Apple Posts Safari Technology Preview For Public Download
Apple has released a new, convenient way to see and try out features and improvements coming to Safari and other applications developed with the Open Source WebKit platform.
Safari Technology Preview is a version of Safari for OS X, distributed by Apple, that includes a cutting-edge, in-development version of the WebKit browser engine, enabling users to test upcoming WebKit features and provide feedback to the people building them when it’s most useful early in development.
WebKit blogger Ricky Mondello notes that Safari Technology Preview is a standalone application that can be used side-by-side with Safari or other web browsers, making it easy to compare behaviors between them. Besides having the latest web features and bug fixes from WebKit, Safari Technology Preview includes the latest improvements to Web Inspector, which you can use to develop and debug your websites. Updates for Safari Technology Preview will be available every two weeks through the Updates pane of the Mac App Store.
You can also download Safari Technology Preview from Apple’s Developer website. No account is required to download. You only need to install it once; afterward, updates will be delivered through the App Store Mondello explains. The download page link is:
https://developer.apple.com/safari/download/
Future Safari Features You Can Try Today
Some recent developments in WebKit that you can try in Safari Technology Preview today include;
ECMAScript 6
Safari Technology Preview supports ECMAScript 6, the latest iteration of the JavaScript programming language. ES6 has many new features, including classes; lexical scoping using let, const, and class; iterators and generators; arrow functions; default parameters values; and many new built-in APIs.
B3 JavaScript JIT compiler
B3 is a new low-latency, high-throughput compiler designed from the ground up to support JavaScript and other dynamic languages. B3 delivers great performance benefits, especially on systems with fewer CPU cores.
Improved IndexedDB implementation
WebKit’s revamped IndexedDB implementation is more stable, more standards compliant, and still undergoing rapid improvement.
Shadow DOM
The latest version of Shadow DOM has been heavily revised based on input from web content authors and browser developers. WebKit is the first browser engine to implement this new version of the Shadow DOM spec.
Programmatic cut and copy to the clipboard
Its now possible to programmatically copy and cut text in response to a user gesture with document.execCommand(‘copy’) and document.execCommand(‘cut’). Having this ability may eliminate some websites’ last need for the Flash plug-in.
Content Security Policy Level 2
You can define a policy for your web application to mitigate content injection vulnerabilities, such as cross-site scripting (XSS).
Ricky Mondello notes that WebKit Nightly serves a purpose similar to that of Safari Technology Preview, but suggests that or most people, Safari Technology Preview will be a more convenient and stable way to live on recent WebKit changes. Unlike the nightlies, Safari Technology Preview supports the full set of iCloud-based Safari features, including iCloud History and iCloud Tabs, and the WebKit team will use the time between Safari Technology Preview releases to curate and test updates to a point where we think developers will find it practical to use as their primary browser.
They also want to hear your feedback about WebKit features before Safari ships them. Mondello says your requests and experiences help the WebKit project figure out whats most important, and the stories of your successes or struggles with features help them refine their implementations. Hearing from the community earlier will give them more perspectives to consider, with more time to act on what they’ve learned.
You can file bugs or feature requests at the WebKit bug tracker, or you can submit feedback or bugs to Apple on Apple’s bug reporting website.
Ricky Mondello’s blog can be read at:
https://webkit.org/blog/6017/introducing-safari-technology-preview/
