Apple has unveiled Safari 26.3, introducing significant enhancements aimed at improving user experience and developer capabilities across its platforms. This update brings notable features for Vision Pro users, integrates advanced compression technology, and addresses various WebKit issues to bolster performance and security.
Enhanced Fullscreen Experience for Vision Pro
For users of Vision Pro running visionOS 26.3, Safari now offers an improved fullscreen video experience. When a video enters fullscreen mode, the surrounding environment dims automatically, allowing users to focus solely on the content, thereby enhancing immersion. Additionally, the update refines the behavior of fullscreen controls during inline video playback, ensuring a more intuitive and seamless interaction.
Integration of Zstandard Compression
Safari 26.3 introduces support for Zstandard (Zstd) compression, a modern algorithm designed to optimize the delivery and decompression of text-based web assets. Zstd offers rapid decompression speeds, reducing the processing load on user devices. Unlike Brotli, which is typically pre-compressed during the build process, Zstd’s efficiency allows for on-the-fly compression, facilitating faster web content delivery. To leverage Zstd, users must be operating Safari 26.3 on iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, or macOS Tahoe 26.3.
Developer-Focused Enhancements
The update also brings improvements to the Navigation API by exposing an AbortSignal on NavigateEvent. This addition enables developers to cancel ongoing tasks reliably when navigation is interrupted, enhancing the responsiveness and stability of web applications.
Comprehensive WebKit Bug Fixes
Safari 26.3 addresses several WebKit issues to improve overall performance and security:
– CSS Layout and Positioning: Resolved issues related to CSS layout loops and position calculation errors, ensuring more accurate rendering of web pages.
– Animation Stability: Fixed animation jumps associated with anchor-positioned elements, providing smoother visual transitions.
– Cursor Display: Corrected cursor display anomalies, including issues with move and resize cursors, for a more consistent user interface.
– Touch Event Handling: Improved timestamp management for touch events, enhancing the responsiveness of touch interactions.
– VisionOS Video Playback: Fixed the fullscreen button glow during inline video playback on visionOS, ensuring a more polished viewing experience.
– macOS Video Viewer Mode: Restored the Video Viewer mode for iframe videos on macOS, allowing users to engage with embedded videos more effectively.
– Live Video Playback: Resolved issues affecting live video playback when source buffers are reset, ensuring uninterrupted streaming.
– HDR JPEG Rendering: Fixed rendering problems with HDR JPEG images in specific layouts, improving visual fidelity.
– Safe Browsing: Corrected an issue where the Safe Browsing feature could incorrectly mark entire websites as unsafe, enhancing user trust and security.
These targeted improvements in Safari 26.3 demonstrate Apple’s commitment to refining user experience, enhancing developer tools, and maintaining robust security across its platforms.
Twitter Post:
Experience enhanced fullscreen video on Vision Pro and faster web performance with Safari 26.3’s Zstandard support. Developers, enjoy improved Navigation API! #SafariUpdate #VisionPro #WebDevelopment
Focus Key Phrase: Safari 26.3 Update
Article X Post:
Hashtags:
Article Key Phrase:
Category: Apple News
