Along with the introduction of third-party keyboards, Apple has also expanded the potential of its iOS 8 firmware by means of extensions, which can greatly enrich the experience of using many apps and features including the native Mobile Safari. Sure, the surfing client is much smoother and feature-rich at stock level anyway, but if you want a little more by way of options, you can now go ahead and grab a Safari-specific extension. Given that the mere notion of extensions on iOS is a new one entirely, though, you may be a little stuck on what to look for, and so to help you on your way, we’ve hand-picked a bunch of our favorite Safari extensions for iPhone and iPad users on iOS 8.
TranslateSafari ($0.99 – iPhone and iPad)
This extension will translate entire webpages and read out its contents in your preferred language.
Download it on iTunes here.
WhatFont (FREE – iPhone and iPad)
WhatFont, as the name suggests, will help you to easily identify a font you find when browsing the Web.
Download it on iTunes here.
View Source ($0.99 – iPhone and iPad)
As is once again made clear by the name, this extension brings a commonplace desktop feature to Safari’s repertoire. You can view the HTML, JavaScript and CSS source of any page, and there’s even a selection of themes or color schemes to suit your aesthetic tastes.
Download it on iTunes here.
Stacks 2 ($2.99 – iPhone and iPad)
The Stacks 2 extension makes in-browser currency conversion both effortless and seamless, and although it costs $2.99, is worth every cent.
Download it on iTunes here.
Awesome Screenshot for Safari (FREE – iPhone and iPad)
The ability to take a screenshot is native to iOS, but as you’d imagine, there’s a little more to an “Awesome” screenshot. You can quickly make notes and annotations, draw lines, and make general marks upon your screenshot, which is useful since then you won’t forget why you took the freeze-frame in the first place. But that’s not all, the extension lets you take a full screenshot of a webpage, including the area which is not visible on the screen. This is something the native iOS screenshot feature can’t do.
Download it on iTunes here.
Mail to Self (FREE – iPhone)
This extension will morph your email inbox as a secondary hub for notes and reminders. And with just a single tap, anything you’re viewing in Safari will be mailed to you instantly.
Download it on iTunes here.
1Password (FREE / iPhone and iPad)
1Password is the go-to password management utility for iOS, and will store all of your keys and login credentials using the highest-level commercial security systems available. Not only does it make browsing much easier given that you don’t need to keep inputting passwords and such, but you’ve the added peace of mind in knowing that your data is secure. And with the 1Password extension for Safari, you can fill in a password for a webpage with a single tap, but the story doesn’t end there, you can also use Touch ID to do the same.
Download it on iTunes here.
Pocket (FREE – iPhone and iPad)
This famed app allows you to cut-out-and-keep snippets of the Web for reading at a later date. Thanks to a recent update, you can save Web content to Pocket via any app supporting the iOS share sheet, which, of course, includes Safari.
Download it on iTunes here.
Bing Translation (FREE – iPhone)
With the Bing extension for Safari you can translate pages on the fly with a single tap. It doesn’t get any more easier than this.
Download it on iTunes here.
Pinterest (FREE – iPhone and iPad)
The official Pinterest app comes with its very own extension, and lets you ‘pin’ anything on one of your boards right from Safari. How cool is that?
Download it on iTunes here.
The above apps and extensions will help you to get the very most out of Safari on your iPhone and iPad, provided, of course, that you’re running the latest iOS 8 software. They’re all very useful in their own unique ways, and since most of them are free to download, you needn’t part with any money in order to enhance the native browsing utility.
Be sure to check out our iPhone Apps Gallery and iPad Apps Gallery to explore more apps for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
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