vtrandall

Q: iOS 9 Safari clear history, save cookies

OK...

iPhone 5s

upgraded to iOS 9 without issue.

 

Safari issue

 

Prior to iOS 9 there was an option in Safari to clear browsing history from within the app itself.

This would clear the browsing history but leave the browser cookies untouched. This allowed website/forum logins to remain in place so when I was able to re-open the webpage and not have to re-enter my name/password each time.

 

Now with iOS 9, the option to 'clear history' in the Safari app clears the history AS well as clearing the cookies/logins.

 

Admittedly, the passwords are saved on the phone and can be entered relatively quickly...but I didn't have to do this prior to the iOS 9 upgrade.

 

Is there no longer a way to just clear the browsing history and leaving the cookies/logins intact?

iPhone 5s, iOS 9

Posted on Sep 16, 2015 9:08 PM

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Q: iOS 9 Safari clear history, save cookies

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  • by Kilgore-Trout,

    Kilgore-Trout Kilgore-Trout Sep 24, 2015 10:01 AM in response to adam42381
    Level 7 (32,647 points)
    iPad
    Sep 24, 2015 10:01 AM in response to adam42381

    Not on this forum, it isn't.

     

    http://www.apple.com/feedback/

  • by xxlilspikeyxx,

    xxlilspikeyxx xxlilspikeyxx Sep 25, 2015 9:04 AM in response to Kilgore-Trout
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2015 9:04 AM in response to Kilgore-Trout

    Just updated iOS, it's still happening.

  • by iMenkovAI,

    iMenkovAI iMenkovAI Sep 29, 2015 12:27 PM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 29, 2015 12:27 PM in response to vtrandall

    Really, it's true. Looks like it came with ios 9.0.1. Now button "Clear" on Safari Panel = "Clear History and Wesite Data" in iOS Setting Menu. Such hidden changes at first forced to wrestle with.

    A very strange decision. Maybe before it was more convenient. However, you still can swipe single visited pages and it will not affect your login data/cookies.

  • by MikeC2912,

    MikeC2912 MikeC2912 Sep 30, 2015 11:32 PM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 30, 2015 11:32 PM in response to vtrandall

    I am kind of having a different problem. When i delete the history and try to type in the website later, it pops on. I delete the history for a reason. Does anyone have a fix to this problem? I don't want the website to keep popping up after everytime I delete my history.

  • by rdstoll,

    rdstoll rdstoll Oct 5, 2015 4:12 AM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 5, 2015 4:12 AM in response to vtrandall

    I Just don't get why Apple does these stupid, pointless changes like this.  this started a few updates back where they stopped you from being able to clear Cache only without also deleting cookies.  Now we aren't allowed to even clear history without deleting everything?  Why?  Who is the engineer that thought this was a good idea and why? What's the rationalization?

     

    I've always used chrome because of the cache issue but just switched back to safari now that there is ad blocking but this "clear everything" move forces me back to chrome.

     

    You win, Apple.

  • by isaro68,

    isaro68 isaro68 Oct 6, 2015 3:05 AM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 6, 2015 3:05 AM in response to vtrandall

    What a nightmare, I thought it was just me.  I always witness people scream and kick and moan about the latest updates and shrugged it off as nonsense.  This latest update though, has been a complete nuisance for me.  WHAT IN GODS NAME ARE THEY DOING???????

     

    So now I can't clear my history every night before bed without having to log on to every webpage the next morning?  Who needs this kind of stress...more importantly who at Apple ok'd this?

  • by rdstoll,

    rdstoll rdstoll Oct 7, 2015 8:09 AM in response to isaro68
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 7, 2015 8:09 AM in response to isaro68

    I'm convinced this is some lame attempt by Apple to force us to use their Google Now-like feature "Today".  When I was on android Google always warned me that deleting my location and surfing history would impair the ability of Google Now to deliever "content".  The only logical reason I can think of as to why Apple has done this is to force her users into using some feature.  What other possible explanation can their be as to why ONLY Safari browsers do this? 

  • by mpd007,

    mpd007 mpd007 Oct 7, 2015 3:34 PM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2015 3:34 PM in response to vtrandall

    Same question here, I know there is still an option to delete history and keep logins and cookies but this trick work for safari on Mac only, I hope apple enable this option again in iOS.

     

    In Safari for Mac to delete just the history press Option/ALT key while opening/pointing the safari menu at the top and you will see the hidden option is enabled.  

  • by donmothra,

    donmothra donmothra Oct 7, 2015 8:08 PM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2015 8:08 PM in response to vtrandall

    After A LOT of digging around I've finally found the answer. Apple buried this function in the Bookmark button in iOS9 Safari.

     

    Step 1) click on the bookmark button

    Step 2) click on history in the bookmark pane

    Step 3) at the very bottom of the history pane you'll see "Clear" - this will clear the history but keep website data.

     

    This was a case of bad interface design.

     

    I also discovered a work around before stumbling on this, if you're using iCloud across your devices, clearing history in Safari on your computer browser will also clear the history on your mobile devices.

     

    I hope this helps.

  • by 05Moose,

    05Moose 05Moose Oct 7, 2015 9:11 PM in response to donmothra
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 7, 2015 9:11 PM in response to donmothra

    That's what this thread is about. They didn't change the location of the function despite what you think. They changed what it does behind the scenes. It clears cookies in iOS 9 erasing all logins.  That's what this thread is about.

  • by steferrari,

    steferrari steferrari Oct 8, 2015 5:46 AM in response to donmothra
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Oct 8, 2015 5:46 AM in response to donmothra

    To be honest I have no "Clear" at the bottom of the history page, apart from the well known one on the bottom right that, unfortunately, deletes the cookies.

    Unless I'm doing something wrong.

  • by donmothra,

    donmothra donmothra Oct 8, 2015 5:55 AM in response to steferrari
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 8, 2015 5:55 AM in response to steferrari

    Strange, I'm able to delete my browsing history with that button in Safari while retaining web data. My logins and identity information on forums and news sites are all still there, unlike using the delete history and data in the settings menu. Tried it a couple of times with no problems.

  • by donmothra,

    donmothra donmothra Oct 8, 2015 6:35 AM in response to 05Moose
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 8, 2015 6:35 AM in response to 05Moose

    UGH - sorry, correction.

    I just finished doing full updates to El Capitan and the latest iOS patch, the clear button is now displaying the warning that it also deletes web data.

     

    Although this work around still seems to be working: if you're using iCloud across your devices, clearing history in Safari on your computer browser will also clear the history on your mobile devices while keeping its web data.


    Back to square one.

  • by Carolsue43,

    Carolsue43 Carolsue43 Oct 10, 2015 7:15 AM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 7:15 AM in response to vtrandall

    In Safari, go to Bookmarks, History.  Slide each item you want to remove to the left and  'Delete' appears.  Click and it's gone. Time consuming but it works.  I do it each day now.  This is on ios9 - not sure about previous versions.

  • by BenGe89,

    BenGe89 BenGe89 Oct 13, 2015 11:58 AM in response to vtrandall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 13, 2015 11:58 AM in response to vtrandall

    Same issue here, extremely annoying ... Just don't understand why Apple did this. Deleting every single entry is not what I want to do everytime I close the app ... I'm wondering why so few people complain.

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