i figured out safari tab groups. their purpose, how they’re supposed to be used.
scenario: you open a bunch of tabs loosely tied to the first tab, set A. you’re done with set A and now you do something that would start set B in a new tab, but its completely unrelated.
this is where you save set A as a tab group with a meaningful name and close that shit. its there if you need it again.
tab groups manilla folders full of semi-related bits of hypermedia in an infinite filing cabinet. you still have to open the drawer to find it and it maybe gets worse if you let it get too full, but extremely helpful when the need arises to look things up again.
the goal is to not end the day in multi-tab, multi-window hell.
its an anti- “just google it” approach, because doing that over and over for the same information throughout your life is insane. its also better than bookmarks because you’re not browsing one website, you’re engaging with a collection of living media. its your focus in tabs, captured as a group. get it?
ok the UX is atrocious, for sure. its barely discoverable and thus seemingly has minimal utility.
i think a fun way to do tab groups would be to show 5 placeholder indicators for browser tabs in the toolbar, such as semi-opaque dots in a row. once you fill those 5, reveal a “create tab group” button with a one-time popover explainer. ‘Untitled’ has to go away — use ML to just name the group for me.
