Unlike its desktop cousins, the Safari browser on the iPad and iPhone doesn’t
support browser extensions (at least not yet!). Although many useful functions
are built in, what you see is what you get.
Unless you use bookmarklets, that is. These are small snippets of JavaScript
code that perform certain tasks, such as redirecting the current page to an
online translation service so you can read it in English, or adding the current
site to social-media sites not officially supported by iOS, such as Pinterest or
Tumblr.32,33
The trick is to add these snippets of bookmarklet code as bookmarks so that
they’re always accessible on either the bookmarks menu or the Favorites bar.
Although there are several sites containing lists of bookmarklets, those known
to be compatible with Safari on an iPad or iPhone are contained in a list
maintained by Amit Agarwal at the Digital Inspiration blog.34 Follow these
steps to add any bookmarklets to Safari:
1. Visit the Digital Inspiration website in Safari, then tap the link for the
bookmarklet you wish to add to your bookmarks list. This will open a
page with a movie or animation showing the bookmark in action.
2. Tap the share button on the browser toolbar, then select the Bookmark
icon. Then tap the Save button.
3. Tap the Bookmark button on the browser toolbar, then tap the Edit button.
Locate your new bookmarklet, then tap it.
4. Tap the address component, then remove the first part of the address
—everything up to and including the pound (#) sign. To do this you’ll need
to scroll left in the small text field—perhaps the best way of doing so is
to tap and hold until the magnifying glass appears, then drag left beyond
the pop-out window for a few seconds.
5. Click Done when you’ve finished, then tap Done in the parent window.
Your bookmarklet will now be ready for use. Should you wish to remove it in
the future you can do so just like with any other bookmark—open the bookmarks
list, then swipe left on the bookmarklet entry and tap the red delete
button.
