Opened Safari, tapped the new tab icon, tapped the "+" to start typing in a new url.
What?! The location box was very, very dark grey. I could just barely make out the black text as I typed. Being a bad typist, I need to check my speling quite offtin. But with the dark background and only slightly darker text display, just
reading what I had typed was almost impossible!!
Finally found an "
extremely intuitive" solution:
Tap the "
AA" in the extreme left-hand edge of the bar. Believe me, that 'text size' control is really there, even if you can't see it.
Now you should see several options:
- Text size
- Show Reader
- Hide Toolbar
- Request Desktop Website
- Website Settings
- Privacy Report
- ...
- Show Bottom Tab Bar
"But...", you say, "I
like my URL bar at the top (despite what Apple says!)". I know,
I know, just hang on a minute, chill... Yes, your URL bar will drop (silently and without any apparent damage) to the bottom of the screen, but, tapping that "
AA" thingy again will put it right back at the top.
Exhale!
Now, I have no idea why these actions also control the color/brightness of the background.
But, just as many have said to a child, "It just does"!
I suspect this is just an 'easter egg' that Apple has created to keep us on our toes. Sorry if I've spoiled your search attempts.
If you really want your URL bar at the bottom and/or unreadable, you're on your own. Somewhere there is a setting for "Private Browsing". That's probably where the background visibility settings might be. I just never found them.
