While browsing the web in Safari, did you ever mistakenly mess up your personal and professional searches and wished there was a better way to keep them separate? If you are nodding in the affirmative, iOS 17 has paid heed to your need and offered a feature designed for this exact purpose. To keep the chaos away from browsing by putting your history, favorites, and tab groups perfectly organized, the latest iteration iOS lets you make Safari profiles based on different topics and switch between them seamlessly. Sounds pretty neat? Let me show you how to create and use Safari profiles in iOS 17 on iPhone and iPad.
Pro Tips to Use Safari Profiles in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17
Before moving ahead, let’s sort out the basics and delve a little deeper into how profiles work in Safari!
What is a Safari profile in iOS 17 and How Does It Work?
There is nothing new about the Safari profile as it has existed in Google Chrome for Mac/Windows PC for a long time. Hence, if you have tried Chrome on a desktop, you would be already familiar with how it works.
To be more precise, Safari profile is designed to offer a more personalized browsing experience by ensuring your personal and professional browsing doesn’t get mixed or for that matter go out of your hand. Imagine you have used Safari to order pizza and buy some clothes for your loved ones while enjoying precious time with your loved ones.
When you get back to your office and launch Safari to begin the usual tasks, your web pages get flooded with the same type of ads. Yeah, things like deals on Domino’s Pizza and the clothing brands you searched for take center stage.
If that’s not enough, you also begin to get the same sort of suggestions. Just in case, these after-effects don’t put you off, what would be your impression if one of your colleagues start browsing the web from where you left off? From what I can tell, it would terribly embarrass you. That’s the reason why there is a need to have a dedicated profile for a specific topic.
With a custom Safari profile, your entire browsing related to a specific topic remains inside. Aside from offering enhanced privacy to what you browse, it makes sure everything is in the Apple pie order and in one place. This spick and span play keeps distractions at bay while giving you one-click access to your favorites.
Do Your Safari Profiles Sync with Other iDevices Like iPad and Mac?
Thanks to iCloud syncing, your custom Safari profiles are seamlessly synced across iDevices. That means whatever changes you make on one device will appear on other devices as well. From history to favorites, everything you need is available across your devices.
Make a Safari Profile on your iPhone or iPad
- First off, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Scroll down and choose Safari.
- Now, tap on New Profile.
- After that, give a suitable name to your profile, choose a symbol and a preferred color for your profile. Besides, you can also fine-tune the Settings for your Safari profile. For example, tap on Favourites and then choose a preferred favorite. By default, the new tab will open on the Start Page.
- Once you have a perfectly customized Safari profile tap on Done to finish.
And that’s pretty much it! As there is no restriction, you can create as many profiles as you need.
Switch Between Different Safari Profiles on Your iPhone and iPad
- To do so, open Safari and then tap on the Tabs icons at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- After that, tap on the menu button at the bottom center.
- Then, tap on Profile and choose the Safari profile you want to switch to.
- Next, tap on Done and you are good to go!
Choose an Extension You Want to Use With Your Safari Profile
iOS offers a straightforward way to manage extensions for specific Safari profiles.
- Go to the Settings app on your iPhone -> Safari -> select the profile in question.
- After that, tap on Manage Extensions and then choose the extensions you wish to use with the profile.
Delete a Safari Profile on Your iPhone and iPad
If you no longer want to keep any Safari profile, you can choose to delete it. Note that deleting a profile, wipes out all its history, favorites, and tabs.
- To get it done, launch the Settings app on your iPhone -> Safari -> choose the profile you want to get rid of.
- After that, tap on Delete Profile and confirm the action.
That’s all there is to it!
A Couple of Handy Suggestions to Make Safari Profiles More User-Friendly
Having thoroughly given a try to Safari extensions, I have come out impressed with how they work. However, there are a couple of suggestions that I would like to offer in order to make them more effective.
1. Lock Safari Profiles
What’s the point in having a separate profile, if anyone can’t bump into it? Wouldn’t it be better if there was a way to lock your profile using Face ID or Touch ID? If you are like me who loves to have an extra layer of shield for sensitive data, you would want to keep your profile locked in order to ward off unauthorized access.
2. Export Safari Profiles to Another Browser
Another important suggestion that has come to my mind is the ability to export Safari profiles to another browser. Without an iota of doubt, Safari is a top-notch browser. However, there are times when you need to look beyond and use other popular browsers like Chrome or Firefox. And that’s when you feel like having a seamless switch.
On Mac, you can easily export/import browsing history between Safari and Chrome or Firefox. I wish there was a similar feature in iOS as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is Safari running so slowly on my iPhone?
The pileup of cookies and cache is one of the major reasons why Safari tends to slow down. Head over to Settings app -> Safari -> Clear History and Website Data to get rid of the clutter.
2. Is Safari the most secure browser?
Courtesy of a host of features designed to enhance security and privacy, Safari has become by far the most secure browser – without any doubt whatsoever.
3. Is there a way to export your history from Safari to Chrome or vice versa?
No. Unfortunately, there doesn’t exist an official way to export history from Safari to Chrome or vice versa.
Tips to Use Safari Profiles on iOS and iPad Like a Pro
There you go! So, that’s how you can make and use profiles in Safari on your iOS/iPadOS device. Since you have full freedom, create multiple profiles to manage your personal and professional lives. That said, what’s your take on this new iOS 17 add-on?
Read more: iOS 17 Software Update Got Stuck? 20 Ways to Fix It!
