Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform..If you’re reading this week’s on your desktop, look closely at your browser’s address bar.
Notice how the main (root) domain is darker or black, while the rest of the URL is a lighter grey? This is not an accident — it’s actually a subtle psychological trick called salience bias.This little design choice has protected users from phishing attacks for over a decade.Salience bias (sometimes called perceptual salience) is a cognitive behavior that causes one to notice things that stand out more, like something brighter, bolder, and overall more visually striking.
Apple’s marketing wing is known for this.The company’s minimalist commercial ads, website pages, and even retail stores are built to draw attention to the subject, not the surroundings.Most major browsers started adopting this technique around the early 2010s when displaying the entire URL.
Apple was the first to do this in Safari 6 on OS X Mountain Lion in 2012 — basically a hundred years ago in tech.With the release of “Smart Search Field”, Mac users could now enter web addresses and perform searches using the default search engine from a single bar (huge at the time).It was with this release that Safari also started darkening the URL’s main domain.
Chrome and Firefox quickly followed.Today, desktop Safari makes domain salience even more apparent.By default, it only shows the root domain in the address bar — you have to click or tap to see the full URL.
It’s the same approach most mobile browsers use, though you can turn it off in Safari’s settings if you like.Who said UI design and security can’t go hand in hand? This is one of those obvious features we subconsciously notice but don’t think twice about.It’s a clean design choice that brilliantly emphasizes the most critical details up front, allowing potential victims to catch themselves before giving up sensitive information.
This little salience trick undoubtedly has saved millions from becoming victims of phishing attacks.More in Apple security FBI releases 2024 Internet Crime Report, ‘new record for losses’ Apple warns iPhone users in 100 countries that they are victims of spyware Millions of AirPlay devices can be hacked over Wi-Fi; CarPlay too Here’s what malware your Mac can detect and remove on its own Thank you for reading , a security-focused column on , made possible by Moysle.Follow Arin: Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Threads You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.
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