Programming and coding are growing to become one of the most important things all around the world. The reason behind this worldwide need is the increasing need for betterment in digital platforms. These digital platforms are programmed to work as per the desires of the programmer.
But the thing about codes and programs is that they are quite unpredictable at many times as well. This is mostly because every app these days requires at least a couple thousand lines of code to include all the required functions. And codes are quite a tricky thing. A single punctuation mistake can break down the whole website’s proper functioning.
But that’s why renowned browsers, such as Safari, provide the users with the ability to use its developers to test on Safari browsers online. By doing so, the programmers are able to figure out what is causing the website to break down and fix them right there.
Table of Contents
How to Open Safari Developer Tools?
Safari is one of the most used browsers in the whole world. Its user interface makes it a breeze and delight to use it. All of the common features of the app can be found by hovering over the setting button situated below its tabs section.
But developer tools aren’t one of the features that any day-to-day worker uses or even knows about. Therefore, it is not presented right in front of the page. But finding and using it is quite easy. If you want to make use of safari developer tools, then all that you need to do is follow the steps given below in the same order.
- Search for “Safari” on your computer and click on the app that shows in the search.
- After Safari opens, you’ll need to click on the button reading preferences.
- Then, you should look for the section reading advanced and click on it. There will be many different boxes in this section.
- After that, you need to click on the small box near the option that reads the Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
(By following these steps, you’ll be letting Safari give you access to its developer menu. This menu consists of elements that you can use for enhancing its developer’s section. After this, to open the developer tools, you’ll have to follow the steps given below.)
- Click on the Develop section that will have taken up a place in Safari’s taskbar now.
- Tap on the option that reads Show Web Inspector.
By doing this, you will be able to recall developers’ tools whenever you need to. The process will not need to be this long every time. The develop menu will now always be there below the tab section of Safari whenever you open it. Therefore, real-time testing will become the easiest thing for you as you’ll get to work in an easy-to-handle environment.
Things to Know About Safari
Now that we know how to open the developer tools on Safari for real-time testing of software pieces, we should get to know more about the working abilities of Safari. By doing so, working in it and through it will become a more productive and easier experience.
It is also essential to know about Safari’s current state as it is an exclusive browser of Apple. Since Apple releases its new products and software pieces every year at WWDC, Safari’s system is also updated accordingly. This refers to changes being made to Safari’s developer tools and it’s working as well.
Therefore, to get a better idea of what you’ll be working with, below are the things that you need to know about Safari Developer Tools.
1. Different work environment
Most people tend to think that only those who switch from chrome to Safari feel that the work environment is completely changed. But it is the same story for every Safari user who uses Safari after a new update. Therefore, changes that Safari does to its work environment are quite visible and leave a proper impression on the user.
But after a first few hours of feeling uncomfortable working in a new work environment, the whole experience of working from Safari gets better. Most of the users who get out of this phase of discomfort say that the updates made their work experience better. Therefore, provide a good fruit for bearing the discomfort.
Therefore, handling the developer tools can be quite a hassle after a new Safari update, but the real-time testing becomes quite a breeze after some time passes.
2. Theme Colors
These colors are one of the most noticeable changes that happen after each update of Safari. These changes in the hues of themes are no less impressionable than the changes in is different features. As of the current Safari, the background color of the tab is changed to adapt to the color of the page opened by you.
Therefore, provides a more immersive experience. The theme colors are quite attractive but still dismissive as they blend in perfectly with the colors of the opened page. The developer tools page is still only in white unless you modify it in the options as well.
But most of the programmers and developers prepare the developer tools section in plain white as Safari’s developer tools section is quite oriented at working best in its un-modified settings.
3. Live Text Functionality
This new update of Safari 15 has become the best ever due to this single feature. The live text feature is usable due to the AI of Safari. With the help of Live Feature, you can even read the text that is in an image.
This means that if you have to include the text written in any image in your code, then all you got to do is click and scan the live text and then paste it into the developers’ section. But the developers’ section is more than just a tool for copying and pasting stuff. Therefore, you can also copy the live code behind a web page as well, which makes your work comparatively easier.
4. More Security
When anything related to Apple becomes a part of the equation, maximum security and safety is also included. Safari is no different. With the new update of Safari, Apple has pushed its boundaries of safety and made a revolutionary. Now, when you use Safari, you get a setting to hide your IP Address from any websites that you go to and any advertisers that are present on those websites.
Hence, making the user-experience cleaner. You can make this feature work in your favor as you can use Safari for real-time testing without having to suffer the attack from multiple ads or website cookies.
5. Web Development
Bugs are an inevitable part of programming and real-time testing. Safari is the go-to browser for most apple device users as it provides the best and smoothest user interface. Safari does not back off from this responsibility and provides a great environment to work in.
Therefore, web development becomes a less frustrating task when done at Safari. To state some of the updates of Safari that are related to web development:
- The addition of CSS grid overlays is similar to the updates made by other browsers. Therefore, easing the process of debugging from a browser.
- Increasing the number of configurable breakpoints and audit authoring for making the feature of JavaScript debugging more powerful.
- As for Web Kit, Safari has modified it with class field syntax, top-level await, and workers’ module.
- Many new elements of CSS have been added, including Ich(), lab(), etc.
Different Methods for debugging
As we have learned till now, Safari has a ton load of features to offer to its user base. Therefore, there is no single way of debugging websites using it. You get to choose how you choose to perform the task of real-time testing using Safari.
But in order to make the right choice, you first need to know the different options that you can choose from. These choices vary a lot as they all allow you to perform real-time testing using different methods.
Some of these said real-time testing methods for debugging a piece of code are as below:
- Using Responsive design mode. To activate the responsive design mode, you just need to go to the setting and look in the design or develop section.
- Using Web inspector. Web inspector is hands down one of the best Safari tools for debugging using an iPhone or iPad.
- Using a third-party debug platform. There are a lot of third-party debugging platforms that provide good functionality after adding it to Safari.
- Using Safari Developer Tools independently or using a third-party platform as well.
How to Access any of these developer tools?
All of these different types of developer tools are a part of the key developer experience that Apple does not leave a chance to boast about. Therefore, in order to keep things simple and non-complicated, you can find all of these different developer tools under the same develop menu, which is located under the tab section of Safari.
To access the develop section, read the above section.
User Reviews of Safari Developer Tools
After doing a thorough analysis of the user reviews of Safari Developer tools, our team has found that they were quite satisfied with it. The developer tool is used for debugging and real-time testing so it is not that good of an experience as there is a constant frustration that the users have to handle.
But most of the user reviews mentioned how using Safari’s developer tools did not make them feel like switching over to any other browser. This alone proves the workability of Safari for real testing and debugging.
Conclusion
The developer tools provided by Safari are quick to access and easy to use, Therefore, most do not cause any problems to their users. The user environment of Apple acts as the cherry on the top as using it becomes a breeze and a clearly fluent experience.
Hopefully, the contents of this article would have guided you from accessing the develop menu on Safari to being able to choose the developer tool that suits you the best for real-time testing and debugging. If you’d like to get started with your set of developer tools, hop over to Lambda Test and get started for free. Lambda Test allows you to test your website’s Virtual Mac OS across different Safari browser versions. Also, with Lambda Test, you can debug your Safari websites using Safari developer tools on iOS simulators in the cloud.
