Best Safari Extensions for iPhone, iPad and Mac in 2022
Extensions continue to play a key role in adding third-party functionality Safari. They’re often great ways to increase productivity, security, and privacy for a fairly simple browsing experience. But with hundreds of Safari extensions available on different devices, it can feel overwhelming. Here is a list of my top picks.
PiPifier – Picture in picture for each video
Pipifier is a native extension for Safari that allows you to watch any HTML5 video as PiP (picture in picture). Once the extension is installed, you need to pull up a video (YouTube, Twitch, Netflix, etc.) and click on the Pipifier icon in the toolbar.
All in all, PiPifier brings the familiar experience we’re used to on iPhone and iPad, as a pretty smooth PiP video solution. I’ve yet to encounter a video that isn’t compatible, although it can sometimes take a few minutes for the button to light up (become available) on larger files, such as movies.
Price: Free of charge
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.12 or later)
StopTheMadness – Restore your web browser
StopTheMadness is probably the most capable and weirdest extension on this list. Significantly, it overcomes attempts by websites to lock down browser features such as ⌘ keyboard shortcuts, drag and drop, autofilling usernames, passwords and emails, text selection and the list goes on.
It also removes tracking tags such as utm_source from URLs and prevents clicks in Gmail, Facebook and others.
One of my favorite features is its ability to stop URL shortening. StopTheMadness checks the links you click in Safari for known link shorteners such as bit.ly and tinyurl.com, and loads the unshortened destination instead of the shortened URL. This happens without the use of cookie extensions or data from the site; therefore, your click cannot be tracked.
Price: $7.99-$9.99
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac (macOS 10.12 or later)
Grammatically – The key to great writing
With a rapidly growing user base of over 30 million daily active users, this extension needs to be introduced. Grammarly is one of those apps that you install and can’t imagine life without.
Once installed, almost anywhere you type in Safari, you’ll see a Grammarly icon in the bottom or top right corner, giving you real-time feedback. Helping with spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, tone and clarity, it’s a win for anyone with a keyboard.
Price: Free of charge
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.12.4 or later)
1Password – Generate and securely store passwords
1Password is also one you may be familiar with. It’s arguably the best password manager around, with a handy Safari extension for quick access to existing passwords in your vault or even creating new ones on the fly. You can also store software licenses and other vital information.
As a cybersecurity expert, I can say that 1Password’s security is good—really good. Of course, the most secure way to store passwords is nowhere at all, but end-to-end 256-bit AES encryption, AES-GCM-256 authenticated encryption, and PBKDF2 for password hashing is all I could ask for in a password manager.
Price: 30-day free trial, $2.99 per month
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.12.6 or later)
Search by keywords – Search websites by keyword only
Keyword research is a game-changing time saver. The Safari extension allows you to set up direct searches with any search engine using a phrase as simple as typing “a”.
I set the letter “a” in the demo below to direct me to AirPods on Amazon. It’s as simple as opening the keyword search extension in Safari, entering the destination URL and hotphrase. The others I have are “news” which directs me to CNN via DuckDuckGo and “space” which directs me to NASA’s website.
Price: Free of charge
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Mac (macOS 11.0 or later)
Momentum – Home pages of focus and inspiration
Momentum replaces the boring gray home pages that Safari gives you, with an inspiring dashboard that features weather updates, motivational quotes, to-do lists, and beautiful wallpapers. I’ve been using Momentum for the last few months and it can be a great boost to my mood and productivity in those early mornings.
Some key features include:
- Ability to set daily goal/focus/intention
- Quick weather and forecast information
- Motivational quotes
- Setting the working time and downtime in the Balance mode
- Create and manage tasks with a built-in to-do list
Price: Free of charge
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Mac (macOS 10.12 or later)
Honey is another extension that needs no introduction, and rightfully so. The online coupon giant has over 17 million users and has saved people more than a billion dollars on their online purchases.
It works by automatically searching and testing available coupon codes it can find on the web. If it finds the right codes, it will apply to the one with the biggest savings. And ta-da!
Price: Free of charge
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Mac (macOS 10.14.4 or later)
Update (10/10): Honey doesn’t seem to appear on the Mac App Store, which is likely a bug. This will disable the installation on Safari.
The Wayback Machine is a non-profit initiative that aimed to archive Internet. Visitors can type in a URL, select a date range, and then start browsing an archived version of that page at almost any time.
A Safari extension lets you do it all main page works without leaving the current window. You can also screenshot, archive and share pages directly with it.
The Wayback Machine is ultimately just a fun way to kill time by going back and seeing how a website has changed over the years.
Price: Free of charge
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.14 or later)
These are just some of the best Safari extensions so far this year, but I couldn’t wrap up the list without a few honorable mentions, like AdBlocker Pro, Tweaks for Twitterand Second step.
Do you have a favorite extension that isn’t on this list? Let us know in the comments.
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