Private Browsing trick: Keep it secret in Safari

So, for whatever reason, you’ve been using Safari’s private browsing mode on your iPhone or iPad, but you forgot to close the tab. The next time you open Safari, you’ll be thrown into whatever unethical webpage you last opened – with results that can be unfortunate or embarrassing, depending on what you’re viewing and when you accidentally restore your privacy your location.

Fortunately, iOS offers a foolproof way to avoid reopening a Private Browsing Mode session. Let me tell you how.

Avoid reopening Safari in private browsing mode

Protect your online privacy never been so important. To keep Private Browsing private, you need to make a habit of reopening Safari in a specific way. From the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad, just tap and hold the Safari icon. Then click new tab From the context menu that pops up – it’s always the first option closest to the Safari icon. (If you drag your thumb upward immediately after the menu appears, you can do so in one smooth motion instead of two separate clicks.)

This will take you directly to the new tab page. Your private label never appears on screen, so anyone nearby who can see your screen won’t know.

vice versa. Long press the app icon to see the contextual menu, or click new private label and jump directly into private browsing mode. Safari offers two other options: You can turn on your reading list (just click Show reading list) or view your bookmarks (click Show bookmarks).

iOS and iPadOS hide contextual menus like this everywhere

In addition to private browsing, using the same approach can provide other benefits when using an iPhone or iPad. Click and hold on some other app icons and you’ll find similar contextual menus that give you advanced options. For example, you can jump directly from the home screen to composing a new email mailjump to one of your three most pinned contacts messageopen one of your starred Reddit subreddits ApolloETC.

And once you’re in an application, this click-and-hold function often works like a right-click menu on a Mac. exist photo appFor example, press and hold on an image to get options like copy, share, and delete. Click and hold on a conversation in Messages to see a preview (no need to send a read receipt!) and you’ll see options for Mark as Read, Silent Alert, and Delete.

Finding these hidden, useful features will vary from app to app. All Apple apps are guaranteed to provide fully functional contextual menus. However, your favorite game or app from the App Store might not support this feature.

We originally published this private browsing pro tips on January 30, 2023.