Safari 13

Originally published at: https://tidbits.com/watchlist/safari-13/

Updates Apple’s Web browser with a new start page with Favorites, frequently visited, and most recently visited Web sites, plus several other new features.

I updated to Safari 13.0 (13608.1.49) today, on my iMac 5K、High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G8030), and saw a brand-new problem. (I’ve never seen this in any earlier version of Safari.)

Open Gmail https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox in Safari 13.0.
Open a just-arrived e-mail message titled “TidBITS Japanese Issue #1482.”

In earlier versions of Safari, I normally (that is, every week) would:
click the Three-Dots (More…) button on the Gmail page window in Safari,
select ‘Print’ from the menu (which opens a new tab, and then opens the Print dialog),
click the ‘Cancel’ button on the Print dialog,
and then be happy with the Safari tab containing the e-mail message
(that is, a full TidBITS issue) only --> Select All and Copy and everything.

However, Safari 13.0 doesn’t let Gmail open a new tab, but instead shows an error message, saying you must enable Pop-up Windows for Gmail, to open a new tab
for the ‘Print’ command.

I opened Safari’s Preferences, went to the "Web sites’ tab, selected ‘Pop-up window’ from the sidebar, and ‘allow’-ed pop-up windows for ‘mail.google.com’.

After that, the problem completely disappeared.
Conclusion: As of Safari 13.0, you must authorize the pop-up window for ‘mail.google.com’, in order to use the ‘Print’ command of Gmail.

I installed Safari 13.0 today thinking it might have important security updates. It has frozen twice already. When it freezes it also prevents me from clicking on the Apple icon to access the Force Quit menu item. I have to use Option-Command-Esc to force quit safari.
I am not using any extensions.

Also its behaviour with text boxes (i.e logins) seems to be erratic.

Grrr

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My experience with Safari 13 is it freezes up several times a day. This began with the previous edition - but not quite as often. I’m using a late 2016 13 inch MBP - R running the latest Mojave.

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The main showstopper for me with Safari 13 is it removes, then blocks the installation of uBlock Origin as an extension, as well as BitDefender’s “TrafficLight” extension (which warns of malware on web sites as part of the BitDefender antivirus/antimalware suite). There is no workaround offered, just refusal to install. Those are the only two extensions I use, and they’re important to me. So I “downgraded” back to Safari 12.1.2 from a backup clone I created just before installing Safari 13.

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Note that if you use the 1Password extension and you aren’t running 1Password 7, you’ll have to pay for that upgrade to get a Safari 13 compatible version of the extension.

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The Wayback Machine extension was disabled after upgrading to Safari 13. I’m guessing that’s because it’s the only old-style Safari Extension that I had installed. (All my other extensions from the Mac App Store appear to be working just fine.)

So we now have a new Safari and once again we appear to need to get brand new extensions. I really wish Apple would finally make up its mind about how extensions should be handled and then stick to it. Having to go out to discover brand new extensions every time Apple updates Safari is really not all that much fun.

That said, what are you guys’ recommendations for ad/tracking blockers for the new Safari? Anything really good that doesn’t cost a fortune?

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Actually, the ones that work are the same as those that were new to Safari 12, it’s just that Safari 13 will no longer load the ones that were deprecated back then.

There is an ongoing discussion about this here in the uBlock Origin Issues that is still being updated with new information. See the Top picks, Other Good Options and Do Not Recommend sections.

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I’m not happy with Safari 13, sites are quite slow to load and I’ve had two crashes already. I’d roll back if not for the fact that 13 will be part of Catalina anyway. Until Apple gets the bugs worked out, I’ll be using an alternative browser.

Unfortunately, I upgraded to Safari 13 without realizing the 1Password 6 extension would not work. I’m not at all happy to be forced into paying for a subscription service now in order to upgrade to 1Password 7. I’ve been a 1Password user for many, many years now and have always paid for the standalone version. So, not a happy camper. I may switch over to Chrome, anyway, because Chrome is so much faster than Safari.

I have had to start using Firefox with that update.

I know that Agilebits doesn’t make it easy, but according to this page, you can still get a standalone license to version 7.

I’d like to put in a pitch for the Pi-Hole. It isn’t a browser extension, but rather a Raspberry Pi-based device that intercepts DNS requests and blocks attempts to access known trackers, and ad/malware servers.

I initially put in a Pi-Hole at my office when ad networks started to become a serious malware vector. I also put a VPN server on it, so that my iPhone would be protected when I was away from the office. The Pi-Hole will block ads not just in the browser, but in apps, IoT devices, and other net-connected software. It carries little of the risk of browser add-ons (a significant source of malware infections these days). It is independent of whatever ad-block-unfriendly changes that browser makers like Apple and Google add to their browsers. It also gives you fine-grained monitoring and control over what’s going on with your network. Mostly, though, I forget it’s even there until I reset my phone and forget to turn my VPN back on, and wonder why my phone is suddenly so much less responsive and my browser window is so crowded with ads that I can’t see content.

Yes, it’s a lot more trouble on the front end, but you won’t have to worry about a browser extension that might sell you out or have to be re-written for new releases of browser or OS software.

–Ron

Thanks @Doug Miller for this info. I didn’t see this on the 1Password website initially. I’ve just downloaded 1Password 7 and unfortunately, the deal for $49.99 for the standalone license is no longer available. Also, the payment pop-up states “Some features are only available with a 1Password membership, like multi-factor security, web access, data loss protection, and family accounts.” At any rate, thanks for letting me know that a standalone license is, indeed, available. I’ll mull over the options.

AdGuard. Fantastic multi-platform ad blocker. Fast and light on the resources and well-supported. I ended up buying the Mac edition to just run everything thru but the Safari extension is free as are their other browser-based extensions.

Thanks, Al. Very useful. :+1:

I’m surprised about the negative comments about AdBlock. I don’t like the idea of “paid acceptable ads” either, but it appears AdBlock lets you turn that off. I’ll try Ka-Block.

I have to say that I find this idea to have Safari extensions be “apps” in /Applications rather misguided. Who thought that was a good idea? And why? The plugin has no life outside of Safari. Why should I deal with it as if it were a proper app? It’s just more unnecessary clutter.

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You can use the 1PW extension with Firefox

I’m now hearing of problems with authenticating Google accounts in Safari 13. If you haven’t yet updated, I recommend holding off.