Make Safari be Chrome?

I'm SUCH a big fan of the Chrome browser, but lately YouTube has been really shaky in it, but runs fine in Safari. Also, Safari's Reader option is the best invention ever, so I'm considering coming home to Safari.

PROBLEM IS: I love Chrome because the search and URL bar are the SAME THING. How incredibly convenient is that? Is there any way I can melt Safari's search and URL bars into the same ultra-powerful browsing dream-come-true?

Thanks in advance,
Brandon

Convenient? Not in the least. It's not a complicated thing to put your cursor in the search field when you want to search, and put it in the url field when you want to type an address. Furthermore, doing it the Safari way lets you get to a website more quickly. If I want to go to, say... http://www.macupdate.com, then all I have to do is type macupdate and hit enter. Safari assumes this is for a .com address and adds the rest of the address in for me. In Chrome, I assume I'd get a Google search results page instead. Sounds a lot clumsier to me.

But to answer your question… no, there is no method that I can find.

I'm in the same position as you with the YouTube issue. Chrome has been handling YouTube incredibly slow on my very dated Macbook. I only noticed the slow down of YouTube on Chrome, since the last update a week ago. However, Safari handles YouTube perfect as ever.

I do like having the address bar as a search bar too, but I've not gotten around to changing that function.

Here's a thread that might interest you: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-applications-games/113536-use-safari-url-bar-search-bar.html

lifeisabeach said:

Furthermore, doing it the Safari way lets you get to a website more quickly. If I want to go to, say... MacUpdate: Download Apple Mac Software & iPhone Software, then all I have to do is type macupdate and hit enter. Safari assumes this is for a .com address and adds the rest of the address in for me. In Chrome, I assume I'd get a Google search results page instead. Sounds a lot clumsier to me.

Click to expand...

Not if you visit sites that don't end in .com. If I try to go to my school site for instance, which is a .ca ccTLD, typing the url without the ccTLD gets me a page that is apparently for sale. In Chrome, it at least gives me a search page where I can easily click on the actual page. I guess it depends on what you want to define as "clumsy."

There is SafariSIA which appears to get you closer to search in the address bar but it hasn't been updated in just over four years so it may not work with Safari 5. If that doesn't work (wouldn't count on it), you can always just push the tab button to tab over to the search field from the address bar.

searching via the URL bar is one of the best feature chrome has.

it's not much big of a problem moving your cursor alittle more to click on the search bar right?

anyway, if you're having problems with chrome why dont you switch to mozilla?

Correct me if I'm wrong but Opera has the equivalent of the Chrome omnibar and might run YouTube videos more smoothly.

vansmith said:

Not if you visit sites that don't end in .com. If I try to go to my school site for instance, which is a .ca ccTLD, typing the url without the ccTLD gets me a page that is apparently for sale. In Chrome, it at least gives me a search page where I can easily click on the actual page. I guess it depends on what you want to define as "clumsy."

Click to expand...

Well like I said… Safari "assumes" .com (though I do wonder if that can be changed via some hidden preference). At any rate, typing the search in the search box in Safari gives me a search page just as easily as typing a search in the url box in Chrome. I quite frankly don't get why this is considered so much harder. Both boxes are on the same bar. You can even resize them if it's so difficult to slide the mouse over a little bit.

Well, it's easier and faster to press Command L than using the mouse and placing the cursor in the search field.

iWhat said:

Well, it's easier and faster to press Command L than using the mouse and placing the cursor in the search field.

Click to expand...

If you want the search field, that's option-command-F.

[size=-2](Which, according to the Standard Semantic Rules For Keyboard Shortcuts, is "Find-All." It makes sense.)[/size]

iWhat said:

Well, it's easier and faster to press Command L than using the mouse and placing the cursor in the search field.

Click to expand...

Hah! I was wondering about what that could be as I was driving to work.

One other issue I see with having everything lumped into one bar is the history. I type in the search field, I get search-related history for easy re-selection. In the URL bar, previously visited pages. Lumping all this together would be very annoying.

Anywho... to each their own. Hope the tips provided by all work out.

technologist said:

If you want the search field, that's option-command-F.

[size=-2](Which, according to the Standard Semantic Rules For Keyboard Shortcuts, is "Find-All." It makes sense.)[/size]

Click to expand...

But that's a third button to press! ;D

lifeisabeach said:

Anywho... to each their own. Hope the tips provided by all work out.

Click to expand...

Yep, can't argue against what works for another.

lifeisabeach said:

One other issue I see with having everything lumped into one bar is the history. I type in the search field, I get search-related history for easy re-selection. In the URL bar, previously visited pages. Lumping all this together would be very annoying.

Click to expand...

It's not as bad as you might think. Search queries and URLs are differentiated by colour (URLs are green, search queries are black). But, like you said, to each their own.

Wow, actually Virgeist had the answer. Opera is a completely superior browser. i can watch YouTube in SMOOTH 1080p in Opera, which I haven't been able to do since I've had this computer. I love Apple to death, but Safari and Mail have HUGE flaws.