Apple had also showcased the new features and changes coming to mobile Safari in iOS 6 at the WWDC 2012 Keynote along with features like the new Maps app, Facebook Integration, improvements to Siri, Notifications,

Here’s a walkthrough of all the new features and changes in mobile Safari in iOS 6, including the hidden features.

iCloud Tabs:

iOS 6 Mobile Safari gets iCloud Tabs feature, which was first introduced in OS X Mountain Lion for Mac. It allows users to view a list of tabs opened in the Safari web browser across multiple iOS devices and Macs, so you can pick up from where you left off on any device.

Apple basically syncs the links that are open across all your iOS devices and Mac via iCloud. You can access these links either by tapping the new iCloud icon in the toolbar on the iPad or tap on the Bookmarks icon at the bottom and then tap on iCloud Tabs on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

iPhone

iPad

It also tells you the link is open on which iOS device. It doesn’t cache the content of the webpage, so you still need an internet connection to visit the webpage.

Offline Reading List:

Mobile Safari in iOS 6 also saves the web pages and not just the links, so you can read the contents of a webpage without an internet connection. While read it later apps have offered such as feature for quite sometime, we think the seamless integration with Safari makes it a killer feature.

To add the current web page to the Reading list, tap on the   button at the bottom and then tap on “Add to Reading List”.

You can enable or disable the use of cellular network to save Reading List items for offline reading via Settings app (Settings -> Safari -> Use Cellular Data toggle under Reading List).

Note: Offline Reading List feature is not available for iPhone 3GS and fourth-generation iPod touch users.

Uploading Photos and Video:

You no longer need to go to your computer to upload images or video on a webpage. In iOS 6, you can upload an existing image and video from the camera roll in Mobile Safari itself or take a new one to add it directly on a web page from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

It means that you will now be able to add images in our comments section using your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Full Screen Mode in Landscape:

When you flip to landscape mode in iOS 6 Safari, there is a new button at the bottom right corner on the toolbar, which allows you to switch to full screen mode.

While in full-screen mode, you can navigate to the previous or next webpage using back and forward translucent navigation buttons that are overlayed on the webpage as seen in the screenshot below.

New Sharing Menu:

As you can see in the screenshot below, mobile Safari gets a new sharing menu in iOS 6. Apple has added three new shortcuts to the sharing menu: 1. to copy the URL, 2. share the link on Facebook, 3. share the link using Message app.

Faster:

In addition to the UI changes and the new features mentioned above, Apple has also made improvements under the hood. AnandTech reports that the javascript performance has improved by around 10% on iPhone 4 and around 30% on iPhone 4S.

Some other changes and improvements:

• There is no change in the number of webpages that can be opened on the iPhone in iOS 6. It’s still 8. But the number of tabs that can be opened on the iPad has been increased to 24.
• When you tap on an RSS link, Safari now opens the link in the app capable of opening RSS feeds that may be installed on your iOS device, or gives you an error message informing you that it is a link to an RSS feed and if you would like to search the App Store for apps that can display RSS feeds.
• iOS 6 Mobile Safari offers improved HTML5 support.
• In Safari for iPhone, adding a new page opens it directly next to the active one on the right rather than at the end.
• Safari now shows a new message for internet connection errors.

• Safari’s search bar text now reads “Search” instead of “Google”, “Yahoo”, “Bing” etc.
• When you open a new tab, Safari now puts the cursor in the address bar rather than in the search bar.
• The overscroll background is now the hatched Notification Center pattern.

What you think of the new features and improvements coming to Safari in iOS 6? Sounds off in the comments below.

Related:

Also find out what’s new in Notifications in: Notifications, Mail app.