different uses. You can set up a “Work” profile and a “Personal” profile, for example, to keep your browsing for work separate from your looking for fun.

Each profile’s cookies, browsing history, extensions, and page data differ. On one profile, you can turn off cookies and pop-ups, but on another profile, you can leave them on. Profiles also have their own lists of favorites and groups of tabs.

Profiles can be set up by following these instructions:

• Open up the Settings app.
• Scroll down to Safari.
• Tap on New Profile.
• Select an icon, name, and background color for the profile.
• Choose your settings for Favorites and Tabs.
• Tap Done.

You can then tap on profiles in the Settings app to change them. Tap the Tabs icon, which looks like two squares that overlap, then tap the middle icon and choose “Profile” to change which profile is open.

Locked Private Browsing Window

Now, private viewing windows are locked and you need a second form of authentication to unlock and open them. If you give someone your unlocked phone and they try to open a secret Safari tab, they won’t be able to without a second Face ID/Touch ID scan or a passcode.

Face ID or Touch ID is needed to access the private browsing tab, so even if someone else uses your iPhone or iPad, the private browsing tab stays private. By default, iOS 17 locks the private browser tab, but the requirement for Face ID or Touch ID can be turned off by doing these steps:

• Open the Settings app.
• Tap on Safari.
• Scroll down to Require ‌Face ID‌ (or ‌Touch ID‌) to Unlock Private Browsing.
• Tap the toggle to turn it off and confirm with a ‌Face ID‌/‌Touch ID‌ scan. When disabled, the toggle will be gray.

Private Search Engine

In iOS 16, you can choose a preferred search engine for Safari. In iOS 17, you can choose different search engines for normal and private browsing.

Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia are all choices. If you leave it on Default, the same search engine will be used as when you browse normally.

• Open up the Settings app.
• Scroll down to Safari.
• Tap on Private Search Engine.
• Tap on one of the Search Engine options to select it.
• Exit out of the Settings.

Tracking URLs

URLs in iOS 17 can be stripped of any tracking information added to the end, so websites can’t use URL markers to track your browsing. This feature is turned on by default when iOS 17 is used for private browsing, but it can be turned on for all browsing.

Here’s how to remove URL-based tracking for all browser windows:

• Open up the Settings app.
• Scroll down to Safari.
• Tap on Advanced.
• Tap on Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection.
• Toggle on “All Browsing.”

If you turn this on, Safari will remove the extra tracking information that is sometimes added to the end of a URL when you open it.

Hide IP Address From Websites

When using iCloud Private Relay in iOS 17, you can hide your IP address from trackers and websites or just from trackers. If you choose Trackers and Websites, your IP address will be hidden, and websites won’t be able to use it to figure out where you are.

In iOS 16, iCloud Private Relay was made to hide your IP address from known trackers. This is an expansion of that function.

Search Improvements

With iOS 17, search is more dynamic, finding results faster. It also gives you more search options from which to choose.

Apple has added favicons to the top website search ideas, and search results that come from your bookmarks, tabs, and search history are marked.

Listen to Page

Siri can read a website to you in iOS 17. This is helpful if you find a long article or other material that you want to listen to while doing something else. As long as a website has Reader View, the tool will work.

• Open up Safari.
• Navigate to the content that you want ‌Siri‌ to read.
• Tap on the Aa icon in the address bar.
• Select the Listen to Page option.

Siri will then start to read the text on the page. You can stop listening by tapping the Pause Listening button, and you can start listening again by tapping the Resume Listening button. If you lock your screen, you’ll get playback settings that are just for that.

Siri will also read a page if you start a website, find an article you want to read, and tell Siri to “Read this to me.”

Shared Passwords and Passkeys

With iOS 17 (and iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma), you can share passwords and passkeys with friends and family in a safe way. With the sharing feature, several people can be given passwords for shared media accounts, services, bills, etc.

Shared passwords can be accessed, changed, and added to by everyone. To set them up, go to the Passwords part of the Settings app and choose “Get Started” under the “Family Passwords” heading.

This isn’t a Safari-only function, but it makes it easier to log in to sites where you use the same login information.

Privacy Settings

Note that privacy-focused settings like Block All Cookies, Privacy-Preserving Ad Measurement, and Check for Apple Pay have been moved from the “Privacy & Security” section of the Safari settings to the “Advanced” section, which is harder to find.

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