Notices by Jen Simmons (jensimmons@front-end.social)

We have 7 videos on web technology at WWDC25!!
- What’s new in Safari and WebKit
- What’s new for the spatial web
- Learn more about Declarative Web Push
- What’s new in passkeys
- Verify identity documents on the web
- Unlock GPU computing with WebGPU
- Meet WebKit for SwiftUI

https://webkit.org/blog/16987/web-technology-videos-at-wwdc25/

Now that you’ve seen what’s coming in Safari 26… web designers & developers, what do you need most to come next? If you were setting the priorities for what happens, what would you put at the top of the list?

Safari 26 beta!

https://webkit.org/blog/16993/news-from-wwdc25-web-technology-coming-this-fall-in-safari-26-beta/

Did you know there’s a web browser on the Nintendo Switch 2? It’s called NetFront Browser NX and it’s built on the WebKit rendering engine. A favorite for those wanting speed, battery-life, and privacy.

https://www.access-company.com/en/news_event/archives/2025/access-netfront-browser-nx-selected-by-nintendo-for-its-latest-nintendo-switch-2-game-system/

Have you ever wished the browser would look at a background color and pick black or white for the text — whichever one provides more contrast? Now, the `constrast-color()` function in CSS does just that.

https://webkit.org/blog/16929/contrast-color/

Using the color picker in HTML for your website? Did you realize it’s been limited to sRGB? Well, no longer. In Safari, now you can use two new attributes to support P3 color and alpha transparency. https://webkit.org/blog/16900/p3-and-alpha-color-pickers/

Does anyone have any example of websites that are using SVG for their icons?

Just plain icons? Does anyone make responsive icons? Light/dark icons?

How important is this to you? Would you rely on it if it were more deeply supported?

Make websites? Are you reading webkit.org? We published 6 articles in the last 5 weeks — aiming for at least one a week from now on. Teaching you all about new technology, proposals for the future, and what’s coming in Safari.

• lh units
• shape()
• text-wrap: pretty
• Safari 18.4
• Item Flow
• Declarative Web Push

Plus release notes for Safari Technology Preview every other week.

What should we write about next?

There it is! Finally, a real solution for how to style all of the HTML form controls using your own custom CSS to change anything — building on an interoperable UA set of defaults. It only took 30 years!

First will be the chance to style the “in-page” controls (the part embedded in the webpage), plus the popover for <select> (the part that appears “over top of” the page). Later we’ll do popovers for more things — like the date picker, etc.

Read about it here: https://drafts.csswg.org/css-forms/

We heard your requests!

Responsive Design Mode in Safari 18.4 beta now has a dropdown of preset viewport sizes available. Along with a button to switch orientation.

Safari 18.2 beta includes a *lot* of yummy new features for web designers and developers. My personal favorites include `text-box-trim` and `border-clip: border-area`.

If you make websites, we’d love for you to test it out! File any issues at bugs.webkit.org or feedbackassistant.apple.com. Ping me with link/FB number for extra attention.

#css #html #js #webdevelopment #webdesign

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-release-notes/safari-18_2-release-notes

I’m excited about what we have coming in Safari 18.2 for web designers and developers.

- `text-box-edge`, `text-box-trim`, and `text-box`
- cross-document View Transitions, View Transition Classes, View Transition Types, `view-transition-name: auto`
- dividing by numbers with units in `calc()`
- `background-clip: border-area`
- `scrollbar-width` and `scrollbar-gutter`
- ruby-align, ruby-overhang, unprefixed `ruby-position`
- `input type=week` on iOS

And a LOT more!

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-release-notes/safari-18_2-release-notes

Have you seen the list of web technology that’s landing in Safari Technology Preview 202? There’s a LOT!

https://webkit.org/blog/15798/release-notes-for-safari-technology-preview-202/

View Transition Types
`background-clip: border-area`
`line-fit-edge`
`text-box`
updated `text-box-trim` and `text-box-edge`
`ruby-align`
`ruby-position`
`scrollbar-width`
`shape()`
`closest-corner` and `farthest-corner`
`color-layers()`
`::target-text`
Float16Array
`firstDayOfWeek` for `Intl.Locale`
Base64 & Hex
JIT-less Wasm
Wasm Garbage Collection
Wasm Tail Calls

Safari 17.6 is here!
https://webkit.org/blog/15739/webkit-features-in-safari-17-6/

Includes `safe` alignment in Flexbox.

It’s time for me to ask again:

Web designers, developers and others who make websites,

What features would you like to see added to the web next? What do you want to be able to do/design that you can’t do today?

What features do you need added to or fixed in Safari? What’s most important to you? Why / what will you use it for / why does it matter for your audience?

A mask ban will ban me completely from indoor public life.

I’ve already been pushed most of the way out of society. I cannot believe people are legislating pushing people like me all the way out. Oh, wait, yes I can. This is what the last 2.8 years have been like. Watching everyone around me deciding one by one they would rather banish me from society than be even the slightest bit inconvenienced. Letting me know their feelings are far more important than my life.

https://med-mastodon.com/@luckytran/112611073769629423

Today marks my four year anniversary of joining Apple!

1) Wow that’s gone by fast. Feels like 18 months, not 4 years.

2) I’m still in shock about how smart, elegant, honest, drama-free the whole team is. They are amazing. I’m proud to get to work with these folks. It’s such a stark contrast with previous places.

3) I still feel like I’m just getting started… there’s so much more I want to accomplish.

Have you seen what’s in Safari 17.5 beta?

- `light-dark()` color function (for a far easier way to define two colors at once — one for light mode & one for dark, instead of using a media query)
- `text-wrap: balance` (along with the `text-wrap-style` longhand & the`auto` value)
- `@starting-style`
- `supports()` syntax for `@import` rules

And more: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-release-notes/safari-17_5-release-notes

I’ve been making demos of CSS Grid level 3 lately, to show off what putting masonry/waterfall-like layout support in CSS Grid can do. (I’ve got 16 demos and counting!)

Here’s one with that includes View Transitions, running in Safari Technology Preview 192.

What do you want to know about how masonry-like layouts could work in CSS Grid?

Apple Developer is now on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/@AppleDeveloper

Watch sessions from WWDC23 including...
• Meet Safari for spatial computing: https://youtu.be/-0P8q6CiBUc
• What’s new in web apps: https://youtu.be/zPeveL6B_6w