The Safari browser has the feature to enable or disable the color theme in the tab or address bar. We can configure website tinting from the Phone Settings menu. It helps easy identification of the site when multiple tabs are loading. The colors are automatically extracted from the site, or the site owner can define the color theme.
Whenever the Cupertino giants release a new iOS or iPadOS, there’s always a decent hype surrounding the new goodies they offer. And things were the same this time around as well.
Well, it is safe to say that Apple managed to live up to the hype to a large extent. However, a few tweaks and additions in the Safari browser became the talk of the town, but not for all the right reasons.
First, its decision to shift the browser’s address bar to the bottom proved a significant drawback from a usability perspective. The introduction of the Website Tinting feature (or color tab bar) only worsened the matter.
This feature forces Safari to adapt to the website’s color that you are currently browsing for the unaware. For example, if red is the primary color on a site, the browser’s navigation buttons, tabs, and bookmarks would also adhere to this color scheme.
The ideology behind this might be to give a more immersive user experience. However, not many users seem to be in sync with this thinking.
It is a cause for significant distraction while interacting with the browser for a few users. Likewise, some even said these colors get so immersed that it is difficult to differentiate the browser’s component from the status bar.
Some have also pointed out that a website’s color scheme shouldn’t have a say in determining the OS’s status bar colors in the first place.
So if you also echo these thoughts and wish to disable the color in Tab Bar in Safari 15 on your iPhone/iPad, this guide is here to help you. Follow along for the instructions.
Color Tab Bar in Safari
The Website Tinting feature is enabled by default in the Safari browser. However, after listening to the user’s feedback in the beta builds, Apple did add an option to allow/disable the tinting. Here are the steps to disable the tab bar color in Safari iPhone/iPad:
- Launch the Settings menu on your device.
- Select Safari from the Settings menu list.
- Scroll down to the Tabs section, and enable Allow Website Tinting toggle on your iPhone.
The website tinting will be disabled, and the color address bar will be disabled.
Similarly, On iPad – scroll down to the Accessibility section, and turn off Show Color in Tab Bar toggle.
That’s it; the feature color in the tab bar or website tinting is disabled, and you will see a standard tab or address bar.
However, if you wish to re-enable it at any point, turn on the toggle button for the Allow Website Tinting on iPhone; and Show Color in Tab Bar on the iPad.
Bottom Line
We round off the guide on enabling and disabling the color in the tab bar in Safari on iPhone/iPad.
While this feature didn’t gather much positive reception, it’s great that the tech giants have given complete user control over this functionality rather than simply forcing it onto its user base (which is sadly becoming the new normal).
I like the feature since it helps me differentiate between the tabs based on a color scheme and also helps in providing a contrasting look to the tab.
What are your views about this new Website Tinting feature in iOS/iPadOS? Are you willing to keep it enabled, or is it proving to be a significant roadblock on the usability front?
Lastly, if you've any thoughts or feedback, then feel free to drop in below comment box. You can also report the outdated information.
