Tue, 29 Jul 2008

7:05 AM - Safari doesn't let you change the default search?

 I've been using Google for several years.  I'm thinking about trying some alternate search engines.  I just realized you can't easily change the default search in safari like you can in Firefox and even IE.  

Apple doesn't seem to have a preference for it and cuil's FAQ incorrectly suggests there is a setting.  I can't find it.  A search on cuil returned one useful hit, but the site was pulled down.  They also don't seem to cache pages like Google.  I decided to use Google to look for an answer.  There are two options.

  1. Use http://www.inquisitorx.com/ to configure your search.  I don't know if they log searches or use any form of spyware.  They probably don't, but I consider search very important and don't want to trust this.
  2. Some people have reported success hex editing safari.  I could do this, but I don't know what would happen when software update tries to push/install a new version.  Best case, I'd have to do this every time Safari gets a security update.

Oddly enough, it's easier to change on the iPhone where apple could lock users in.  I may stick with Google, but now I feel like I'm forced to.  It's sad as I like Safari in my any other ways and have even been using WebKit in BSD for browsing.

tags: safari webkit cuil google search

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