Safari finally gets vertical tabs — and a new way to make any site dark, all thanks to iOS 27.3

• Safari is getting some useful updates
• Vertical tabs will arrive for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, but it's only in the dev betas for now
• Other features like Adaptive Dark Mode and Siri AI browser tools are coming, too, along with our first glimpse of the new Audio Intelligence capabilities

On the global web browser stage, Safari lags behind Chrome, but when it comes to Apple's 2.5 billion customers, it reigns supreme. Yet, even those devoted users might've noticed that their favorite browser was lacking at least one long-sought feature. Now, with the introduction of Dev Betas for iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, and macOS 27.3, they're getting their wish.

In beta today, the platform upgrade actually brings a series of relatively small but important updates to Safari across the iPhone Duo, iPad, and Mac, but chief among them is vertical tabs.

As is often the case, Apple didn't invent this idea. I started using vertical tabs in, of all things, Microsoft Edge years ago, and even Chrome recently added them. Now, with the Safari update, you can open the Safari View Menu or hop into Settings and select vertical tabs.

Future

Future

By default, the tabs, which will live on the left side of your browser window in iPadOS and macOS (and iOS for the iPhone Duo), appear as icons — a space-saving measure. You can hover over any of them for a quick look at the hidden browser window.

There are other vertical tab features like the ability to pin tabs at the top of your list by dragging and dropping them, and tab groups. The tabs will work on the iPad and, yes, the new iPhone Duo in portrait and landscape mode.

(Image credit: Future)

The platform updates also bring a new kind of Dark Mode. Instead of only showing the mode on web pages that support it, Safari will offer to tune unsupported pages to Dark Mode too, but in a way, Apple promises, that won't ruin the sites. The Adaptive Dark Mode will automatically darken light backgrounds, invert logos and graphics, recolor vector artwork, lift raised surfaces, and even detect shadows and adjust them. It will not touch already darkened sites. For developers, there are new tags they can use that will prevent Adaptive Dark Mode from adjusting them.

The update is also bringing some Siri AI browser tools to Safari for hardware that supports Apple Intelligence.

Siri AI already has, with your permission, an awareness of what's on your screen, but with this update, it'll see entire web pages (beyond what you see in the screen frame) and even hidden tabs.

This can be useful when you want to do wholesale organization and group tabs. Say you want all tabs relating to a trip to Malta sorted by activity, or you need all your car shopping tabs grouped and organized by car price.

Siri AI can, with new Custom Actions, do your bidding on the browser and clean up your history by topic, site, and time period. It might be useful when you don't want someone seeing that you've been shopping for the last few days on a particular site for that coveted gift. There might be other reasons for targeted history scrubbing, but no need to get into that here.

(Image credit: Apple)

Other notable updates arriving in iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, macOS 27.3, watchOS 27.3 Dev Beta 1 include:

• Siri App Actions will let Siri AI dig even more deeply into your system by organizing files, making trip plans, creating playlists, scheduling group messages, and finding the best photos to share.
• The promised Apple Health app overhaul, which uses Apple Intelligence, will give you more insights from your health data.
• The pair of Audio Intelligence features that will work with your Apple Watch Series 12:
• Live rewind, for recalling what was said in conversation (you have to double-press the watch crown to read the last snippet of conversation). It might be a great tool for settling he said/he said arguments.
• Siri Recap, which, when enabled, can use Apple Intelligence to recap and summarize an entire talk, speech, lesson, or maybe a TED Talk.

The changes are coming to 27.3 betas first and will eventually roll out to the other platforms in a full release. For now, though, all of these updates are found only in the Dev Betas, which are typically the earliest and potentially buggiest releases before Apple moves on to Public Betas ( that anyone can install) and the final releases. There's no word on when the full releases will arrive, and we would caution you against installing Developer betas on any of your everyday Apple devices.

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Reddit is challenging Australia’s ‘inept’ social media ban for under-16s

• Reddit wants to overturn Australia’s social media ban for under-16s
• It is challenging the law in the Australian High Court
• Government says it’s defending the law from "sustained ideological attack"

In late 2025, Australia became the first nation in the world to ban social media for under-16s — and as you would expect, that hasn’t gone down particularly well with the app makers affected. Reddit, for example, has issued a stinging rebuke to the Australian government and is in the process of challenging the ban in court.

A lawyer representing Reddit called the ban “ill thought out” (via Reuters) and said it was a “profound ‌restriction on political debate.” The attorney was speaking at the Australian High Court, where Reddit is seeking to contest the country’s new law.

Together with a libertarian advocacy group, Reddit claimed in court that the social media ban was “a very substantial restriction on what young people can now do” and that it could stifle political debate. It added that the restrictions may stop users creating content and responding to posts.

Although Reddit said it supported the aims of the law, it branded the legislation “inept,” saying that it did not have any specific means to keep minors off social media and failed to regulate other platforms where cyberbullying might take place, such as on gaming websites. And the fact that users who were not logged in could still view huge amounts of material undermined the law, Reddit argued.

Could Reddit overturn the ban?

(Image credit: Getty Images / Anna Barclay)

Since the Australian law came into effect, several studies have shown that large numbers of teenage users targeted by it are still able to access restricted material. Sometimes, that might be as simple as using a VPN service to disguise your location, while at other times, social media firms are simply not taking action to restrict usage by under-16s.

Despite Reddit’s criticism, the Australian government has said it will defend its legislation. In court, the state’s lawyer, Joanna Davidson, said that children were more vulnerable to harmful online content because their brains were not fully developed compared to those of adults.

And speaking outside the High Court, communications ⁠minister Anika Wells ​said: “We ​are here to defend a fundamental tenet of Australian democracy, which is an Australian’s right, and particularly an Australian child’s right, to be free from harm. We seek ​to defend that from sustained ideological attack.”

The government has doubled the maximum fine for non-compliance with the law to AU$99 million (about $69.5 million / £51.5 million), increased the discovery powers of the eSafety Commissioner, and said it is preparing enforcement action against some of the largest social media platforms operating in Australia.

Whatever side you take on this matter, it’s clear that neither the Australian government nor Reddit are preparing to back down anytime soon. And with other nations considering similar laws, many people around the world will be watching closely.

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Reddit users criticize plan to require account logins

• Reddit has announced plans to switch to a primarily logged in experience
• This would mean most of the site won't be accessible without creating and logging in to an account
• Reddit users seem almost universally unhappy about this planned change

Reddit — a site that once had the tagline “the front page of the internet” — looks set to become a lot less accessible, and therefore far less of a front page, as the company plans to require users to be logged in.

Currently, you can access pretty much the entire site without having to log in or create an account, and this has a lot of upsides. It means people who get there through search results can find the information they’re looking for more easily and seamlessly, and it means you can browse Reddit without giving the site any information about yourself, or being subject to any personalization algorithms.

But in a post on the site, CEO Steve Huffman (known as Spez on Reddit) has explained that the site will now evolve to become a primarily logged-in experience.

Tests of this change will begin in select markets outside the US in the coming months, but once the details have been ironed out and tested, it sounds like this shift will become global and permanent.

According to Huffman, this is being done because it’s “better for user experience, better for our ads business, is more in line with safety regulations, and more protective of Reddit data,” but despite Huffman's claims, it’s a change that isn’t going down well with users.

Heading down a worrying path

(Image credit: Future)

Responses to Huffman’s post include “hard disagree,” “knew it was going to get worse,” and “truly fascinating to witness a CEO consistently act against their company's interests,” among many others. In fact, just about every reply to the post is negative.

Beyond not wanting to be forced to log in for all the reasons above, users also worry that this change will lead Reddit down the same road as Pinterest. As one commenter said: “this sounds like exactly what Pinterest did... and then Pinterest kinda died.”

So, this sounds like it’s going to be a bad change for just about everyone other than Reddit’s C-suite, though if it does die, then it’s bad for them too. Hopefully, though, if this does lead to a meaningfully worse experience, we’ll see an alternative rise up to take its place, much as the likes of Bluesky and Threads did when Twitter became X. Still, it would be sad to see Reddit go.

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Apple is making Creator Studio an even better deal with new AI features and creative tools

• Pixelmator Pro gets a new AI-powered Generate Fill tool
• Keynote, Pages, and Numbers add AI assistants and OpenAI model support
• Final Cut Pro gains thousands of MotionVFX creative assets in November

Apple's Pro and Tell week is marching on, and alongside the reveal of the M6-powered iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro, the Cupertino-based giant is also shining a spotlight on software. Specifically, Apple Creator Studio is getting a wide-ranging update that brings a fresh batch of features and, ultimately, packs in more value.

As it stands, Apple Creator Studio is a software subscription priced at $12.99 / £12.99 / AU$19.99 a month or $129 / £129 / AU$199 per year, giving you access to Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Pixelmator Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Logic Pro across Mac, iPad, and iPhone. All that stays the same, including the especially excellent education discount — $2.99 / £2.99 / AU$4.99 per month or $29.99 / £29.99 / AU$49.99 per year — but there are some pretty big updates here, with AI playing a starring role.

Leading the charge is Pixelmator Pro, which is getting a new Generate Fill tool. This lets you select an area of an image, describe what you want to add or change, and let AI do the heavy lifting. It's the kind of feature that could come in handy when you're editing a photo and don't want to jump between apps to get the result you're after. It'll also help level the playing field between Pixelmator Pro and Adobe Photoshop by filling a feature gap.

(Image credit: Apple)

Keynote, Pages, and Numbers are also getting AI assistants designed to help you create presentations, write documents, and work with spreadsheets. Most interestingly, you'll be able to use OpenAI models alongside Apple's own, opening up more possibilities for working with AI in these apps. The apps also support compatible external AI tools, potentially making them a more useful part of your broader workflow.

(Image credit: Apple)

With Final Cut Pro, Apple is bringing MotionVFX content directly into its pro video editing suite, making thousands of creative elements, including transitions, templates, effects, and titles, available for use in your projects. It's another welcome addition that should let you get more done directly inside Final Cut Pro, rather than having to rely on other tools.

(Image credit: Apple)

All of this is coming in November as a free update for existing subscribers, though Apple isn't sharing specific timing just yet. These updates should also be right at home on the new Macs announced this week, but I'm curious to see if Apple introduces any more surprises, like the much-rumored touchscreen MacBook Pro, during its Pro and Tell event tomorrow.

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Fake TikTok Shops now fuel one in five phishing blocks — and Black Friday could make it worse

• Surfshark data shows blocks of a single suspected fake TikTok Shop domain rose 638% between May and September.
• The domain was behind roughly one in five phishing blocks worldwide and is still active in October.
• Phishing exposure also climbed across Europe and the US, with France seeing the sharpest rise.

New data from Surfshark shows that a single domain linked to a suspected counterfeit TikTok Shop operation generated 320,007 phishing blocks between May and September 2026.

That's 19% of the roughly 1.6 million phishing-category blocks recorded worldwide by the company's web content blocker over those five months. The operation isn't slowing down either: in the first 20 days of October, the domain triggered another 96,711 blocks.

The findings come weeks before the busiest shopping period of the year. They're also a reminder that even the best VPN can only do so much if you type your card details into a convincing fake.

One fake storefront, a fifth of all phishing blocks

Monthly blocks tied to the domain jumped from 16,995 in May to 125,413 in September, peaking at 22.2% of all phishing blocks in August.

It's part of a much broader spike. Total phishing-category blocks rose 524% between April and September, and blocks per protected device climbed 83%, so the growth isn't just down to more people using the tool.

"Data clearly shows users are being unknowingly rerouted to fraudulent stores designed to steal money and personal information rather than sell genuine products," said Justas Pukys, Senior Product Manager at Surfshark.

Phishing exposure rises across Europe and the US

Between April and September, blocks per protected device rose 159% in France, 99% in Italy, 86% in Spain, 54% in the UK, and 38% in Germany.

In the US, exposure nearly doubled. Blocks per protected device rose 87%, while total phishing blocks grew almost sixfold, from 20,519 to 122,580.

How to stay safe this Black Friday

Surfshark expects phishing to rise again as Black Friday approaches. Pukys recommends checking that every site is official, typing a trusted address manually if a redirect looks suspicious, and ignoring promotional links sent by SMS or messaging apps. He also suggests paying with single-use virtual cards.

Security tools can help catch what you miss. Surfshark's own web content blocker, the tool behind this data, lets you block site categories, including phishing, even with the VPN switched off. NordVPN's next-gen antivirus blocked 94% of phishing sites in AV-Comparatives' latest test, and VPN providers are hardening connections too, with Surfshark recently bringing full post-quantum security to WireGuard.

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Wikipedia was down for many—here's what we know about the outage

Wikipedia went down for many users around the world today, according to Downdetector — but the issues now seem to be resolved.

The problems started at around 10.51am ET / 3.51pm BST, when a large spike in reports appeared on the outage-tracking website — the reports peaked at just over 2,000 in the US and 850 in the UK.

It appears that some 'emergency maintenance' from Wikimedia was the culprit and appears to have now finished — but you can follow what happened in our liveblog below...

A sharp spike in reports

(Image credit: Downdetector)

Wikipedia is working okay for me here in the UK, but it isn't for thousands of users right now — the reports graph on Downdetector is now over 3,000 in the US, and it's climbing in the UK too.

The cause is so far unclear, as there are no current issues at the major cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud or Cloudflare. I'll be digging into this and reporting back shortly...

October 21, 2026 – 11:57 AM

Please try again later...

THAT’S A FIRST, I HAVE NEVER SEEN WIKIPEDIA GO DOWN LIKE THIS?everything but the index page fails to load… huhhh??? https://t.co/5DtJ51QIkiOctober 21, 2026

This is what Wikipedia and Wikimedia currently look like for many users — an "error" page with a "please try again later" message. I've also never seen it go down like that, although it's working fine for me in the UK.

Strangely, there are a few other outages running concurrently right now, including Asana and the Internet Archive. It isn't yet clear if they're related, but they did start at very similar times (around 10am ET / 3pm BST). Wikipedia is certainly the worst-hit, though.

October 21, 2026 – 12:03 PM

'Emergency maintenance'

(Image credit: Wikipedia)

This probably explains today's Wikipedia issues — the Wikimedia Foundation status page says 'emergency maintenance' is in progress.

The foundation hasn't explained how long the maintenance will last or what it's for, but that should hopefully mean it's pretty short-lived...

October 21, 2026 – 12:14 PM

Phew, it's back

(Image credit: Downdetector)

Good news, it looks like the Wikipedia outage was indeed short-lived — or at least only lasted an hour.

The Downdetector reports have plummeted back down to zero, which suggests that 'emergency maintenance' is now finished.

Fortunately, that was all a lot more straightforward than the major PHP flaw that's turned government websites dark and sent website admins scambling...

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Zoom's new Unified Context Layer unlocks all of your company's complex conversations and video calls for AI agents to use

• Zoom is packaging up conversations and calls into a Unified Context Layer
• APIs mean third-party AI agents can get direct access to this source of data
• Humans can now spend less time explaining context to AI agents

In recognition that increasingly siloed and complex systems are making it harder for companies to keep track of all their data, making it difficult to deploy effective AI on top of existing tech stacks, Zoom has launched its Unified Context Layer (UCL).

UCL works by bringing together meeting conversations, chats, documents and other business data into one connected system, which it hopes will make it easier for AI agents to work across.

This marks an important step in the company's much broader transition from the video conferencing platform we grew to love during the now-distant pandemic to a full productivity suite that spans both human and agentic users.

Zoom's Unified Context Layer

"This new layer brings together conversations with near real-time activity across Zoom and connected third-party applications, giving people and AI agents access to business context that might otherwise be lost or siloed," the company said in an announcement.

But in a world of increasing interoperability, the company is also adding new APIs to allow external AI tools to query its Unified Context Layer directly, which means ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Muse and other AI agents can see straight into the core data that Zoom holds.

The biggest impact is on productivity, where human workers will need to spend far less time fetching different parts of context to give an AI agent the best chances of success.

Of course, Zoom isn't the first platform to be introducing a Unified Context Layer, but being that the software is still primarily used for communications both within organizations and with external clients, Zoom's UCL should be able to unlock some pretty serious unstructured data for future AI agents.

With Zoom now betting on conversations as a vastly underused source of intelligence, its early adoption of a UCL should play an integral role both in its own roadmap, but also how enterprises benefit from agentic AI on the whole.

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