Apple went back to the drawing board with Safari on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey. The company is continuing to bring feature-parity across all of its devices, especially after the release of the M1 processor on the Mac.
With the latest version of Safari, you’ll largely get the same experience across the board. Of course, the iPad and Mac look more similar than the iPhone version, but all three versions have undergone a massive overhaul.
Why Is Safari Changing Colors?
Ignoring things like the redesigned tab bar, and the decision to move the address bar to the bottom on the iPhone, there’s another new feature in-tow. If you have been using the iOS 15, iPadOS 15 or macOS Monterey beta, then you’ll likely notice that the tab bar changes colors with some websites.
For example, nothing will change if you visit AppleToolBox, but it will change to black if you visit Bloomberg. And this happens across the board for a myriad of different websites.
For the most part, it’s not that much of a problem, but once you start getting outside of the “black and white” bars, then it might not be exactly aesthetically pleasing. We’ve seen other browsers attempt to do something similar in the past, but the truth remains that when visiting certain websites, it’s just not a great experience.
How To Stop Safari From Changing Colors on iOS and iPadOS
Thankfully, Apple is loosening up its “walled gardens” a bit with the latest software versions. In fact, Apple is giving you more control than ever over how you can interact with and use Safari on your different devices.
This includes being able to get rid of the color appearing in the tab bar if you don’t want it. Here’s how you can stop Safari from changing colors on the iPhone and iPad:
Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
Scroll down and tap Safari.
Under the Tabs section, tap the toggle next to Allow Website Tinting to the Off position.
Exit the Settings app.
Now when you head to your favorite websites on your iPhone or iPad, the colors won’t change. Instead, they will remain that silver-ish grey color that we’ve come to know over the years. And of course, you can always go back and re-enable the feature if you decide that you want to try it out again.
How To Stop Safari From Changing Colors on Mac
Because the Mac is the Mac, and has more methods for interacting with different apps, the settings are slightly different. But Apple has still made it possible to turn off the color-changing tabs when browsing the web with Safari. Here’s how you can do it:
Open Safari on your Mac.
Click Safari on the menu bar in the top left corner of the screen.
From the drop-down menu, select Preferences.
You can also press CMD + , on the keyboard with Safari open.
Click Tabs in the toolbar at the top of Safari Preferences.
Click the checkbox next to Show color in tab bar.
After you un-check the box, any open Safari tabs that have a splash of color will go back to “normal”. Plus, this setting will stick permanently, so even when the Safari app is upgraded in the future, it won’t just revert back to the color tabs option.
Conclusion
Personally, this is a feature that I have left enabled, because when a website integrates the color well, it’s actually a pretty unique experience. And with the iPhone, it almost feels like you’re using a different app, even though you just navigated to a different website.
Let us know what you think about all of the changes coming to Safari. Are you sticking with the colorful tabs? What about the unified tab bar on the iPad and Mac? Sound off in the comments below.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
Thank you SO much for your help in solving the toolbar colour change on Mac. It was driving me crazy and I spent hours trying to get it back to showing no colour. You’ve made my day!!!
Thanks for this. It was driving me nuts.
Thank you SO much for your help in solving the toolbar colour change on Mac. It was driving me crazy and I spent hours trying to get it back to showing no colour. You’ve made my day!!!