How to disable tab bar in Safari on iOS 5

I wish you could, but unfortunately you can't. The older safari for tabs was a whole lot better.

it. Maybe some people was willing to have the tabs - not me. I like the old way of accessing multiple pages opened in Safari. The tabs, in the way they are now, takes to much space from the screen.

I guess the end user should have an option of disabling the tabs... Go back to the way it used to be...

I hope they provide an option to get the old thumbnail viewer back. The tabs suck.

If it's something that you'd like then try leaving feedback : http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

I personally would also like an option for this. I am extremely happy for the reader feature but the tabs in the new version simply take too much space. For me it was not that important so i'd like an option to switch back to the previous version. Or a better option would be not to show the tabs bar when only just one page is open.

Tabs seem to be getting a hard time here so I'd just like to give them my support. IMO they are a far better way of handling multiple open pages that is far quicker to use.

The iPhone still uses the old method and I can appreciate that makes sense on such a small screen, but on the iPad, i'll take tabs every time. Sadly, Apple can't please all of the people all of the time.

I am fully in line with anxanywhere. The way it was done in IOS 4 was far more convenient ! A way to comeback to this ios4 behavior will be great.

Pure88 wrote:

I am fully in line with anxanywhere. The way it was done in IOS 4 was far more convenient ! A way to comeback to this ios4 behavior will be great.

I simply don't understand or agree with this. Having opened a second page in iOS 4, it then took 3 taps on the screen to close it and return to the original one. Now, a single tap and you're back where you were - that's 3 times easier to accomplish and hence far better.

Lucky for me, Apple seems to agree with me. 🙂

The only problem with safari under iOS 5 is when you have 9 tabs opened (which is often the case for me) you don't find anymore which is the right tab when you come back, while under iOS 4 it was far more easier thanks to the picture of the page.

I'm glad that you like the way Safari handles multiple opened pages now. Your are right when you says that it is much faster now to alternate among open pages. All I'm saying is that Apple shouldnt simple discontinue the first way of managing multiple pages. It shouldn't be that hard to include in the Safari preferences the tabs "On/Off" flag. No one ever asked if some people like it the way it was and this is why it should be an option.

When you have really a large number of open pages, the tabs can be a bit hard to find the exact page.

Pure88 wrote:

The only problem with safari under iOS 5 is when you have 9 tabs opened (which is often the case for me) you don't find anymore which is the right tab when you come back, while under iOS 4 it was far more easier thanks to the picture of the page.

Fair point, but it obviously now makes sense keeping fewer pages open. This is now easy to do as you can just add them to 'Reading List' so you can return to them later and since the Reading List syncs to your other devices they are available anywhere you might be browsing which HAS to be a plus.

I realise that the Reading List is just a list of bookmarks and doesn't actually store the page itself, whereas an open tab does - in theory. On many, many occasions I have switched to an open page (now Tab) and had to wait while the page was retrieved again. I don't understand why it does this since the page had already been downloaded and I hadn't asked it to 'redraw'. Also, it doesn't always occur. So why does it refetch some pages and not others? Anyway, if it is re-fetching the page, that is no different from just opening a bookmark and hence in that case storing something in the Reading List would be no different to keeping the page apparently open in another screen.

On the whole I do prefer the new Safari and from the reviews I've read, it seems that most others do also. In any case, there's no point wishing for the old behaviour as it's surely gone for good. Better to embrace the new way of working and learn to love that, so when they change to something else in iOS 6, you'll have something to complain about. 😁

My wife prefers the old way too. I have provided feedback to Apple, but home they give us the option to go back to the thumbnail collection of web pages. It is best for the small screen of the iPad.

Please, please IOS team... Remember, I do not want to ALWAYS see Safari, I only want the magic it performs. Please give me ability to tap-three-times and work ONLY with web page, no browser showing whatsoever. Now THAT will be a great use of screen! - whenever you're ready.

Thx

If you guys want it changed, tell Apple here, not in these forums.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html