9to5Mac reports that Apple is slowly losing it’s rank as the second most used browser.
Here is 9to5Mac’s reasoning for the ranking.
"Last year, Apple introduced a completely redesigned version of Safari that unified the address bar with the tab bar. However, the update left some users unhappy, which made Apple revert Safari back to its old design and make the new interface optional for users. This, of course, wasn’t enough to stop many users from switching to other web browsers.
"At the same time, Safari also lacks some important features that are added first in other web browsers, and some developers even call Apple’s web browser “the new Internet Explorer.” And since Safari is tied to iOS and macOS, Apple takes some time to release updates with new features and security fixes.”
As to the changes in the Safari browser, I must be really flexible to not be bothered by layout design changes or the addition of new features. What bothers me most is the disappearance of features that I’m accustomed to using. And I don’t see that anything like that has happened to Safari.
As to not including features that appear in other browsers, it is a difficult task to include things that are copyrighted without paying a goodly sum. The developer either has to wait for the patent to run out or discover a way to create a similar feature that doesn’t impinge on the copyright. And yes, Apple is slow in turning out updates to Safari. But part of that is due to the “missing link” of independent developers offering changes to Apple’s software, which is kind of discouraged by Apple insisting that developers follow the Apple Rules for Software Design.
However, there are times when either Firefox or Chrome wins out over Safari, and that’s usually when visiting a site that insists on popping up a Javascript window when clicking on a link. I’ve yet to figure out how to make Safari work with that feature. I think it’s something to do with a default option wherein Apple thinks that such behavior is a bad thing. If all the webmasters kept to HTML 5, then nothing would “break.”
John R. Carter, Sr.