Safari 16.0 switch focus between full-screen playing video and general apps

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Level 1

4 points

Safari 16.0 switch focus between full-screen playing video and general apps

Hi, I recently updated Safari to 16.0 (17614.1.25.9.10, 17614) on M1 MacBook Air.

I found out there has been an issue when switching focus (using cmd+tab) between apps and full-screen playing content.

In previous version, say I play an youtube video and extend it to full screen, in the mean while, I use another app to edit something. When using cmd+tab to switch focus between full screen video and the other app, you would assume to see the video content(in full screen mode) and the app.

But now when you switch focus from some app to the video you were playing in full screen, it would take you to the "Click to Exit Full Screen" page with blurred page content.

This new "change" has been very annoying when switching focus between apps and video playing in full screen on safari.

Does anyone know how to resolve this issue? Or this is just a bug with Safari 16.0?

Thx!

Posted on Sep 17, 2022 7:00 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ivoooo Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 4, 2022 10:06 PM in response to barberlives123

Hi barberlives123,

I am not so sure about what you mean about the active game in Safari full screen.

But I did contact Apple Support about this issue.

Here is the update:

I contacted Apple Support and report this issue with them. The senior engineer did collect a few data about this issue.

After that, I did another test by partitioning my disk and creating another volume then installing a complete clean macOS system.

In macOS 12.6 and Safari 15.6.1, this issue did not occur. However, if I update Safari to 16.0, the issue I mentioned would occur.

I did provide materials to the Apple Support team for them to inspect more. The team think it might be something wrong with the Safari 16.0.

Another thing is that the team advise me to update my system to macOS Ventura 13.0 to see if anything changes. And after my update to Ventura 13.0 and Safari at 16.1, the issue resolved.

Good thing is that this specific problem vanished after system update.

Thank you for your reply.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

JovonaP.

Community Specialist

Sep 21, 2022 8:49 AM in response to Ivoooo

Hi Ivoooo,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. We understand full screen options aren't working as expected with Safari on your MacBook Air. We're happy to help.

If you haven't already, try swiping left or right on the trackpad to see if you're able to access other apps as expected while in full screen. Check out the following resource for more information: Use apps in full screen on Mac - Apple Support

If the issue persists we recommend testing in another user account. This step will help us determine if the behavior is specific to one user or system wide. Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac - Apple Support

Let us know the results. Does this issue only occur when using Safari full screen? Be sure to include any other steps that you may have tried.

Cheers!

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Answer 3

Chris_C1

Community Specialist

Oct 17, 2022 9:17 AM in response to Ivoooo

Hey there Ivoooo,

It sounds like you are returning to Safari, but not the fullscreen video player. Safari places the video player in a new space.

Let's test again, but take a look at spaces currently active. You should see your fullscreen video among these spaces.

Work in multiple spaces on Mac

Have a good one!

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Answer 4

Oct 17, 2022 11:08 AM in response to Ivoooo

Hey Ivoooo,

With the information Chris_C1 mentioned, if you go through all the available spaces, does it bring up the active game in Safari full screen from one of the spaces?

If not, reach out to Apple Support at the following link so they can look further into this with you:

Contact Apple Support

Take care.

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Answer 5

Ivoooo Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 17, 2022 4:02 AM in response to JovonaP.

Hi JovonaP.,

Thank you for your reply. And sorry for my late reply.

The issue I encountered was actually in a dual display setting. I recorded a clip to demonstrate this problem.

URL: https://youtu.be/2j-zrl_23Do

When I switch focus to an app on the second display and then I switch back, in previous version of Safari, it would just turn back to the video clip playing in full screen (on 1st display). However, after this 16.0 update, this operation was quite odd and it would switch back to the grayish background with "Click to Exit Full Screen" . This is certainly annoying while working simultaneously with two displays.

Also, I did create another user account to rule out user-specific factor. I tried the same operation, and the result was the same. This issue does persist even when in another user account.

Another thing is that I did try this specific operation with Chrome. [Version 106.0.5249.119 (Official Build) (arm64)]

With Google Chrome, when I switch focus between full-screen-playing video clip in Chrome and some other app on the second display, it does not render out the somewhat buggy result as Safari does. (ruling out a systematic issue with macOS)

So I think this is... a bug in this Safari version, right?

Thanks again.

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Answer 6

Ivoooo Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 17, 2022 10:17 AM in response to Chris_C1

Hi Chris_C1,

I do want to return to the fullscreen video player. I do understand that Safari will place the video player to a new space.

My issue was that in previous version, when switching focus forth and back (i.e. cmd+tab twice), the focus will bring to the fullscreen video player. But after I update to Safari 16.0, this operation will return me to the gray Safari focus with "Click to Exit Full Screen", which is kind of annoying. (especially when you are doing some sort of text editing while watching a video clip)

I do also embed another demo which includes the same operation in Safari and in Chrome.

I was more familiar with the Chrome's response while switching focus.

Here's the URL: https://youtu.be/eqnXdwchS-Q

Thank you for providing the info about multiple spaces though.🙂

Cheers!

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