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Safari bookmarks access feels like a downgrade in iOS 27

IOS 27 safari bookmarks feels like a downgrade


It took a while, but I’m used to the previous way you could access bookmarks on safari. There was a single button on the bottom right allowing immediate access.


In IOS 27 it feels like a downgrade. I’ve found a few options but nothing as good as before. All require multiple clicks and even two handed use.

Option 1/

Change the string so the tab bar isn’t concise, but at the bottom. This is possibly the best option but having gotten used to the tab bar hiding itself, it feels like wasted space. Plus it returns the functionality of a previous IOS. Feels like a retrograde solution.

Option 2/

Click on the URL and it can be configured so the favourite pop up as icons. But it’s awkward to use with one hand. And the icons aren’t easily identifiable e.g. BBC News, BBC F1, BBC Football all display the same icon. I have about 10 BBC favourites so this is bad design. It’s possible to then click at the top to see it in the previous formats, a list of favourites easily scannable. It that’s yet another click.

Option 3/

Organise favourites into different tab group. Not a bad option until I realised each tab remains on the last viewed page. So if you’re on a specific BBC News story, that’ll be where you land next time. I’m used to landing on the main BBC News page to see what stories have updated. So not at all great.


Problem is, favourites have lost out to pages. I much more rarely change pages than visiting a different site. So unless there’s a new shortcut I’m missing, IOS 27 is EXTREMELY poor design when it comes to favourites.

5 replies

If you want bookmarks back to the old layout:

•Goto settings > Safari > Tabs section

•Change layout from Compact to Bottom or Top


i agree the new default layout is terrible.

You can let Apple know your thoughts here:


Product Feedback - Apple


Note that iOS27 may not yet be available from the drop down menu (it usually takes a few days). Just select 26 and explain in the text box.

Same here. I had bookmark folders that I could quickly open from an existing tab session. My favourite folder would always be the first I see. Now I need to close tab, open a new one and open the bookmark from the bookmark overview page which always shows me the main directory first. So probably 5x more clicks to get where I want to go. It already got worse with iOS26 but I found my way. But iOS27 removed my way of opening bookmarks entirely. Thinking of switching to another browser.

Safari navigation in iOS 27 seems like a mess. Lots of jumping around and new tab openning to access bookmarks. Just starting but cannot figure out how to reorganize/move them into groups of my choice.

Thanks, I may resort to that. What I don’t like about tabs set to bottom instead of compact is it takes up so much space when you load a page unless you scroll. I like compact, but want my favourites back!