To turn it off you first need to know that Safari is doing something to the domain. That requires some basic understanding of URL structures that non-technical users don't have. They often won't go looking for an option because they don't know there's another way to view addresses.

This is the main problem with options over good defaults. An option requires enough understanding of the domain to realise that there might be other choices. It also requires enough knowledge to make that choice, especially for something that affects security (knowing if you're on a malicious website) but looks like a simple visual change (simplified URLs).

A user that uses Chrome because Safari simplifies the URL must be aware that Safari simplifies the URL.

They're probably only aware that Safari and Chrome display different things in the address bar. If they don't like Safari they'll switch to something they prefer.

Usually it'll follow a pattern like:

"Hey friend, my browser is a bit rubbish, I can't see the page I'm on."

Friend uses Chrome and demonstrates how it doesn't do that.

"My friend's browser is better because the URL is clearer. I'll swap to that one."

Non-technical users will usually follow recommendations like that before they considering looking for an option to make the browser work the way they want it to. Configuration isn't something most users do unless it's either suggested by the application or there's a button literally in front of them.

If you're not technical enough to see what the specific difference is between

https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=27470241&goto=item%3Fi...

and

https://news.ycombinator.com/

then why would you actually need to see the full URL? Come to that, why would _anyone_ who isn't debugging a REST API need to see the full URL?

To create a document with links. Hiding the URL makes that harder for non-technical users IME.

But if you copy-paste it, it will copy the full URL. Even if you copy directly without tapping. I don't think there's a way to get just the domain.

I didn't expect it to be a problem, but empirically it is.