Websites on your iPhone require you to enable cookies to provide better searches, personalized recommendations, etc. It’s also better for the website’s performance, initial loading time, and helps them to keep you logged in. So, here’s how you enable cookies on iPhone on Safari, Google Chrome, and Firefox.
What are Cookies?
Before we enable cookies and cross-site tracking, we need to understand what are cookies exactly. So, basically, every website stores some amount of personal information, browsing behavior about you in text files on your iPhone storage. These files are known as cookies. Cookies help websites understand you better and deliver personalized content.
Drawbacks of enabling cookies
Now, on the flipside, cookies are also used to target and deliver advertisements to you. And when we talk about cookies, it’s an umbrella term that includes 2 types of cookies:
- First-party cookies
- Third-party cookies
First-party cookies are deployed by the website you visit to keep track of what you are doing on the website while browsing. It deals with advertisements and personalized recommendations on the particular website only.
But, third-party cookies share your browsing history with other sites and so you are tracked even after you leave the site. They follow you everywhere. For instance, if you search “baseball hats” on Amazon and then see the same ad on Facebook, it’s because of third-party cookies.
How to Enable Cookies in Safari on iPhone
Cookies in Safari aren’t disabled by default. But, in case you have flipped the switch, here’s how to enable cookies on iPhone for Safari. Head over to iOS Settings. Scroll down and tap on Safari under Apps.
Scroll down to the Privacy & Security section. Next, turn off the toggle beside “Block All Cookies”. If the websites still don’t function properly, disable the toggle beside “Prevent Cross-Site Tracking”.
How to Enable Cookies in Chrome on iPhone
Google Chrome has first-party cookies enabled and there are no settings to turn that off. However, by default, iOS disables third-party cookies. If you want to turn that on, we have to again head over to Settings.
Under the Settings menu, scroll down to Chrome and tap on it. Under the Chrome Settings, turn on the toggle beside “Allow Cross-Website Tracking”.
How to Enable Cookies in Firefox on iPhone
Mozilla Firefox is one of the most privacy-friendly browsers for iOS. By default, Mozilla enables first-party cookies and there’s no Settings toggle to disable it. However, Mozilla offers a strict privacy mode that can block even first-party cookies. So, we need to turn that off from Mozilla settings.
Head over to the Mozilla Firefox browser and tap on the hamburger icon at the bottom right. From the extended menu, tap on Settings.
On the Settings page, tap on Tracking Protection. Next, make sure Standard is selected.
In case, you already have the Tracker Protection to Standard and you are still facing the cookie problem with websites, we need to turn on “Cross Site Tracking”.
To do that, head over to the Settings. Navigate to Firefox and tap on it. Under Firefox Settings, turn on the toggle beside “Allow Cross-Website Tracking”.
Closing Words: Enabling Cookies in iPhone
So this is how you enable cookies on iPhone on Safari, Google Chrome, and Firefox browsers. You can always clear the cookies stored on your iPhone through the iOS Settings (in case of Safari) or browser settings (in case of Google Chrome and Firefox). When you clear the cookies, you’ll be logged out of all the websites within the browser.
Also Read: iOS 13 Privacy and Security Settings: All You Need to Know
