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Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on web browsers:

Hands-on with new ChatGPT Atlas browser: Safari is falling behind fast

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AI image of a MacBook Pro with the ChatGPT Atlas browser on its screen, in a dimly lit room with UV lights.
ChatGPT Atlas and other AI-enhanced web browsers might eat Safari's lunch.
AI image: Midjourney/Cult of Mac

Going hands-on with the new ChatGPT Atlas browser for Mac makes it crystal clear that Safari risks becoming irrelevant. Our browsing habits are evolving fast, and Apple’s browser just isn’t keeping up

For years, Safari has been my go-to browser on the Mac due to its speed and power efficiency. But with Apple falling behind in the artificial intelligence wars, and a new breed of AI-boosted browsers coming on strong, that could change. I went hands-on with ChatGPT Atlas to see what the future of internet browsing looks like.

How to change the default web browser on iPhone or iPad

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How to change default iPhone browser
Safari isn't the only options as default iPhone browser. You can change it.
Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

You can easily change the default browser on your iPhone if you prefer to use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge or any other alternative. Maybe you use a PC at home and want your bookmarks, history and passwords to sync to your iPhone. Or maybe you simply prefer something other than Apple’s Safari browser.

Whichever browser you set as your iPhone’s default will open when you tap on a link from Messages or Mail, get AirDropped a URL, scan a QR code, search the web with Siri and perform other tasks. This doesn’t mean Safari will be deleted, however. Apple’s stock app will remain installed on your iPhone if case you decide to switch back (which is super-easy).

Here’s how to change the default browser on your iPhone — and transfer your bookmarks and data, too. Keep reading or watch our quick video.

Apple Music Classical launches on web with world’s largest catalog

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Apple Music Classical on the web
Apple Music Classical is now on the web.
Photo: Apple Music Classical

Apple expanded its acclaimed Apple Music Classical service to web browsers, allowing desktop users another way to access the world’s most comprehensive classical music library, the iPhone giant said Thursday.

“Apple Music Classical continues to innovate and expand on its mission to bring great musicians and their recordings to music lovers around the world all in one app,” said Anjali Malhotra, global director of Apple Music Classical. “Now that the app is available on the web, Apple Music Classical’s catalog of over 5 million tracks and 50 million data points are now available for those who primarily use their desktops to listen to music.” Meanwhile, recent developments have raised questions about Apple TV plans, especially after Sonos decided to scrap its own streaming device ambitions. Learn more about it here.

New Opera Air browser offers calm in online storm

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new Opera Air browser
Maybe take a break from doomscrolling and go for a zen moment on Opera Air.
Photo: Opera

The new Opera Air web browser brings meditation and mindfulness features directly to users, the Norway-based browser developer said Tuesday. The new browser’s approach to surfing the web combines Opera’s established browser technology with wellness tools typically found in dedicated meditation apps. Perhaps more traditional browsers like Safari and Chrome will follow suit.

“The web is beautiful but it can be chaotic and overwhelming,” said Mohamed Salah, Opera’s senior director of product. “We decided to look at science-backed ways to help our users navigate it in a way that makes them feel and function better.”

The best web browsers to try on iPhone

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Best Web Browsers for iPhone
The best web browser for iPhone may not be one you’ve heard of before.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The best web browser for iPhone depends heavily on what you need. Apple’s own Safari comes with a lot out of the box and offers integration with other Apple devices in your life. The top competitors — Chrome, Edge and Firefox — are good choices if you need to sync with a Windows PC.

Other alternatives you may not have heard of can offer diverse benefits, though. Arc is a fast, modern browser built around search, and comes with built-in ad blockers. DuckDuckGo and Onion Browser lead the pack when it comes to privacy features. And if you want a bespoke app just to keep up with your favorite six or seven sites, TicciTabs was made for that exact purpose. There are even web browsers made for Apple Watch and for saving the environment.

Keep reading or watch our video.

Now anyone can experience Apple Podcasts on the web

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Apple Podcasts on the web
Now even PC users can experience Apple Podcasts a lot like someone who uses the app for macOS.
Image: Apple

As an alternative to using the Apple Podcasts app, as of Monday anyone can browse, hear, sync and share Apple Podcasts in 170 countries on all major web browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox.

So now Apple Podcasts joins the likes of Podbay and Podurama in offering its own online player for anyone on any platform.

Chrome beefs up search with 3 new AI features

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new AI features in Chrome
Three new AI features coming to Chrome desktop focus on improving search history, comparing products and identifying objects in multimedia.
Photo: Google

Google rolled out three new artificial intelligence (AI) features for its Chrome browser, including support for Mac users, the company said Thursday. Powered by Google’s latest AI and Gemini models, the new AI features in Chrome aim to make it easier to search visually, compare products and easily return to websites you’ve visited. If you work with colors frequently, tools like the Nix Mini can help you match and identify colors with precision.

“We’re making it even easier to search what you see with the power of Google Lens, compare products across multiple tabs and rediscover sites from your browser history,” wrote Parisa Tabriz, Google vice president, Chrome.

Opera for iOS adds AI browsing

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Now you have another option for using AI on your iPhone.
Now you have another option for using AI on your iPhone.
Photo: Opera

The Opera browser for iOS now features an artificially intelligent assistant created in collaboration with OpenAI. Opera calls it Aria, and says it “offers you a cutting-edge generative AI service for free.”

Similarly to other such tools, Opera integrated its AI into the browser and makes it free to use once you opt in.

Arc is a bold new web browser for Mac

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Arc web browser
The Arc web browser is an all-new approach to the web.
Image: The Browser Company

Arc is a new kind of web browser that recently launched for Mac. It breaks free of the conventional tabbed window design with an all-new approach to organizing your internet activity without slowing you down along the way.

The top talent at The Browser Company, Arc’s developer, are taking bold approaches behind the scenes as well. The Windows version won’t be rewritten in C++ as with most Windows programs. Instead, the team is creating a custom toolkit to compile its code in Apple’s Swift language on Windows.

You can download Arc here for free from The Browser Company.

20 years of Safari: A visual history

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Safari @ 20: Visual history.
Safari, the web browser of choice for Mac users since 2003.
Image: Cult of Mac

Over the past 20 years, Apple’s Safari web browser grew from a speedy young upstart to a polished professional. Released on this day in 2003 as a free download, Safari has been bundled with every version of the Mac operating system since.

Take a trip down memory lane as we look at how Safari has evolved over the years.

Safari becomes second browser to surpass 1 billion users

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Safari now has more than 1 billion users.
Safari now has more than 1 billion users.
Photo: Apple
WWDC22 - Brought to you by CleanMyMac X

Apple’s Safari web browser recently topped 1 billion users, a new study indicates, making it the second browser to do so. Even so, it still lags well behind Google Chrome in popularity.

“1,006,232,879 internet users (19.16% of all internet users) now use the Safari browser, making it the second browser with over a billion users,” the Atlas VPN report said.

Devs come together to fight Apple’s ‘anti-competitive’ browser restrictions

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iPadOS 15 review
It's about time!
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

A group of software engineers have joined forces to form the Open Web Advocacy (OWA), which will fight Apple’s “anti-competitive” web browser restrictions on iPhone and iPad.

The OWA says that Apple’s tight controls, which prevent third-party browsers from using their own engines on iOS, has stalled innovation for the past 10 years and “prevented web apps from taking off on mobile.”

Firefox and Chrome may start breaking websites soon

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Websites may have issues with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox when each one hits version 100.
Websites may have issues with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox when each one hits version 100.
Photo: Google/Apple

Google, which makes Chrome, and Mozilla, which makes Firefox, warn that those web browsers are about to reach version 100. And that could mean major websites stop working properly with them.

Why? Coded to recognize two-digit version numbers, websites may have trouble identifying browsers with three-digit numbers.

Indie browser Opera runs twice as fast on M1 Macs

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Opera browser
Opera has been available on the Mac since the mid-1990s.
Photo: Opera

The indie Opera browser, one of the oldest browsers still operating today, has been updated with native support for Apple Silicon Macs. The update means that the Opera browser now runs 2x faster on M1 Macs.

Opera first debuted on Mac way back in 1996. That’s approaching a decade before Safari made its debut. One of Opera’s first big claims to fame was that it made it easier to browse several web pages at once. Today, its big appeal is its minimalist aesthetic, innovative sidebar design, and (now faster than ever) performance.

Privacy-focused Brave browser adds native support for Apple Silicon

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Brave
Brave is a speedy browser with a focus on privacy.
Photo: Brave

Brave, a privacy-oriented, Chromium-based web browser, has been updated to add native Apple Silicon support for first-gen M1 Macs.

Brave’s big claim to fame is that it blocks ads and website trackers by default. It also lets users compensate creators by sending them cryptocurrency contributions, called Basic Attention Tokens.

Make older Macs feel new again by switching web browsers [Pro tip]

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Switch browsers to speed up an old Mac
Some browsers are better than others on older machines.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Pro-tip-4

Got an old Mac that’s crawling to a halt every time you browse the web? It might not be your hardware that’s in need of a change. Before splashing out on new components, try switching browsers instead—or consider what to do with old MacBook to give it a new lease on life.

Download the first Microsoft Edge preview for macOS

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Microsoft Edge for macOS
See what Microsoft is working on for macOS.
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

Microsoft has officially offered up its first Edge preview build for macOS.

The early release gives users a chance to see what Microsoft is working on for the Mac. It will be updated daily, so you’ll get to enjoy the changes and improvements as they happen (almost).

Apple Music gets the (unofficial) web player it needs

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Apple Music web browser
Don't worry: All log-ins are via Apple's own authentication protocol.
Photo: Playapplemusic

Currently, there’s no officially sanctioned Apple way to play Apple Music in your web browser.

Enterprising software engineer Naveed Golafshani (a.k.a. Reddit user NaveedGol) has sprang to the rescue with a new — totally unofficial — web player at wwww.playapplemusic.com. It allows users to log in using Apple’s own authentication service, and then access their Apple Music libraries online.

Microsoft is bringing its Edge browser to iPhone

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Microsoft Edge for iPhone
Get the latest version of Edge today.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft is bringing its Edge web browser to iPhone.

Windows users will feel right at home with its design, which looks as close as possible to that of Edge on the desktop. They will also enjoy the ability to send websites to their desktop when they want to view them on a larger screen.

Old iPhone exploit opens Nintendo Switch to jailbreaking

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The Nintendo Switch's flexible Joy-Con controllers work just fine with a Mac (but not an iPhone).
The Switch might be jailbroken soon.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Nintendo Switch owners may soon be able to install third-party applications on the new gaming console thanks to an old Apple security flaw.

Although the Nintendo Switch doesn’t have a web browser, it uses Apple’s WebKit in order to render web pages. Noted iPhone jailbreaker qwertyoruiop recently discovered that the Switch could be easily hacked just by running the Pangu jailbreak tool for iOS on it.

Apple’s dev edition Safari brings future WebKit to your Mac

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Safari will be kinder to MacBook Pro battery life.
Safari will be kinder to MacBook Pro battery life.
Photo: Apple

You can get a taste of the future of Safari on the Mac today, thanks to the release of the new Safari Technology Preview from Apple that gives regular users and developers an easy way to test new features and improvements that are coming soon to the web browser.

The new stand-alone app for OS X can be downloaded and used for free by anyone, and includes a cutting-edge version of the WebKit browser engine that is still in development. It’s a great way for web developers to get ahead on new features by testing them before they’re public.

Safari Technology Preview can be used side-by-side with the regular version of Safari to test for behavioral issues. It also includes new improvements for Web Inspector.

Here’s a list of the new features: