Why is Safari such a PITA?

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Level 1

12 points

Why is Safari such a PITA?

I've owned apple notebooks and desktops for more than 20 years. Currently, I run three MBPs and one iMac, all with OS Monterey, all updated, all with the latest Safari updates, and all with the identical Safari problems. It's sluggish, it freezes, "can't find" many web pages, won't open many web page images or it hides web page text under the images, crashes on some web pages and is in general an experience beyond frustrating.

Yet, I experience NONE of the aforementioned problems with Chrome or Firefox. They both work transparently "right out of the box". Without fail.

So, why is this, and why can't apple build a browser that should be superior to all alternatives, especially since it's native to the apple OS and hardware?

I'm a user, not a developer. I know all about the recommendations for tweaking Safari, emptying caches, getting into its innards and changing plists and whatnot, including deleting and reloading Safari. Over the years, I've done it all, and the fixes all last about ten minutes at best. I don't need to do any of that with Chrome or Firefox, so why should I have to do it with the browser that's supposed to be optimized for apple?

All I want is a browser that works reliably and transparently for me, the user, and increasingly I'm finding that Chrome and Firefox do that for me, not Safari. There's no excuse for it. And FYI, this isn't new problem. With me, it's been the case from Day One, years ago.

As I noted, I'm just a user, not a coder a programmer or a tech wizard, and as far as I can tell, the Safari browser is a PITA and I'm ready to delete it altogether.

Someone please tell me why Safari doesn't work as well as Chrome or Firefox. Increasingly, I'm turning to my 2020 Dell XPS 17" touchscreen laptop that works flawlessly with OS 11.

Posted on Dec 5, 2021 11:16 PM

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Answer 1

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Alphapenguin Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 6, 2021 8:02 PM in response to Yer_Man

I gave you three examples in a single evening. What more do you want me to provide?

But you know, never mind. Over the years I've seen enough complaints from other users like me who experience unresolved issues similar to mine to recognize Safari will never be the optimal browser for my needs, so it's no longer my default browser.

When I'm trading stocks and options, the last thing I need is a Safari browser freeze or crash in the midst of a trade, as happened the morning while I was setting up a trade but before I executed it. That was enough for me. Most web developers are never going to optimize their pages to meet the demands of apple's ecosystem, hence Chrome, Firefox and my Dell XPS. Problem solved.

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,438 points

Dec 5, 2021 11:28 PM in response to Alphapenguin

Well I can tell you that I have none of those issues. So what might be of use is if you tell us what websites you're seeing these issues on, so we can see if the issue is systemic or local to something on your machine.

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Answer 3

Alphapenguin Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 5, 2021 11:35 PM in response to Yer_Man

This evening I couldn't load my investment account page at all ("can't find server"), couldn't load Yahoo Finance without lengthy delays, couldn't load Spectrum TV to watch my channels online - it just sat there with the beachball.

Turned to Chrome and all loaded instantly without issue. Same device, just a different browser.

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Answer 4

Alphapenguin Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 6, 2021 12:22 AM in response to Alphapenguin

For the record, I'm not anti-apple. AAPL has been a core holding in our investment account for more than 10 years and we're thrilled with their invention of the ARM-based M1 chip. But that doesn't mean they can't do better with some of their product offerings. After all, they finally saw the light and corrected their earlier user-unfriendly decision to eliminate all but the thunderbolt ports and returned ports that minimized the need for dongles in the latest iteration of notebooks.

Now they need to do the same with Safari, even if it means reinventing it altogether. I don't like using alternate browsers but too often Safari gives me little choice. As I see it, the Safari issues are a direct result of apple management trying to force web developers into the apple ecosystem rather than apple adapting to the real world.

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