Apple issues Safari 11 update for macOS Sierra & OS X El Capitan

Posted:
in macOS
Though it's included by default with the upcoming macOS High Sierra, Apple on Tuesday released Safari 11 for macOS Sierra and OS X El Capitan, giving people early access to the finished browser's features.




The update -- available through the Mac App Store -- prevents audio from auto-playing on "most" websites, according to Apple. Users can also configure things like auto-play, content blockers, and Reader on a per-site basis, or make settings universal.

The browser also includes performance boosts, new controls for HTML audio and video, and better AutoFill accuracy when pulling data from Contacts.

macOS High Sierra is set to launch Sept. 25. In fact Safari 11 has long been available to people testing the beta and golden master versions of High Sierra, but until now getting it has required registering with Apple and installing potentially unstable code.

Other updates released today include Xcode 9, iOS 11 for iPhones, iPads, and iPods, tvOS 11 for the fourth-generation Apple TV, and watchOS 4 for the Apple Watch. Many first- and third-party mobile apps are getting upgrades as well, such as TestFlight and Swift Playgrounds.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    Totally looking forward to blocking auto play. Does anyone know if it's audio only, or if you can completely block auto-play for both video and audio?

    Edit: I just downloaded 11.0 and tested it on a repeat-offender web site - cnn.com. Safari did an awesome job of not playing the videos! Hopefully it will do as good a job of stopping all the annoying video ads, too!
    edited September 2017 minicoffeewatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 18
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    MplsP said:
    Totally looking forward to blocking auto play. Does anyone know if it's audio only, or if you can completely block auto-play for both video and audio?
    I've been using Safari Technology Preview beta for months now. The latest release is version 11.1. The newly released Safari 11 is apparently the same DNA. And yes, both audio and video (not all but most) are blocked from playing. It's why I started using Safari Technology Preview as my primary browser a month ago. 
  • Reply 3 of 18
    This is THE BEST! I updated Safari and headed over to CNN (one of the worst offenders) Stops those damn autoplay videos right in their tracks. I really love this.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 18
    It's much, much faster than the previous version. Nice.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 18
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    Holy crap, this is the first I've seen of the 'early' release of Safari 11. Downloading now!

    I'm betting it doesn't stop video from loading. Having no definitive information, I thought it stopped Auto-Play specifically, and took that to mean neither video or audio started.

    I guess I'll know soon enough!
  • Reply 6 of 18
    I'm using MacOS 10.12.6, Safari 10.1.2 Updates showed me up to date (MacOS and Safari) and I can't find a Safari 11 update on the Mac App Store. Anybody got a link?
  • Reply 7 of 18
    Please Help!  I can't find it. 
    Safari 11 was not present under the Updates tab in the (Mac) App Store. But there was an update for the App Store. I downloaded that (v 2.2.1) and restarted according to instructions. Still no Safari 11 present under the Updates tab, or anywhere else in the App Store. Thank you.
    gregg thurman
  • Reply 8 of 18
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    Vtvita, are you on Sierra 10.12? That may be a requirement. If so, reboot your Mac and try again. It was at the Mac App Store for me. Did you click on more... to get the list of updates?
    vtvita
  • Reply 9 of 18
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    I haven't used Safari 11 enough yet to know how if it's faster but it seems faster. Went to CNN and no videos started.

    A black window slid in view from the left, had a minus sign in the upper right corner, then slid out of view. I assume that would have been a video (?) but it didn't load. Does CNN use Flash?

    Anyway, Safari 11 is a win even if it only just stopped auto-play.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 18
    vtvita said:
    Please Help!  I can't find it. 
    Safari 11 was not present under the Updates tab in the (Mac) App Store. But there was an update for the App Store. I downloaded that (v 2.2.1) and restarted according to instructions. Still no Safari 11 present under the Updates tab, or anywhere else in the App Store. Thank you.

    It is in my Sierra App Store Updates as of 7:15PM. Go try again.
  • Reply 11 of 18
    I’ve been using the Safari Technology Preview for a while. I’ve switched back to Safari over the last 6 months or so, away from Chrome. I’ve been very pleased. Fast, stable, and the new audio/video blocking features are great. Plus I still have plugin support where I need it since Firefox and Chrome are now blocking everything but Flash.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 18
    Macgui, Ktappe, Thank you so much for your help. I'm not on Sierra 10.12, I'm on El Capitan 10.11. But the Appleinsider story says that Safari 11 is available for El Capitan. I just checked again, 8:15pm. No dice.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 18
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    It's much, much faster than the previous version. Nice.
    If nothing else, stopping all that stupid multimedia content from loading will make things faster
    SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 18
    Spoke with Apple Support about inability to find Safari 11.0 download link. Because of server workload Apple is rolling out the upgrade geographically. I'm in Spokane WA and am told it won't be available in WA for another 12 hours minimum.
    Scot1SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 18
    CNN lost me to AutoPlay. Finally came back after stopping them. They should learn.  I gave up on them until I could prevent it.  
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 18
    Maybe I can start reading MacWorld.com again. They lost me due to their autoplay videos. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 18

    I've noticed since beta one that any device below iOS 11 or High Sierra cant see the Safari iCloud tabs of a device on iOS 11 or High Sierra... I submitted this issue twice during the beta cycle with the feedback app, but got no reply... 

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