Safari frequently visited sites missing and open tabs not syncing

Apples software is getting really flaky the last few years, and the latest round of yearly modifications without reason or real need is plain inacceptable.

I’ve decided to buy an Android tablet with USB-C (3.x) to replace my iPad Pro within the next few months. iPad mini 2021 looked good, but… then came iOS15. On top of that, the USB support is lacking. Why pay for parking in problem space?

The newest iPad models are all too restricted on the USB front compared to Android (now on 12), and since I have given up using most - ahem - “pro-apps” on ipadOS, I only need mail (apple’s mail, calendar and contacts are becoming more and more problematic, if you do not use iCloud), a browser that doesn’t need emergency updates that not really solve the actual use problems (Firefox is looking really good now, and it doesn’t get Apples silly “marketing-modifications” each year) and fast read/write speeds to external SSD’s (even my several year old Samsung Galaxy Note10+ is faster than nearly any Apple tablet on read (pro - ahem - or not ;-), and in all cases on write to SSD).

Microsoft office apps work well, so why get locked into Apple only Apps (like Pages) for day to day use. Microsoft works on all my platforms. Apple does not. And the next iOS/ipadOS update may introduce yet another set of problems in daily use.

I no longer want to pay for the yearly hazzle on Apple gear.

Currently the upgrade from my iPhone 12 Pro will probably not be an iPhone 14, but a good, flexible Android (12 or 13) based smartphone. My near monthly security upgrades on Android from 10 onward have been hazzle free, compared to Apples yearly horrors.

Choosing is surprisingly easy, this time around.

Regards

This issue has been reported from so many users. (6 posts only in a few days)

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253222110

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253292709

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253289835

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253283431

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253285661

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253282235

I also reported to Apple support twice, but they always say "We recognize this issue, but no progress in investigation"...

Same here, since iOS 15 my 4 gen iPad doesn’t show those sites on start page. However my older iPad Air 2 works. Another annoying “improvement” in Safari, side bar with bookmarks, reading list, history, one extra tap now added why!!!!

And I could go with iPhone “features”……..

As an old saying goes, ain’t broken don’t fix it stupid.

Add me in on this issue. Have been using my new iPhone 13 Pro Max for almost two months now and Frequently Visited section in Safari should've been populated by now, especially since I regularly visit webpages that aren't listed in my Bookmarks. Safari on Mac however shows the Frequently Visited section just fine.

Well, they keep adding “features” to justify selling more new hardware (at least they offer trade-in, otherwise old not working anymore junk gets dumped). However not much really worth having it terms of those “features”. Usually more annoying than helpful. For instance “tab groups” showing up when you access Safari app. They are fine if you need many tabs accessible, but you should be able to hide this feature. If you have few tabs open it shows current group page and new group “start page”, which isn’t really needed, because you could simply start new group if you wanted.

My peeve is my alarm system app that with latest iOS 15.1 has trouble to arm my home alarm. It churns away and eventually times out. I can check the status of it, but can’t operate it anymore with the app. In hour house we got two different iPhones SE and 13 pro, apps on both have the same problem. So, I have to do things manually. My alarm company is looking into it.

Well, they went through couple of iOS updates and except useless and annoying icons at the bottom at Safari page nothing made it better.

Made in China hardware, perhaps made in China software updates?

Absolutely same crap here. Happened on all my devices. Fixed on Macs (don’t know how) but nothing helps iPhone. Reset cache and turned this feature on/off many times. I see tabs from other devices but not frequently visited sites

Bug's still there.

No frequently visited sites.

Old "zombie" tab from Mac iCloud Tabs keeps showing on iPhone. Clearing data, deleting Safari folder, logging out, closing this tab multiple times doesn't help. Renaming devices doesn't help. Safe mode didn't help.

Mac's "iCloud tabs" also is out of sync. Checkmark on toolbar "show iCloud tabs" often disappears and reappears only after rebooting.

The problems only started with iOS 15.

Same issue. As a workaround, I added my most used sites to my Reading List, and moved the Reading List to the top of the new tab page. That way when I click in the address bar I can at least access those sites quickly.

I’ve been struggling with this issue for months and around the same time I started receiving “content not authorized” for about 70% of the songs in my Music library that I try to play on my phone.

Could it be a similar cloud issue or something tied to the permissions of my account? I feel I’m desperately trying to tie together all of my current Apple flaws in hopes of finding a common denominator since Apple Support is simply not equipped to help.

I’ve called a few times over the past few months but can no longer suffer through the shockingly inexperienced first-tier support and the aggressively condescending upper-tier support.

Same here, but I’m staying on 15.3.1 for the time being in case something more nasty turns up in 15.4 (there’s nearly always some new fail introduced at each Apple OS Update, the last few years).

i found my solution. I now use Firefox on all my gear, and now my Frequently visited Pages work. Firefox has always worked - for years and years - and it also syncs with my PC/Windows machines and my Android 12 smartphone too. What’s there not to like?

If Apple cannot even get their own hardware and their own soft/firmware to play nice, one has to wonder, if things will become worse and worse and… worse in the future; just as in recent Apple history through the last few years.

And as one migrates from not-really-working-that-well Apple app’s, the Apple locking factor becomes less and less important. I’m not even using iCloud anymore (I have a far better and far more reliably working “iClout” setup working now; far less hazzle since just before Covid turned up. Apples antics are becoming somewhat problematic ;-)

Regards