A seemingly innocent question about private browse mode has turned into a viral sensation on X, exposing a quirky digital habit that left one husband baffled and resonated with thousands online. Ryan Briggs, a social scientist and associate professor at the University of Guelph in Canada, shared his surprise after discovering his wife uses private browsing not for secrecy, but to bypass Safari's 500-tab limit.
Briggs’s simple post, "I asked my wife why she was in private browse mode on her phone and she explained that Safari only allows 500 tabs in regular mode so she had to switch. You think you know a person," quickly garnered nearly 5 million views, sparking a wave of relatable confessions and humorous reactions.
The revelation struck a chord with many X users, leading to a flurry of responses. positivity moon (@arrtnem) humorously noted, "500 open tabs and a backup plan just to keep surfing. You spend years thinking you know someone’s quirks, and then you find out they’re a digital hoarder with a workaround for everything. Love is finding out new weirdness and deciding you’re even more in. Private mode wasn’t for secrets. It was for ambition."
Others quickly checked their own tab counts. Samantha Joy (@_samantha_joy) expressed relief, stating, "Phew! you made me go check and I'm only at 147 tabs currently, so I'm safe." Meanwhile, some offered practical advice, like M (@init_malachi) suggesting, "show her how to move it to a new tab group. You can have infinite 500 tab groups."
The discovery also sparked some memes.
Tab groups are free. You can just take them home. I have 458 tab groups with 500 tabs open in each one. pic.twitter.com/rTgxFMHvxwRelated stories
— definitely not advice (@stillnotadvice) July 12, 2025
Your browser’s CPU watching you open the 300th tab pic.twitter.com/nTdSuCDDys— Derek in your DMs (@derekinyourdms) July 12, 2025
‘This is my browser’ pic.twitter.com/QmM2oClTJH— Islam Mohamed (@igm95) July 13, 2025
The thread also unveiled more extreme digital hoarding. Val (@valoutofbounds) unabashedly confessed to "nearly 1500 pages," adding, "I’ve truly just internalized and accepted this is who I am (pro tip: you can name tabs)." For those who dislike limitations, Aleta Valiant (@AletaValiant) shared her solution: "This is why I have Chrome, Safari, Fox, and Brave open at all times on my computer. I don’t like being limited in how many tabs I like to open. Plus the tabs on the phone."
The viral post highlights a common, yet often unacknowledged, aspect of modern digital life, where many users juggle an extraordinary number of open browser tabs, pushing software limits.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
