test older safari versions

How to test my websites on previous safari versions

I am a web developer and my mac is updated to Sierra.

I have a handmade website that I need to test on Safari 9 but I couldn't find any way to do it on Sierra so far.

Is there a suggested way I can test my website on older safari versions? or does Apple not want developers to do so?

• Safari Developer Tools

Apple wants users to use the most secure fastest browsers available for their operating system, like Microsoft and other providers.

For testing all the many old versoins of IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari as well as on different platforms such as PC, Mac, Mobile and different operating systems you will want to use a service dedicated to that. There are free versions that more focus on just screenshots, but for Web Developers who need to test in all the countless environements something like https://www.browserstack.com is best.

This is not a helpful post. You shouldn’t disparage folks for offering help. xCode is a good tool, I don’t recommend subscribing to a service as you are paying for something Apple and Google gives you for free via developer tools. Note: if you have a developer account, you can downgrade your current phone to test without buying a new one.

Good question and comments otherwise in this thread.

This is the best response

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Guide To Cross Browser Testing On Older Browser Versions

A detailed guide which talks about the importance of cross browser testing on older browser versions and the ways in which you can test on older browsers..

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“How do I perform website testing on older browser versions? Is it even necessary?”

Have you ever wondered about these questions? If you did, you’re not the only one. At some point, every web tester or web developer ponders on these. And it is logical to do so. After all, new browser versions are released every month. Which makes it difficult for testers and developers to maintain a record of emerging and deprecated features. Not to forget, the never-ending release requirements are constantly squeezing your bandwidth.

It can be an overwhelming task to ensure a cross-browser compatible website, that works seamlessly even on older browsers. Which is why some of our clients have also enquired if they need to test on older browser versions? If so, which browsers should they consider for cross-browser testing ? And I am going to help you get answers to these questions in this article.

Why Is It Important To Test On Older Browser Versions?

The past decade has witnessed an immense rise in internet usage. The internet traffic at a global level continues to rise significantly with each passing day. There was a time when surfing the internet meant double-clicking on the IE icon on your desktops.

But over the years we have been introduced to a wide array of browsers including, but not limited to Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. As per StatCounter , Google Chrome and Safari dominate the browser market with a share of 65% and 17% each from June 2019 – June 2020.

But did you notice something else here?

Internet Explorer and Edge legacy browsers are still having enough browser market share to have themselves listed among the top 10 most used browsers worldwide in the last year. And you might be surprised to realize that Internet Explorer has been deprecated in 2015 and hasn’t received any update since then.

The emergence of modern browsers led IE to its deathbed. A majority of us weren’t bothered by the death of IE because deep down the notorious IE has caused all of us a fair share of troubles. Remember those good old days when IE was used as a default browser?

However, it is intriguing to notice that the IE community still exists. Even after Chris Jackson, Microsoft Security Chief insisted people to stop using IE .

Well, we have considered an example of the fallen king IE but what about the reigning king Google Chrome?

Earlier, we realized the browser market share. Now, let’s dig deeper and look into the browser version market share.

Right now, the latest version of Google Chrome is 83.0. However, 0.12% of worldwide users are still using Google Chrome 76 which was released last year. Even though the latest version is out there, not all users prefer to switch instantly. In this case, if your site suddenly stops running on old browser versions, it could result in a loss of both traffic and revenue.

It might be an age-old practice but it is always best to test how a website or application looks in every browser (and versions). After all, some minor modifications to make your  website browser compatible with HTML or CSS might not be a huge task but it will have a substantial impact on your user experiences.

It has become a common practice for browsers to have frequent release cycles with updates rolling out within a few weeks. As a developer, you simply cannot assume that all your users keep up with these updates and/or have the latest browser versions on their devices.

Another reason why it’s important to test on old browser versions is corporate restrictions. Some companies restrict employees from performing frequent browser updates due to security reasons. They often have blockers in place to stop automatic updates and it falls on individuals to update them manually. And of course, some users simply don’t prefer to update their browser version!

So should you test your web app on outdated and older browser versions when there is a new version waiting?

Absolutely. Why? The answer is simple, to retain your user base and provide a seamless experience to every website or web-app visitor. This is exactly why cross-browser testing or browser compatibility testing exists, to begin with!

Devising A Strategy For Browser Compatibility Testing On Older Browser Versions

Now, you know the importance of browser compatibility testing on older browser versions but you can’t go around testing all of them on different operating systems in random order. You need to devise a proper cross-browser testing strategy .

That way, you will be able to prioritize the browsers which matter the most and make your website cross-browser compatible with the first. You can figure out the high priority browsers through web analytics tools. Your web analytics tool will help you pinpoint the browser versions and operating systems that are responsible for a majority of your web traffic.

Next, you can devise a cross-browser testing matrix that would help you organize these browsers + OS combinations intuitively.

Different Ways For Cross Browser Testing On Older Browser Versions

Once you have the browser compatibility testing matrix ready, you then need to decide the best-suited way to perform cross-browser testing on older browser versions. There are different ways you can go about it.

1. Using Browser Emulators or Simulators

You can use browser emulators or simulators to perform cross-browser testing on older browser versions. With emulators and simulators, mimic the working of software so you can configure and execute your testing in your specified environment. The difference between the two lies with simulators being unable to emulate the actual hardware of an operating system over which you want to run browser compatibility testing. For more details refer to our blog on  emulator vs simulator .

Browser emulators are a great way for browser compatibility testing on older browser versions. However, since you would be emulating the hardware, the chances of incorrect test results are higher in comparison to real browsers.

2. Installing Older Browser Versions

The old school way of doing it – installing older browser versions on your machine. However, this approach isn’t feasible. You can’t go around wasting valuable time installing and uninstalling the browsers. Another challenge is operating system dependency. You can’t  test IE on macOS or the latest Safari browsers on Windows. Also Google Chrome, Opera, Edge, etc. browser versions might render your website differently in Windows when compared with macOS.

You are going to have more accurate results than emulators as you will be working with real browsers and real devices. However, this approach is too laborious and time-consuming.

3. Using Local Virtual Machines/On-Premise Virtual Machines

Many often get confused between emulation and virtualization but remember that they aren’t the same. In emulation, you are mimicking a machine but in virtualization, you have a real physical machine connected to a virtual server which allows you to interact with that machine from a remote system.

VMware is a popular tool for configuring local virtual machines. Using virtual machines is another way to test how a website works on older browser versions. The rendering engine can’t create complications. Thus, this method is ideal if you are up for it budget-wise.

Install old browser versions in one or more VMs after setting them up. You can also run VMs in parallel across Linux, Mac, and Windows, provided you have a good hardware configuration. This is something I would like to highlight, you will need to spend a good amount of money on hardware configuration if you plan to set up an on-premise virtual machine infrastructure. Plus, you will need a dedicated resource team who will be responsible for maintenance and cleaning the local virtual machines after they are used.

4. Using Real Machines Hosted On Cloud

This is the most preferred way of cross-browser testing on the legacy and latest browser versions. You can make use of a cross-browser testing cloud such as LambdaTest. With cloud testing, you end up saving both time and money spent on maintaining your on-premise infrastructure for virtual machines. So you could focus on what’s most important i.e. cross-browser compatibility testing.

You can easily test your site across Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Internet Explorer, and Yandex. You can even test on mobile browsers.

You also get the advantage of one-click bug logging to your favorite project management tools such as Jira, Asana, Trello, etc.

And if you want things to be super fast, we offer automated browser testing with our cloud Selenium Grid which can help you test on multiple browsers and OS combinations simultaneously.

Some additional features include geo-location testing, integrated debugging, and locally hosted web-testing.

5. Using In-Built Developer Tools

Some browsers like the Internet explorer also allows you to switch back to an older browser version through native developer tools. Take the case of Internet Explorer. IE9, 10, and 11, all have developer tools. You can access them whilst in IE by pressing F12. Through this method, you can change your document as well as browser mode.

However, using in-built developer tools has its limitations. They are the least reliable in comparison to other ways we have discussed so far. You can occasionally use it for unit testing but I wouldn’t recommend you perform detailed website testing or even smoke testing using the in-built tools.

Retain Traffic and Revenue By Easily Testing on Old Browser Versions

Getting a site to work flawlessly on various browsers and their latest versions is a must. But that doesn’t mean that you can overlook a web app’s functionality in older browser versions. Sure, you can ask your users to update their browser versions. But do you think it’s fair to expect them all to update it at once? Of course not.

So, to ensure that there is no loss of traffic and revenue, it’s important to keep a website cross-browser compatible in old browser versions as well. In case users haven’t updated theirs, they shouldn’t feel punished for it! Not to mention, a great UX in all versions leads to a positive brand review and a killer market reputation. The easiest way to ensure zero interruptions in your website traffic and revenue is to test on old browser versions as frequently as possible. 

Happy testing!

Published at DZone with permission of Harshit Paul , DZone MVB . See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

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Make testing easier with old browsers versions emulator

One of the biggest problems faced by website developers is the lack of cross-browser compatibility, especially browser version testing. Cross-browser compatibility is usually understood as the ability of a site to display equally well, regardless of the browser in which the user is viewing the pages.

For example, when viewing pages of a web resource in the older Firefox browser versions , all pages can be displayed without any problems. And when viewing the same site in older versions of Internet Explorer, some blocks will start to move out, display crookedly. In addition, there may be problems with the display of fonts, web forms, etc.

Try testing for free right now.

Why do testers need to test website on old browsers, using browser emulators, installing all older browser versions and check manually, using local virtual machines, using built-in developer tools, tips on how to perform test on old browsers emulator wisely, what's the result of the testing website on old browsers versions, frequently asked questions.

There are many sites on the Internet that compete with each other. When browsing sites, users use the browser that is more convenient for them and they like for some reason. Some people like the interface and many add-ons in Chrome, some like the simplicity of Firefox, and for some, standard Edge or Internet Explorer are enough for their small needs. In order to attract and retain more users of the site, developers are forced to create and test sites in different browsers (including browser version testing).

According to Statcounter , the most popular browser in the world in March 2021 is Google Chrome 64.19%. It is followed by the other browsers (ranked in order of decreasing popularity):

• Safari - 19.03%
• Mozilla Firefox - 3.68%
• Edge - 3.45%
• Samsung Internet - 3.27%
• Opera 2.13%

Usually, for testing in browsers, the two latest versions of the browser are used: the current one and the previous one. However, if we take the same Statcounter, then we have the following picture of the use of browser versions. The most popular versions of using Google Chrome are older versions of browsers, namely 88 and 87. At the time of writing this article, the latest version of Google Chrome is 89.

As we can see, not all users have switched to the new version of the browser and prefer older ones, so what is left for developers to do if they want to have an up-to-date and adapted website? Yeap, exactly, they need to test old browsers, because if they don’t do it, then someone else will do it, and thus the potential flow of clients and traffic will go to someone else.

After all, you must admit that new versions of browsers are released almost every two weeks, if not more often, and to assume that the user will use the latest versions is a utopia. And if we take into account the reluctance of users to update to new versions for personal reasons or for reasons of security, then testing sites on older versions of browsers is a very weighty argument.

How to perform the test on old browsers versions

Now that we know the answer to the question why it is important to test website on old browsers, it is logical to predict the next question, namely, how to do it? There are many different ways to test your site in different browsers and different operating systems. Fortunately, we live in a modern world that can provide us with different options, for instance old browsers emulator services, for conducting these tests. Let's take a closer look at them.

When creating a website design, you need to test the resulting result in all popular browsers and their versions to make sure that everything looks as it was intended. Or, at least, there are no obvious glitches and bugs that make it impossible to use the site. For testing, you can use online old browser emulator services, for instance Comparium . This online service does not require installation and can check the appearance of the site in many browsers and operating systems. If there are difficulties with finding and installing old browser versions, Comparium - a testing service with a rich set of operating systems and browsers including browser version testing support will come to the rescue.

Installing local browsers takes time, creates version conflict issues. And different versions of Internet Explorer, for example, cannot coexist with each other without special tweaks. But what if you need to test in Internet Explorer with only macOS available? Or you are an avid Windows user and need to test on older versions of Safari? Therefore, you need to have more than one or two devices in order to be able to install all possible versions on all kinds of devices to test website on old browsers.

And by the way, do not forget that the same site may look different in older versions of the browser on different operating systems. Now imagine a picture, you - with a twitching eye have been sitting for a whole week manually checking your site - intriguing prospect, don’t you think so?

The most useful, stable and somewhat productive solution is the use of virtual machines, even though this is problematic in the initial deployment. But, having several deployed virtual machines, you gain flexibility and the ability to test cross-platform, cross-browser, including browser version testing as well as change screen resolutions without any problems. However, this requires large capacities, and this, in turn, requires large costs.

By the way, using built-in developer tools is another good way to test website on old browsers. For example, Internet Explorer has an integrated function for displaying content with "old" browsers, which is a very useful function, since it is impossible to install several versions on one copy of Windows without the need to install additional software. Although this method is reliable, it is by no means practical and has several disadvantages.

Well, we figured it out and answered a number of questions regarding testing using old browsers emulators. However, you should not select absolutely all versions of all browsers in a row thinking that this will help in promoting the site. Because first of all, it may not be very wise, and second of all, you can go crazy, do you have any idea about the number of versions of different browsers?

To prioritize versions in order, you need to draw up a cross-browser testing strategy, which means that you need to study the analytics from which devices most of the traffic is coming, and thus determine which versions and which browsers are worth starting the test. The development of the browser compatibility matrix can help you in studying this issue.

Just admit, as if you resort to radical measures and say goodbye to old browsers, almost deliberately stuffing the site on purpose with modern technologies and showing a pop-up in old browsers with a proposal to urgently update, this is not very client-oriented. It is also naive to assume that all users update their browser versions on the day of their release, because they are accustomed to the old functionality and not everyone likes something new.

So, if you refuse to test in older versions of browsers, using either old browser emulator services, development tools or virtual machines, it will lead to a loss in the number of customers, a decrease in traffic, a loss of profits, and, as a result, the collapse of your product as such. Do you need it? Definitely not. Therefore, our advice to you is, do not be lazy to analyze the browser market and test website on old browsers in order to avoid harm to your business. After all, if you spend your time wisely you will get profit.

I am developing a website using the latest IE and Chrome for testing. Found some glitches on older browsers like IE 6/7 as some percent of clients still use these versions and the site doesn’t look like it is intended. Installing different versions of browsers is killing me, especially when you need to test it all manually. Is there any way I can emulate browsers' different versions? Interested in IE and Firefox.

You can use https://comparium.app/ This service helps you create screenshots in different browsers.

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Old safari browser to test Web pages

• Thread starter al404
• Start date Apr 20, 2016
• Sort by reaction score

macrumors 6502a

• Apr 20, 2016

I'm a Web developer and unfortunately my client has an older mac, not sure how old but something that on old IE9 works it doesn't seem to work on that version of safari. Is it possible to install into parallels an older os x ? Or if you guys know another way to test older safari versions  

• Apr 23, 2016

Safari is updated along with the OS. So yeah, you'll have to install the OS X version that he uses. Parallels will work fine for that. It'll be a big hassle getting that exact OS version, though. And you'll have to install it too. What does he want, you keeping a Mac with Parallels with all OS versions? Seems a big hassle for a small shop. Do tell your client that this is all quite irregular, right? I'd stipulate in your next contract that you test on only the latest versions of all browsers.  

macrumors G3

al404 said: I'm a Web developer and unfortunately my client has an older mac, not sure how old but something that on old IE9 works it doesn't seem to work on that version of safari. Is it possible to install into parallels an older os x ? Or if you guys know another way to test older safari versions Click to expand...

• May 1, 2016

cerberusss said: Safari is updated along with the OS. So yeah, you'll have to install the OS X version that he uses. Parallels will work fine for that. It'll be a big hassle getting that exact OS version, though. And you'll have to install it too. What does he want, you keeping a Mac with Parallels with all OS versions? Seems a big hassle for a small shop. Do tell your client that this is all quite irregular, right? I'd stipulate in your next contract that you test on only the latest versions of all browsers. Click to expand...

• May 2, 2016

al404 said: i always do specify IE 10 and up, Firefox Safari and Chrome latest versions but when the boss has a specific browser and OS version he thinks that it has to see it correctly Click to expand...

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Safari Browser Testing

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Instant access to different Safari versions, test on real Apple products.

• macOS Sonoma: Safari 17
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• OSX High Sierra: Safari 11
• OSX Sierra: Safari 10
• OSX El Capitan: Safari 9
• OSX Yosemite: Safari 8

Safari Testing On Windows Machines

Are you using Windows on your computer and want to test something on Safari? No need to setup a virtual machine, simply test your website on a remote Safari desktop browser in the cloud. It does not matter if you are using Windows 11, 10, Vista or XP on a laptop, pc or any other device. TestingBot will stream the contents of a remote macOS machine to your screen. Test any version of Safari on Windows, developer tools included.

TestingBot provides access to various Safari versions, ranging from Safari 8 up to 17 on Desktop and Mobile Safari running on iOS 8 up to 17.

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Use Appium to connect to our grid of physical iOS devices and run automated mobile Safari tests against your website.

Run multiple Appium tests simultaneously, shortening your total Appium execution time.

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Test on the devices that matter, representing a large share of global device usage.

Local Cross Browser Safari Testing

Use our secure tunnel to quickly and easily test your staging website on any Safari browser version on macOS and iOS.

Once you download and start our tunnel, you can immediately test your webapps running on your computer or internal network on any browser in our cloud, straight from your browser.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do i need to test my website on safari.

Safari has a market share of about 4% in the global browser market. This browser is built and maintained by Apple and supports all the latest browser technologies.

Safari is the default browser on all macOS operating systems, which means a large portion of macOS users will use this browser for their day-to-day browsing. Test Safari's private browsing capabilities, open multiple tabs or test the cross site tracking prevention.

What is Safaridriver?

Safaridriver is a utility, shipped by default in every macOS operating system, which allows Selenium to automate Safari through a HTTP based API.

To use Safaridriver, you need to make sure it is enabled by running this command in a terminal window: safaridriver --enable

How can I automate Mobile Safari?

We recommend using Appium, which has built-in support to communicate with iOS Safari. Simply run your Appium scripts against the TestingBot device grid.

TestingBot will instruct the iOS device to open Safari. Your Appium script will then instrument the mobile Safari browser in an automated way.

How does TestingBot help with Safari testing?

TestingBot provides a grid of real browsers, ranging from Safari 8 up to 17 on Desktop.

Next to desktop browsers, TestingBot provides access to physical iOS devices, capable of running mobile Safari tests.

Can I test Safari on iPhone and iPad?

TestingBot provides access to physical iOS devices, located in our datacenter.

You can run your automated or manual tests against iOS Mobile Safari on our iPhones and iPads.

How to test on older Safari versions?

TestingBot provides access to Safari versions from Safari 8 up to Safari 17.

Why is TestingBot the preferred choice for Safari Testing?

TestingBot provides real Safari browsers, ranging from Safari 8 up to Safari 17. You can use the developer tools that come with Safari to debug webpages, inspect elements and run performance tests.

You can test the intelligent tracking prevention, test Safari extensions, open multiple tabs and perform all other actions on a remote Safari instance.

How can I test on Mobile Safari?

TestingBot provides access to both iOS simulators and physical iOS devices. Use the developer tools to inspect webpages running on Mobile Safari, straight from TestingBot's Manual Testing service.

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Apple to unveil AI-enabled Safari browser alongside new operating systems

Safari getting new AI tools in iOS 18

The software — expected to debut as Safari 18 later in 2024 — is currently undergoing evaluation alongside internal builds of Apple's next-generation operating system updates, namely iOS 18 and macOS 15, according to people familiar with the matter. Should all of the new features make it to the release candidate stage, users will be treated to a new user interface (UI) for customizing popular page controls, a "Web eraser" feature, and AI-driven content summarization tools.

Intelligent Search - AI-enhanced browsing and text summarization

Engineers evaluating the latest builds of Safari 18 can find a toggle for the new page controls menu within the browser's address bar. The menu consolidates — and provides quick access to — old and new page control tools, among them being the browser's new "Intelligent Search" feature.

This feature is not automatically enabled in test builds of Safari 18 and instead requires manual activation from the page controls menu. Once enabled, it's believed the tool leverages Apple's on-device AI technology — specifically the Ajax language-learning model — to identify topics and key phrases within a webpage for which to base the summarization.

In selecting key phrases, Apple's LLM software identifies sentences that provide explanations or describe the structure of objects, depending on the text in question. Words repeated within a text and key sentences are recognized as text topics.

These early indications suggest Apple is striving to deliver text summarization alongside Safari 18 later this year, though the exact implementation of this feature remains fuzzy.

Apple's text summarization features could be a response to rival generative AI tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. But Apple's on-device models and technologies like Private Relay could make the experience much more secure for users. Intelligent Search is also likely to be the same AI browser assistant that one X user hinted at a couple of weeks back.

Web Eraser for better content-blocking

Also accessible from the new page controls menu is a feature Apple is testing called "Web Eraser." As its name would imply, it's designed to allow users to remove, or erase, specific portions of web pages, according to people familiar with the feature.

The feature is expected to build upon existing privacy features within Safari and will allow users to erase unwanted content from any webpage of their choosing. Users will have the option to erase banner ads, images, text or even entire page sections, all with relative ease.

The erasure is said to be persistent, rather than limited to a browsing session. This means that Safari will remember the changes even after the original tab or window has been closed.

When visiting a web page with previously erased content, Safari will inform the user that the page has been modified to reflect their desired changes. The browser will also give the user the option to revert changes and restore the webpage to its initial, unaltered state.

As for where Apple got the inspiration for Web Eraser, the company could have Sherlocked the feature from the third-party app 1Blocker. The application features a similar way of erasing ads, where users would tap ads to make them disappear.

Updated UI will move key tools into one easy location

The new page controls menu referenced throughout this article will attempt to offer Safari 18 users quick and easy access to several options previously located across different menus and the Share Sheet. Running on pre-release versions of macOS 15, for instance, the menu also pulls in the "Aa" menu common on existing iPadOS versions of the browser. These include zoom options, webpage settings for privacy controls, content blocking options, extension shortcuts, and access to the new AI and erasure tools.

These various options existed previously on macOS, but were found by navigating through the Safari settings menu. Having all of these controls in one central location in the Address Bar will make these options more discoverable for end users. Other options like on-page text search and reader mode are also in this menu.

This all suggests Apple intends to unite the iPadOS and macOS Safari UI paradigms when it unveils its new OS releases during its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

AI-enhanced Visual Lookup feature could be available in 2025

Simultaneously, Apple is also working on a much more powerful visual search feature scheduled for integration sometime in 2025 that will allow users to obtain information on consumer products when browsing through images. People familiar with the tool say it's similar to the Visual Lookup feature, through which Siri can identify plants, pets and landmarks from photos.

Visual Search could be implemented as a system-wide feature. So, instead of surfacing search results in the Photos app, the user may be able to use Visual Search directly in Safari by selecting an image.

Given development of this tool is in the earlier stages, it remains unclear how Apple will ultimately go about implementing it. It also remains to be seen whether or not the feature will make it through internal testing.

The iPhone maker has expressed significant interest in artificial intelligence and more recently published research related to on-device language learning models. This goes hand in hand with widespread rumors about several other AI-powered software features, many of which are expected to make their debut later this year with iOS 18.

Another big year for Safari

From its inception, Safari was always meant to rival existing web browsers.

Safari was originally added to macOS as a means of replacing Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Mac, which was the default browser. Over the years, the app made its way to the iPhone , and has since received various upgrades over the years.

More recent versions of Safari provide users with personalized web suggestions, and allow for greater privacy protection with features such as iCloud Private Relay.

This latest set of enhancements only serves to better position Safari against the competition, in an ever-increasing landscape of generative AI tools and third-party ad-blockers.

While Apple tests many such features during different development stages, it is important to remember that not all of them make it to release. Apple has been known to delay features or cancel them entirely, so there's always a chance we may not see these new Safari features after all.

Along with Safari 18 and its associated improvements, we should also see a revamped Calculator with Math Notes make its way to iPadOS 18. Freeform Scenes and Adaptive Voice Shortcuts are new OS features, which are also expected to debut later this year.

Apple is expected to introduce various AI-related enhancements as part of iOS 18 and macOS 15, both of which should be announced at the company's annual WWDC on June 10.

36 Comments

"As for where Apple got the inspiration for Web Eraser, the company could have Sherlocked the feature from the third-party app 1Blocker. The application features a similar way of erasing ads, where users would tap ads to make them disappear." They may also have been inspired by Simplified Page....

As long as I can turn it off/hide it they can knock themselves out. 

Will the web eraser feature remove pop up videos, such as the ones that appear on this site?

I use the 'Reader' function in Safari quite a bit, but sometimes it doesn't work very well. Seems like something that AI could help make better. 

Web ads suck but how else do you think your favorite websites will stay in business? Are you prepared to pay a subscription to every site? I doubt it…

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Rumor: iOS 18 to add new ‘Web Eraser’ and page summarization features to Safari

Apple is reportedly planning big updates to Safari as part of iOS 18 and macOS 15 later this year. According to a report on Tuesday, the changes will include a new AI-powered tool called “Intelligent Search” with page summarization, a “Web Eraser” feature, and more.

iOS 18: New Safari features

The report, which comes from Marko Zivkovic at Apple Insider , cautions that “exact implementation” of these features “remains fuzzy.” We’d treat these claims with skepticism for the time being.

According to Zivkovic, Apple is planning a redesigned controls menu for Safari’s address bar that “consolidates old and new page control tools” in a central location. One of the new tools is reportedly something called “Intelligent Search.”

This feature, which is not enabled by default in test builds of Safari 18, can be activated from the new menu in the address bar. From there, the tool will “identify topics and key phrases within a webpage” and generate a summary of the page. The report speculates that Apple is “striving to deliver text summarization alongside Safari 18 later this year,” but again, the specific details are “fuzzy.”

Arc from The Browser Company  also combines a variety of AI features with web browsing, including page summarization options.

Safari 18 in iOS 18 and macOS 15 will also reportedly include something called “Web Eraser.” This feature is “designed to allow users to remove, or erase, specific portions of web pages,” according to Zivkovic.

Using the Web Eraser feature, users could choose to remove certain elements from a webpage like ads, images, and more. It’s a functionality already offered by certain third-party ad blockers, but Apple is apparently working on its own first-party implementation for iOS 18 and macOS 15.

Notably, any changes you make to a webpage would apply each time you visited that page. “This means that Safari will remember the changes even after the original tab or window has been closed,” Zivkovic says.

When visiting a web page with previously erased content, Safari will inform the user that the page has been modified to reflect their desired changes. The browser will also give the user the option to revert changes and restore the webpage to its initial, unaltered state.

9to5Mac’s Take

Apple implementing what is essentially a built-in ad blocker to Safari could be disastrous for ad-supported online publications like the one you’re reading right now.

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EDR: How to Download a Different Sensor Version From the Sensors Page

By cb_support posted sep 10, 2020 02:17 am, environment.

• EDR: 5.x and Higher
• Create a test group by selecting  Sensors  >  Groups > New
• Copy in the  Server URL  and any other settings from desired policy.
• Under the U pgrade Policy , select the desired version to be tested under " Automatically upgrade to a specific version ." 
• Select  Create Group
• Verify that the newly created test group is selected in the sensor administration page
• The sensor version will be available under Download Sensor Installer.

Additional Notes

• The home page and sensor download page download the sensor version based off of the currently selected group in the sensor admin page
• Only the latest sensor version will be available if this is a new install
• Carbon Black recommends testing out the latest version before pushing it to an environment

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