We can't help you if you're stuck in the boonies with no Wi-Fi or 3G service, but when you've got your cellular Internet workin', Safari snaps to your taps just a little faster than before.
The big news for Safari is speed. Even if you haven’t stepped up to an iPhone 3GS--a lot of 3G users still aren’t eligible for upgrades, and given the economy, we can see why even if you were eligible, you’d hesitate--the version of mobile Safari that comes as part of iPhone OS 3.0 is considerably faster than its predecessor. When we tested Apple’s speed claims with an iPod touch before and after updating to 3.0, we got results of 2 to 16 times faster, depending on the specific test we were running. Overall, our results came back 3.36 times faster completing the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark tests (www2.webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9/sunspider.html), which is right in line with the Safari speed bump Apple touted.
Safari's new Autofill feature can keep track of your website log-ins.
Not all the improvements took place under the hood. Apple also added some key features that make mobile Safari easier to use. Autofill is the big one. Instead of retyping log-in information into Web forms, your iPhone running OS 3.0 can now remember log-in credentials for you. The feature is disabled by default--probably a good idea, given the potential for disaster with a lost iPhone that can automatically log in to your bank, Amazon, or eBay accounts. To turn it on, tap Settings > Safari. Here you can also specify a contact to be used to autofill your name, email address, and other personal info where appropriate. Using Autofill is an all-or-nothing proposition: Your iPhone will either remember every log-in and password, or it will remember none. And unfortunately, there’s no way to selectively delete saved info--although you can clear everything with a single tap if need be. While an iPhone thief taking control of your MacLife.com user account might not be a big deal, you might feel differently when they start using your Twitter account, or making “adjustments” to your 401(k) allocations. If you do decide to use Autofill, you should definitely enable the passcode lock on your phone.
Safari’s got a couple of new tricks up its sleeve when it comes to dealing with links too. Tapping and holding on a link now brings up a new pane offering buttons to Open, Open In New Page, and Copy. Open In New Page is handy if you’re working from search results, or if you want to open a link, but aren’t quite finished with the referring page. Taking advantage of the new CC&P goodness, you can also easily grab a URL for pasting into an email, IM, or text message to share with a friend.
Now you can open links in new pages or copy them to use elsewhere.
Safari’s also good to go with the next wave of Web development. Apple built this version to be compatible with HTML 5, an ongoing revision of the programming language that underlies the Web. There’s support for HTTP streaming audio and video, making it easier than ever to take advantage of media-rich websites from your iPhone (and which also might explain why Apple has been dragging its feet when it comes to support for Flash). Your iPhone can now pick a stream based on your current connection speed, whether you’re connected via Wi-Fi, 3G, or the pokey EDGE--resulting in smoother video and more reliable playback. And since it transmits via a standard HTTP connection, like the rest of the Internet, streaming media can easily pass through network firewalls, which is good news for slackers employed by companies with strict policies toward time-wasting websites like YouTube.
