It seems the tech community’s search for the perfect reading setup continues unabated. Just this week on AppStories, Federico and John discussed which RSS readers have stood the test of time. Between text-to-speech apps, RSS readers, eReaders, and more, surely there’s no room left for another approach to catching up on articles? Apparently, there is. Enter Ticci Tabs with a straightforward but specific solution.
You may have noticed something familiar about the name of this app: it contains the nickname of our venerable Editor-in-Chief here at MacStories, Federico Viticci. That’s because Ticci Tabs has an amusing backstory. Several weeks ago on Connected, Federico lamented that there wasn’t an app that allowed him to browse his favorite “six or seven” websites in their original form, separate from a browser or RSS reader in a stripped down version of Safari. Less than a week later, developer Jonathan Ruiz released a beta version of Ticci Tabs on TestFlight, and it did just what Federico described. What might have seemed at first like a fun app carrying out a function requested by one specific person has blossomed into an intriguing and well-thought-out utility. Let’s take a closer look.
When you first launch the app, below a nice trio of onboarding screens (which you can access again from the app’s settings, an option I always appreciate) is a big ‘Save a new tab’ button. Tap this, and you’ll be shown a card containing two fields: Title and URL. Input the title and URL of the website you want to add and tap ’Save.’ It’s as easy as that. The website now appears in your Ticci Tabs list. You can add as many sites as you want (not just six or seven), and anytime you tap on a tab, the app will open an in-app browser window displaying the selected website. You can then read and scroll through the site and, when you’re finished, close the browser window and move on to another website in your list. Within your website list, you can also drag sites around to reorder them and quickly delete one with a swipe to the left.
That’s the core of what Ticci Tabs does. However, this simple-seeming app has some clever touches that elevate the user experience beyond the basics. Chief among them is saving website logins. Using cookies, the app will keep you logged in to every website in your list, which is especially helpful for sites that require a login. If you’ve ever used an in-app browser in another app, you’ll know that persistent logins are not a given.
Most impressive of all, though, is the way the app deals with websites that send “secure” sign-in links via email. Apart from being a bit unsafe and very annoying, these links are also incompatible with tools like Ticci Tabs. When you tap a sign-in link from an email, it opens in your default browser, defeating the point of starting a login session within the app. Ruiz has come up with a novel way around this. After you add a website to Ticci Tabs, open the page and start the login process. When you receive your login link via email, copy its login link and switch back to Ticci Tabs. Long press on the website in your list and select ‘Use sign in link.’ The system will prompt you to grant clipboard access to the app, and after you allow it, the website will open up and log you in. From then on, you will stay logged in when you open the site in Ticci Tabs.
Ruiz didn’t stop there, though. He’s included Shortcuts actions, a share sheet extension, and some basic widgets as well. The app’s Shortcuts actions allow you to add new tabs as well as open, delete, or get information for any tab in the app. The share sheet extension will create a new tab with the URL and title of any website you send to it, and the widgets grant one-tap access to any tab in your list, with options to configure widgets to display a single site or a grid of favicons for multiple sites.
If this all seems like a very back-to-basics approach to browsing the web, that’s because it is. But to be honest, after using it for only a short period, I’ve been enjoying this simplified way of browsing my favorite websites. It directs my attention to the sites themselves, and I like the feeling of opening the app purposefully to visit my chosen sites rather than mixing them in with the dozens of other tabs I have open in Safari or the endless list of articles in my RSS reader.
One aspect of the app I’m not a fan of is the visual design of its UI elements. The gradients feel like a very early iPhone design style and could do with a more modern look. The layout of the UI is good; it’s just the look of the individual elements that I can’t get onboard with. I also think there should be a warning when you swipe to delete a tab from your list. It’s not a big issue, but it would be a helpful precaution.
These minor issues aside, developer Jonathan Ruiz has a great little utility on his hands. He took a half-brief from someone on a podcast and created an app with a very specific purpose. But he also took the time to really think through the various user interactions involved to make sure that nothing gets in the way of the app’s intention: giving people easy access their favorite six or seven (or so) websites.
Ticci Tabs is available for free on the App Store and built for the iPhone and iPad, though the iPad version can also be installed on Apple silicon Macs and the Vision Pro. The app includes a tip jar should you wish to show the developer your appreciation.
