Apple has released version 14.1 of its Safari web browser for the macOS Mojave, macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur, iOS 14.5, and iPadOS 14.5 operating systems, and while there’s a fair number of under the hood changes, there are several improvements that are more noticeable to end users:
Date & Time Inputs for Mac – In HTML, the date, time, datetime-local attributes for the input element prompt the browser to create date and/or time controls — an interface that’s designed to let the user easily enter a time or a date, usually with a calendar.
Web Speech API – Now, Safari supports speech recognition powered by the same speech engine as Siri. That means web developers can enjoy the benefits of high-quality transcription for over 50 languages and dialects.
WebM Support – WebKit added improved support for WebM media. Initial support began in Safari 12.1 with support for VP8 in WebM in the context of WebRTC only. With Safari 14, WebKit added support for WebM via MSE. Now, WebKit supports WebM files containing VP8 or VP9 video tracks and Vorbis audio tracks.
Private Click Measurement – This release features Private Click Measurement – a proposed web standard that enables advertisers to measure the effectiveness of click-through ad campaigns in a privacy-preserving way. This new technology is part of a larger effort to remove cross-site tracking from the web and provide privacy-preserving alternatives where needed.
The updated browser can either be snagged through the operating system updates or on their own via the macOS, iOS, and iPadOS Software Update feature.
If you’ve had a chance to try out Safari 14.1, please let us know about your experience in the comments.
Via The Mac Observer and webkit.org