Level 1

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Safari 5.1 continually logs me out of websites

Since updating Safari to v5.1 last week, I have been nothing been continually frustrated by its inability to function. In previous versions, I could log into sites like Facebook, Gmail, and my WordPress Admin area and not have to worry about being logged out whether I was using normal or private browsing. 5.1 continually logs me out of these three sites in particualr though I would have to assume it does not end there. I have experimented with private browsing (which I prefer) and normal browsing but both seem to be operating in the same fashion. I seem to have been able to bandage the issue with Facebook and Gmail by staying in normal browsing, using Autofill, and selecting keep me logged in but this is a far step from the privacy I felt i had in previous versions. However, the most frustrating part of this issue was discovered today. After logging in to my WordPress Admin area, selecting a page to edit and then switching between Visual and HTML editing modes, I was logged out. Now, almost everytime I attempt to switch between the two, I am kicked out and returned to the page and mode I was on before attempting to switch. My info is autofilled but this makes it impossible to update my site in Safari since I am actually being prevented from navigating through my Admin area. If I got just downgrade to my older version of Safari, I would be happy but I really dont want to reinstall my OS.

Safari settings at this point:

Autofill - all three choices are checked

Security - all boxes checked accept Ask before sending a new secure form from a secure website (it was preventing file transfers in Google+)

Privacy - Block cookies: Never

No extensions added

Not in Private Browsing mode though I would prefer to be

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 26, 2011 2:38 PM

24 replies

MattKorn

Level 1

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Aug 21, 2011 5:02 PM in response to mm444

Turn ON private browsing? Turn OFF private browsing? Conflicting advice posted here.

Maybe the fix is simply to toggle your private browsing setting? I'll give that a try.

Aug 21, 2011 7:43 PM in response to MattKorn

It was toggling it ON, then back off. That cleared up my log-in problems.

jrweir

Level 1

0 points

Sep 2, 2011 5:09 PM in response to mm444

I'd be willing to be that this is a symptom of either a built-in or plugin web accelerator. The way they work is to pre-fetch pages that are linked to from the page you are looking at. If the site you are on has a link to the logout page (and the logout page is built to log you out just by merely requesting it) then that would probably be the cause. Private browsing might fix it because it probably disables prefetching or plugins.

Sep 25, 2011 2:48 AM in response to mm444

i believe the problem cause might be with Google Chrome. I didn't have trouble with safari logging me out until I started using Google Chrome.

The moment I installed Chrome and started using my common websites, keychain started asking me for every login i used, if i wanted to keep allowing, allow forever, etc etc. Then when I went back to safari, it started asking me the same question, which it never did in the past.

Ever since then, safari has been logging me out of certain pages within minutes.

HOWEVER,... I tried one of the solutions here by deleting my password keychains for the problem websites, and removing their website data in safari. After that safari was working fine actually... I wasn't being logged out of the problem sites unless I've been inactive for about 6 hours, which is normal for these particular sites. HOWEVER

once I load up Chrome again... there comes the nightmare of keychain permissions and then safari starts logging me out. I tried this experiment twice, and same results. I'm seriously afraid to load up chrome again.

I think these two browsers are like two cats in a box with jingling keychains.

mm444 Author

Level 1

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Sep 25, 2011 11:54 AM in response to gregory lau

In my case, Chrome had never been installed on my computer when the issue began.

Sep 30, 2011 7:18 AM in response to mm444

even if you didn't have chrome, i think the chrome case might shed some light on the matter... maybe there is a conflicting use of the keychain between two applications? maybe another browser or app is causing safari to forget its current sessions, or something?

Once i load up Chrome, my safari will act up, and I gotta go through the process of deleting keychains and safari autofill data, etc. And since you don't have Chrome installed, then this tells me there are things that are conflicting with Safari's use of keychain or something... whatever/however safari remembers its sessions... that thing is prolly being conflicted with? I'm not a tech-brainiac so pardon my laymen's perpsective.

But perhaps this will shed some light on the matter and maybe give everyone some new ideas on where to look.

Oct 19, 2011 6:15 AM in response to mm444

Exact same problem -- turning OFF Private Browsing seems to have fixed it, for now.

Jul 2, 2012 8:36 AM in response to mm444

There have been a lot of unhelpful suggestions on how to solve this.

Like the OP, I too have been simultaneously logged out of:

WordPress Admin
Multiple Gmail accounts
Facebook
And any other site to which I am logged in securely

For me, this never happens when Private Browsing is enabled.

I have abandoned using Safari because this has become such an annoyance. I would like to be informed when there is a known solution, so I'm adding my post to this thread, and reinforcing the OP's problem, since I've had the exact same issue.

Jul 7, 2012 5:53 PM in response to mm444

I have the same issue. Ocassionnaly, facebook just logs me out. Sometimes it can work without an isssue, then it can log me out few times a day.

It started when I upgraded my 13" white macbook 2009 to 13" macbook pro 2012. I had Snow Leopard running on my regular macbook and once I upgraded Lion camed pre installed on a macbook Pro. I tried reset, private browsing and etc, but unresolved.

The thing is that my wife upgraded her mackbook unibody with Snow Leopard same day to macbook Pro 2012 with Lion. She never had an issue. I compared settings, but didnt find any difference. We both running latest versions.

What stops me know moving to Chrome is a cloud synchronization of bookmarks between mac and iphone. But with mobile Chrome available on iphone I will maybe reconsider that.

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Safari 5.1 continually logs me out of websites