Apple is using AI to fix Safari’s extension problem

Apple is trying to solve one of Safari’s biggest weaknesses with AI. Safari has long lacked the robust library of extensions that its rivals have, mainly due to the stringent development requirements from Apple. But now, Apple is inviting users to essentially vibe-code their own extensions.

Apple is using AI to fix Safari’s extension problem

Safari will invite users to ‘vibe-code’ their own extensions.

In a demo shared by Apple, the company showed how you can ask Safari to create an extension by describing it. “Save and track cooking recipes from around the web,” the prompt said. “Click the toolbar button to see your saved recipes and add notes to each.” From there, Safari used Apple Intelligence to generate a “Recipe Keeper” extension that’s supposed to do just that.

If the feature actually works, it could help fill the gap left by the Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox extensions not available on Safari. It should also appeal to those building an arsenal of personal software for themselves with AI.

Safari is playing catch-up with rival browsers in other areas as well. Over the past couple of years, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox have quickly snapped up new AI features, while Safari has largely lagged behind as Apple slowly fed AI into its products. Until now, Safari’s AI toolset has been slim compared to competitors, as it has just offered AI summaries of webpages through a Highlights feature.

Aside from an extension-making feature, Apple revealed a new AI-powered feature for Safari that will automatically sort your tabs into categories based on what’s in them. That means Safari might organize all of your tabs related to the new running shoes you’re shopping for in a group called “sneakers.”

Google rolled out a similar feature for Chrome in 2024, which you could use to right-click a tab and select an “organize” feature to automatically group similar ones. But it looks like Google may have discontinued this feature, as its dedicated webpage redirects you to a Google support page, and I can’t seem to find it in my settings menu. Edge can similarly group tabs based on relevance, while Firefox can generate tab group names using AI.

Apple is adding another familiar feature to Safari as well: the ability to change compromised passwords on your behalf. With the update, Apple’s Passwords app uses Safari and Apple Intelligence to navigate to a website, sign in, and update your account’s passwords. It’s a feature Google first announced for Chrome last year, though it’s only available on “supported websites,” according to the company.

Safari is getting a new “Notify Me” feature, too, which you can use to track changes to a website. Several third-party tools already do this, but Apple is differentiating itself by allowing you to describe the kind of change you’re looking for, like a product restock or price drop, so you won’t get notified over every small change.

As competitors rush to add AI-powered browsing features, Apple is being a lot more selective about the kinds of tools it’s adding to Safari. Most AI-powered features just aren’t there yet, and it seems like Apple is taking a slower approach to make sure the kinds of tools embedded have been proven to work.