# Safari 307 Hacker News commenters recommended Safari and 577 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 13 years (27 owners). **Verdict:** Apple's browser is praised for privacy protections, battery efficiency and Apple device integration, though critics cite aggressive tab reloading, sites that only work in Chrome, and iOS engine lock-in. ## Why people recommend it - Strong privacy and anti-tracking (5 comments): "Apple has introduced multiple anti-tracking technologies into Safari which prevents Google from collecting information from Safari users." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46845338)) "Apple doesn't collect your browsing data, they build in privacy controls that are pretty much as strong as they can manage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46301368)) "Apple - aside from PWAs competing with their App Store - has no real incentive to commodify, restrict or surveil the web" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49016203)) - Fast and energy efficient (5 comments): "if you could use any web browser for 20 minutes before running out of battery vs safari for hours, one is clearly better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46762260)) "because of the seamless integration with Apple platform features and because it is the most energy efficient browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49286489)) "performance is one of the main focuses of Safari and one of the main distinguishing factors that Apple strives for" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50084479)) - Seamless Apple ecosystem integration (3 comments): "because of the seamless integration with Apple platform features and because it is the most energy efficient browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49286489)) "Seamless integration of Apple devices is one of the biggest advantages of using Apple software like Safari" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46630139)) "It's always been fast and smooth, and the integration - like password sync and SMS 2FA keys - works great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085552)) - Counterweight to Chrome's dominance (3 comments): "Safari, Firefox, and hopefully soon Ladybird are the only alternative browser engines keeping them somewhat honest on that front." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50075944)) "Safari and Firefox are the tiny holdouts that prevent web technology from being 100% controlled by Google." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50073612)) "Because it cannot run Chromium, Safari on iPhone is the last refuge of the truly open and truly free web." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48793938)) ## What people warn about - Tabs reload, lose state (4 comments): "it doesn't behave very well with Reddit (keeps closing and reopening tabs due to "too much memory" problems." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48972438)) "Someone should be able to go to their translate app, then their photo galley, and back to Safari without it needing to refresh the context." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47173579)) "So I have safari and I can’t switch to my email? Both native apps and sometimes I lose the state of safari if I move more than 10s away?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47176659)) - iOS forces Safari engine (4 comments): "Apple forces all browsers on iOS to use Safari , which they have intentionally crippled and refuse to let other browsers use their own engine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47382368)) "Forcing users to use the Safari browser engine when they install Firefox or anything else is not the way to protect anyone from anything." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50079952)) "Forcing Safari on iOS and not making it available on the mass market platforms (Android and Windows) makes it a pretty wonky standard." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46456776)) - Some sites need Chrome (3 comments): "Safari is fine, but also many websites (which sometimes you need to use like banking or gov) are not tested on it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48807089)) "I use Safari as my main browser, I open Chrome only when I encounter a web site that doesn't work in Safari." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48132631)) "I 'solved' technical issues for friends and family by having them do a certain process (like a booking) on chrome instead of safari." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085615)) - Features buried in awkward UI (3 comments): "since iOS 26 basic Safari features such as bookmarks and text search have become so buried deep underneath, they are basically unusable at this point" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47478333)) "The MacOS Safari translation button appears on the left of the omni-bar, until you click it, at which point it instantly moves to the right" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46752855)) "I had to "share" this page to use the "Find on Page" feature to search whether anyone had mentioned the share button yet. Bonkers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46501525)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Firefox](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox.md): 1572 recommend - [Brave](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brave-browser.md): 397 recommend - [Orion Browser by Kagi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/orion-browser.md): 206 recommend - [LibreWolf](https://hackerapproved.com/p/librewolf.md): 113 recommend - [Waterfox](https://hackerapproved.com/p/waterfox.md): 75 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Safari", https://hackerapproved.com/p/safari/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).