New Version Of Safari Adds Gestures, iCloud Tabs, Twitter & Facebook Integration

Getting Retina-ready isn’t the only big change coming to Apple’s web browser Safari today, it’s also getting a revamp which introduces a number of new features. Included in the list are faster search suggestions, a new unified smart search field, iCloud syncing (this one we knew about already), a new feature called TabView which uses gestures to navigate through tabs, and what’s being touted as the “fastest Javascript engine of any browser on the planet.” Oh, and Twitter and Facebook integration, it appears.

With the update, the search and URL bar has been combined, just like it is now in Google Chrome. iCloud Tabs, which was previously detailed, let you pick up browsing where you left off on one device on the next thanks to tab syncing.

The faster search suggestions are thanks to matches from your own bookmarks and your browser history.

TabView, however, looks really cool. There’s a new scrolling architecture that’s described as “smooth and lighting fast,” plus multi-touch zooming, so you’ll be able to pinch to zoom out, for example. And you can swipe between tabs and pinch to get into tabs. (OK, you might need to see this in action to get it).

There’s Twitter integration, too – it’s built right into the menu system. As is Facebook, right beneath it. You can see in the screenshots below where the two services have been baked into the browser, by clicking just to the left of the new combined search bar.