What is the Best Homepage for Safari?
Why Safari?
Whether or not you're an Apple user, or pretty much live in their ecosystem like myself, you probably enjoy Apple's flagship browser, Safari.
It's speedy, clean, easy to navigate, has straightforward settings, has a privacy-respecting approach, and makes switching between devices a cinch.
Let's get into why if you enjoy Safari, I think you'll want to try updating your homepage.
First point I want to make - I love how Safari is unbiased. Apple doesn't compete for your traffic like Google or Microsoft. I love this. Apple isn't selling Apple here. They leave it up to the user to decide what they want to see when they open a new tab or window.
What Is Safari's Default Homepage?
When you open a new window or tab in Safari, you're greeted with Safari's built-in Start Page. It's clean by Apple standards, but it's more of a suggestions board than a true homepage.
Here's what Safari gives you out of the box:
- Favorites: your bookmarked sites displayed as a grid of icons
- Frequently Visited: sites Safari thinks you visit often
- Siri Suggestions:articles and links Apple's algorithm picks for you
- Reading List: articles you've saved to read later
- Privacy Report: a summary of trackers Safari has blocked
- iCloud Tabs: tabs open on your other Apple devices
One thing I genuinely appreciate is how well Safari handles picking up where you left off. If you're reading an article on your iPhone during lunch, iCloud Tabs and Reading List make it easy to continue right where you stopped when you sit down at your Mac. That cross-device continuity is one of Safari's strongest features — and it's actually what inspired me to build a way to import articles, recipes, videos, and other media directly into Best Homepage Ever, so you can save and organize the things you find without losing them across sessions.
That said, the Start Page does have its limitations. You can't add custom widgets, you can't organize links into categories, and you have limited control over what shows up in the Frequently Visited or Siri Suggestions sections. The background image is customizable, but the layout itself is mostly fixed.
Safari Homepage vs. New Tab Page — What's the Difference?
Safari actually has two separate settings that control what you see — and this trips up a lot of people. In Safari > Settings > General, you'll find:
- Homepage — the URL that loads when you click the Home button or choose History > Home
- New windows open with / New tabs open with — what Safari shows when you open a fresh window or tab (can be set to Start Page, Homepage, Empty Page, or Same Page)
If you want a custom Safari homepage that appears every time you open a new tab, you need to set both — the homepage URL and the new tab behavior to "Homepage." Otherwise, Safari will keep showing its default Start Page on new tabs even if you've set a homepage URL.
What I created based on my experience and research
As a homepage webmaster for over 25 years, it's taken me a LOT of feedback, learning, upgrading, money, testing, prioritizing, thousands of hours to come up with the homepage that an Apple/Safari user can appreciate.
If you're like me, and you just want to take a break from the clutter and distractions of the Internet, then you'll appreciate the time and effort I've taken in building a homepage that's worth switching to.
I've spoken with hundreds, if not thousands, of users who have given their feedback as to what makes for a good homepage.
I even did a 3-month deep dive experiment on the best home pages for your browser, using all the most popular homepages in the world.
Yes, I used my competitors websites!
My research, conclusions, and work have added up to the following major qualities of a homepage:
- Good design
- Ease and accessibility to your favorite websites
- Speed & responsiveness
- Privacy
- Personalization
Here are a few highlighted reasons that I think you'll enjoy updating your homepage on Safari:
Design
Access any website in the world in seconds. Add your favorite sports, news, email, search engine, and more.
The design is meant to be clean - No clutter, no distractions. Just convenience.
Quick Access Menus
Macs and Macbooks are a product of beauty, and are meant to be personal, yet capable. I've added an extensive amount of utility to the site, including drop-up menus, notes, weather, and more.
Personal Privacy
Those of you who wish to avoid sharing your information with corporations (location, browsing history, etc), will be pleased with the no-follow, no-emailing, no bugging you privacy policy.
- Choose Your Own Content: So many of the homepages you find (especially those from big tech) are filled with ads, suggested content, or unnecessary features that can cause screen resizing, and slow down the experience.
