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i downloaded the new iOS 5 for my iPhone 4 and safari is the same as it was and i was under the assumption that it would be somewhat different?

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closed as not a real question by Philip Regan Oct 14 '11 at 12:26

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2 Answers

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There are some under-the-hood improvements to performance, and also some changes to the settings (such as a private browsing option), but there aren't any major changes to the Mobile Safari interface on the iPhone. The iPad version now has tabbed browsing instead of the window-switcher, but the iPhone is too small for such a thing to work.

The two features you may notice are Reading List and Reader. Reading List is essentially a bookmarks folder that can sync with desktop Safari. You can add items to it from the Share item (centre button on the bottom toolbar). Reader will reformat some webpages (long articles) to make them more readable, removing ads and menus so that you've just got the text. You can access it from the grey Reader button in the address bar once the site loads (note that it's not available on all sites, just those that Safari can competently reformat).

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up vote 1 down vote

It includes the Reading List feature:

enter image description here

The Reader function to pull out articles from messy and convicted websites (like BBC or CNN):

enter image description here

And contains a slew of performance enhancements and changes under the hood. Other than that, it should look and behave quite the same as its predecessor. Apple covers the new features if you'd like to read more about them.

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I do have the "Reading List", but the "Reader" function doesn't seem to appear on my 3GS phone. Reader wont work there? – Juan A. Navarro Oct 14 '11 at 9:18
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I've not heard Reader being specific to the later generation devices. It could be that you haven't gone to a website that features an article Reader can parse. Try here: anandtech.com/show/4902/intel-ssd-710-200gb-review If you still don't see te Reader button in the address bar, then it's likely the 3GS fails to support it. – cksum Oct 14 '11 at 9:50
I see! It does work, so apparently some websites will work and some others wont? – Juan A. Navarro Oct 14 '11 at 12:33
It's not site dependent more than code dependent. If Reader can parse an article, it'll show up. You'll find even some pages here on Stack Exchange can be viewed by Reader. It's all in how a page is coded. – cksum Oct 14 '11 at 18:56

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