I usually sit out the betas and wait for the full release of iOS before updating my iPhone. iOS 26 frustrated me enough to break that habit, so this year, for the first time, I bit the bullet and installed the iOS 27 public beta.
All the usual caveats about beta software apply. So far the experience has been smooth. I have been running iOS 27 for a few weeks, and everything feels a little faster, even in Low Power Mode. Siri AI has left its older versions far behind. Liquid Glass has not annoyed me much either, and I appreciate that there is now a slider for adjusting the transparency levels.
Nothing in iOS 27 pleases me more than what happened to Safari, the app I use more than any other. The new Compact toolbar layout arrived in iOS 26, and I learned it begrudgingly, mostly because the classic Bottom layout took up more space than it did in previous iOS versions.
Compact did give me a bit of extra screen real estate, which I appreciated. What I missed was having the All Tabs icon within reach. Swiping up from the Compact toolbar showed me all my tabs, but that workaround became an annoying exercise, since I would frequently tap a bit too low on the screen and exit the app by accident.
I had taken the All Tabs icon for granted, something I understood only once it was gone. Luke Skywalker got his triumphant return in Episode VI, and now the icon gets one of its own.
In the Safari Compact toolbar on iOS 27, the All Tabs icon sits where the three-dot menu of iOS 26 used to be. That is exactly where it should have been all along. Tapping it is so much more intuitive, and a long press still brings up the old options to open a new tab or switch to private browsing.
The return of the Bookmarks icon is another pleasant surprise in the iOS 27 Compact layout. Open a new tab and it is right there at the top of the screen, next to my Reading List and History. Those icons do not obstruct my view, and they are easily tappable. It is an elegant addition, and I can’t believe it took Apple this long to implement.
Safari can also organize all your tabs automatically now. Go to All Tabs, then tap the three-line icon near the top of the screen to see all your tabs filtered by category. It’s a super useful feature if you keep as many emotional support tabs open as I do, and my count is currently 72.
Attention to detail is usually an Apple strength, which made Safari in iOS 26 seem like such a jarring exception. With iOS 27, it feels like the company listened to user feedback and made the right changes. My thumbs are already grateful.
See also: All the New Safari Features in iOS 27
