# Safari and Apple Watch Receive Major Power-User Feature Updates Apple introduces vertical tabs, adaptive dark mode, and controversial audio intelligence features in latest betas. - **Source:** [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/) - **Published:** 2026-11-03 - **Topic:** [Software & Engineering](https://brifing.si/c/engineering) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/3d02d696-1235-48be-a72c-af10938e0af9 ## Safari Adopts Vertical Tabs Apple is introducing vertical tabs to Safari in the macOS 27.3 developer beta, finally mirroring a popular power-user workflow. The implementation allows users to view favicons in a sidebar, with hover-based expansion for tab names. This feature also extends to iPad and iPhone Duo, ensuring a consistent cross-device experience for managing complex browsing sessions. ## Adaptive Dark Mode Mechanics The new Adaptive Dark Mode goes beyond simple color inversion by intelligently rebalancing shadows and recoloring vector graphics. It specifically adjusts text contrast and inverts logos to improve readability on bright websites. Users can preview these changes before applying them, with granular controls to enable the mode globally or for specific domains on macOS. ## Siri AI Tab Management Devices supporting Apple Intelligence gain advanced Siri capabilities for browser navigation. Users can now issue voice or text prompts to organize, sort, or close specific tab groups. Future updates will enable Siri to analyze entire webpages, allowing users to query content without needing to scroll through the full length of an article. ## Audio Intelligence for Watches Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models are receiving Audio Intelligence via the 27.3 update. Powered by S11 chips, this suite includes sound recognition for sirens and alarms, alongside music identification. These features leverage both on-device processing and cloud-based models to provide real-time environmental awareness directly from the user's wrist hardware. ## Live Rewind Functionality Live Rewind captures the last 15 seconds of ambient audio, providing a text snippet upon double-pressing the Digital Crown. Designed for recalling missed information in meetings or lectures, it operates through a continuous filtering process. The system provides clear visual and audio cues when active, ensuring users remain aware of the background capture. ## Siri Recap Privacy Design Siri Recap generates high-level summaries of daily conversations without creating full transcriptions. To ensure privacy, Apple strips summaries of names, locations, and sensitive data like account numbers. These neutral summaries are saved in Apple Notes or the Journal app, with an automatic seven-day deletion policy for any content that remains unacted upon. ## Secure Audio Processing Architecture Apple emphasizes that Audio Intelligence features never save or store raw audio files. Data is filtered through the watch microphones, processed by the S11 chip's Secure Exclave, and finalized within the paired iPhone's Secure Enclave. This architecture ensures that audio cannot be accessed or recovered by any party, including Apple, at any point. ## Societal Acceptance and Future While Apple provides full opt-in control, the social acceptance of ambient audio capture remains uncertain. Similar to past controversies surrounding wearable cameras, the success of these features depends on consumer comfort levels. Apple maintains that these tools are strictly optional, leaving the final decision on usage and privacy boundaries to the individual user. ## Sources covering this story - https://gizmodo.com/safari-vertical-tabs-mac-ipad-iphone-duo-2000833607 — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._