Gamingdeputy reported on May 26 that according to AppleInsider, Apple is testing an upgraded version of the Safari browser, which includes interface optimization, advanced content blocking capabilities, and a new AI-driven tool called “Smart Search.”
It is reported that the software is expected to be officially released as Safari 18 later in 2024 and is currently being evaluated together with the internal version of the next generation of Apple operating system updates (iOS 18 and macOS 15). If all new features pass the test, users will usher in a new user interface (UI) to customize common page control functions, as well as a “web eraser” function and an AI-driven content summary tool.
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Engineers evaluating the latest version of Safari 18 can find a new page control menu switch in the browser address bar. It is reported that the menu integrates all old and new page control tools and provides quick access, including the browser's new “smart search” function.
This feature is not automatically enabled in the beta version of Safari 18 and requires users to manually activate it from the page control menu. Presumably, once enabled, the tool will use Apple's on-device artificial intelligence technology (specifically the Ajax language learning model) to identify topics and keywords in web pages and summarize the content based on this.
When selecting keywords, Apple's LLM software identifies parts of sentences that provide explanations or describe the structure of an object (depending on the text). Repeated words and key sentences in the text are identified as text themes.
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In addition, a feature called “Web Eraser” can be found in the new page control menu, which Apple is testing. According to people familiar with the feature, as the name suggests, it allows users to remove or erase specific parts of a web page.
The feature is expected to build on Safari's existing privacy protection features, allowing users to remove unwanted content from any web page they choose. Users can easily “erase” banner ads, images, text or even entire sections of the page.
The wipe is said to be persistent, meaning Safari will remember the changes even after the tab or window is closed. When visiting a webpage that was previously wiped, Safari will notify the user that the webpage has been modified to reflect the changes they made. The browser will also allow users to choose to revert the changes and restore the webpage to its original, unmodified state.
Meanwhile, Apple is also developing a more powerful visual search feature that it plans to integrate sometime in 2025, which will allow users to get information about consumer products while browsing images. According to people familiar with the tool, it is similar to the “Visual Lookup” feature, through which Siri can identify plants, pets and landmarks in photos.
Visual search can be implemented as a system-level feature, so users can use visual search directly in Safari by selecting an image, without having to display search results in the Photos app.
Gamingdeputy needs to point out that not all features will eventually be released, and Apple is known to delay or completely cancel certain features. Apple is expected to announce multiple AI-related enhancements for iOS 18 and macOS 15 at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 10.
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