Explore the integration of web technologies within your app. Discuss building web-based apps, leveraging Safari functionalities, and integrating with web services.

General Documentation

Posts under General subtopic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Tracking Campaigns (Downloads) with Smart App Banners
Hello, I've got Smart App Banner set up on my website. However, I want to be able to measure the traffic coming from this banner to the app store / app (i.e. measure impressions/downloads). Apple documentation (https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/view-app-analytics/manage-campaigns/) says you can set up a campaign link and use it in the Smart Banner to track those who download / open the app store page using your smart banner (so that we can get attribution). However, there is no documentation at all in terms of how this should be added to the tag when implementing a Smart App Banner. I've tried so many different variations and none have tracked downloads. This includes a structure based on an example taken from WWDC from a few years back which also did not work. I would appreciate any help!
1
1
596
Dec ’25
evaluateJavaScript callback is significantly slow on macOS 26.2 for iOS App on Mac
Hello, After upgrading to macOS 26.2, I’ve noticed a significant performance regression when calling evaluateJavaScript in an iOS App running on Mac (WKWebView, Swift project). Observed behavior On macOS 26.2, the callback of evaluateJavaScript takes around 3 seconds to return. This happens not only for: evaluateJavaScript("navigator.userAgent") but also for simple or even empty scripts, for example: evaluateJavaScript("") On previous macOS versions, the same calls typically returned in ~200 ms. Additional testing I created a new, empty Objective-C project with a WKWebView and tested the same evaluateJavaScript calls. In the Objective-C project, the callback still returns in ~200 ms, even on macOS 26.2. Question Is this a known issue or regression related to: iOS Apps on Mac, Swift + WKWebView, or behavioral changes in evaluateJavaScript on macOS 26.2? Any information about known issues, internal changes, or recommended workarounds would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Test Code Swift class ViewController: UIViewController { private var tmpWebView: WKWebView? override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() // Do any additional setup after loading the view. setupUserAgent() } func setupUserAgent() { let t1 = CACurrentMediaTime() tmpWebView = WKWebView(frame: .zero) tmpWebView?.isInspectable = true tmpWebView?.evaluateJavaScript("navigator.userAgent") { [weak self] result, error in let t2 = CACurrentMediaTime() print("[getUserAgent] \(t2 - t1)s") self?.tmpWebView = nil } } } Test Code Objective-C - (void)scene:(UIScene *)scene willConnectToSession:(UISceneSession *)session options:(UISceneConnectionOptions *)connectionOptions { NSTimeInterval startTime = [[NSDate date] timeIntervalSince1970]; WKWebView *webView = [[WKWebView alloc] init]; dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{ [webView evaluateJavaScript:@"navigator.userAgent" completionHandler:^(id result, NSError *error) { NSTimeInterval endTime = [[NSDate date] timeIntervalSince1970]; NSLog(@"[getUserAgent]: %.2f s", (endTime - startTime)); }]; }); }
6
2
1.5k
Feb ’26
Error: Invalid call to browser.storage.local.set(). Disk I/O error.
Hi, after upgrading MacOS (MB Air M1 Version 26.2 (25C56)) & Safari (Version 26.2 (21623.1.14.11.9)) to latest versions, we are experiencing a new bug occurring with our web extension (Click & Read) on local storage writing and getting this error : Invalid call to browser.storage.local.set(). Disk I/O error. This doesn't happen on other browsers (chromium, Firefox). export const setLocalStorage = async (value: object) => { try { await browser.storage.local.set(value); } catch (error) { console.error("[Click & Read] Error setting local storage", error); } };
5
1
1.3k
Feb ’26
Request: Implement beforeinstallprompt event for PWA installation prompts in Safari
I'm building a progressive web app (PWA) and came to the conclusion that almost nobody knows that this feature exists - Add to Home Screen. Not many people even understand what a PWA is or that you can add it to the home screen. This feels unnatural compared to installing an app from a store. Why do we make it so hard for users? Could we not make this easier by having the ability to call this installation or show an install notification? Right now, when users visit a PWA on iOS, there's no way for developers to let them know they can install it. The "Add to Home Screen" option is tucked away in the Share menu, and most users never find it. I'd really like to be able to show them a friendly prompt. Comparing to other browsers, this is possible via the beforeinstallprompt event. This would make a huge difference for user experience. Right now the only way is to show iOS users a separate set of instructions with screenshots, which feels clunky compared to what's possible on other platforms. I'm curious - is there any reason why this hasn't been added to Safari yet? Other browsers have supported this for years now. Is there any progress being made on this, or is it being considered for the roadmap? It would be really helpful to know if this is something that will be worked on in the future. I know there's a lot on the roadmap, but this would really help developers create better installation experiences for our users. Thanks for considering this!
1
1
1k
Jan ’26
How to enter Picture-in-Picture on background from inline playback in WKWebView
I'm building a Capacitor iOS app with a plain <video> element playing an MP4 file inline. I want Picture-in-Picture to activate automatically when the user goes home — swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen (on an iPhone with Face ID) or press the Home button (on an iPhone with a Home button). Fullscreen → background works perfectly — iOS automatically enters Picture-in-Picture. But I need this to work from inline playback without requiring the user to enter fullscreen first. Setup <video id="video" playsinline autopictureinpicture controls src="http://podcasts.apple.com/resources/462787156.mp4"> </video> // AppDelegate.swift let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() try? audioSession.setCategory(.playback, mode: .moviePlayback) try? audioSession.setActive(true) UIBackgroundModes: audio in Info.plist allowsPictureInPictureMediaPlayback is true (Apple default) iOS 26.3.1, WKWebView via Capacitor What I've tried 1. autopictureinpicture attribute <video playsinline autopictureinpicture ...> WKWebView doesn't honor this attribute from inline playback. It only works when transitioning from fullscreen. 2. requestPictureInPicture() on visibilitychange document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', () => { if (document.visibilityState === 'hidden' && !video.paused) { video.requestPictureInPicture(); } }); Result: Fails with "not triggered by user activation". The visibilitychange event doesn't count as a user gesture. 3. webkitSetPresentationMode('picture-in-picture') on visibilitychange document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', () => { if (document.visibilityState === 'hidden' && !video.paused) { video.webkitSetPresentationMode('picture-in-picture'); } }); Result: No error thrown. The webkitpresentationmodechanged event fires with value picture-in-picture. But the PIP window never actually appears. The API silently accepts the call but nothing renders. 4. await play() then webkitSetPresentationMode document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', async () => { if (document.visibilityState === 'hidden') { await video.play(); video.webkitSetPresentationMode('picture-in-picture'); } }); Result: play() succeeds (audio resumes in background), but PIP still doesn't open. 5. Auto-resume on system pause + PIP on visibilitychange iOS fires pause before visibilitychange when backgrounding. I tried resuming in the pause handler, then requesting PIP in visibilitychange: video.addEventListener('pause', () => { if (document.visibilityState === 'hidden') { video.play(); // auto-resume } }); document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', () => { if (document.visibilityState === 'hidden' && !video.paused) { video.webkitSetPresentationMode('picture-in-picture'); } }); Result: Audio resumes successfully, but PIP still doesn't open. 6. Native JS eval from applicationDidEnterBackground func applicationDidEnterBackground(_ application: UIApplication) { webView?.evaluateJavaScript( "document.querySelector('video').requestPictureInPicture()" ) } Result: Same failure — no user activation context. Observations The event order on background is: pause → visibility: hidden webkitSetPresentationMode reports success (event fires, no error) but the PIP window never renders requestPictureInPicture() consistently requires user activation, even from native JS eval Audio can be resumed in background via play(), but PIP is a separate gate Fullscreen → background automatically enters Picture-in-Picture, confirming the WKWebView PIP infrastructure is functional Question Is there any way to programmatically enter PIP from inline playback when a WKWebView app goes to background? Or is this intentionally restricted by WebKit to fullscreen-only transitions? Any pointers appreciated. Thanks!
0
2
150
1d
Web Extension : browser.cookies.getAll() does not work
After upgrading to Safari version 18, we encountered an issue with my extension’s background script not being able to access cookies. Previously, in Safari versions 17 and below, the extension worked as expected. Now, when the extension tries to retrieve cookies using browser.cookies.getAll(), it returns an empty list. However, if we open the extension’s developer tools, the cookies are visible and accessible. It seems that Safari only provides cookie data after the developer tools have been opened. However, after relaunching Safari and launching the extension without opening the developer tools, browser.cookies.getAll() still returns an empty list. Has anyone else experienced this? STEPS TO REPRODUCE Download this minimal app : https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0bajlhnuQaG6T5NsFKXEB0U9Q#test%5Fcookies Compile test_mv2 extension (in test_cookies.getAll.zip). Launch test_mv2.app and activate extension. Click on the extension's button (browserAction). Open the developer tools. Observe an empty list of cookies. Click on the extension's button (browserAction). Cookies are retrieved as expected.
3
2
798
Mar ’25
Declarative Net Request rules are getting added to the redirect calls
I am creating a Safari Web Extension. There are two calls let say, call1 and call2 which gets executed in sequence by browser, call1 gives a 302 type response and redirects to call2. When creating DNR rule for adding "Cookie" in the request header of call1, the same cookie gets added to the request header of call2 as well(Same is the case for other headers/custom headers as-well). Because of this the set-cookie present in response header of call1 is not sent in the request header of call2, and returns 400 response. The same setting is working fine for other browsers chrome & firefox. Is this a bug or DNR works differently for safari ? currently "webRequestBlocking" works in safari for manifest v3, is there any development of it getting removed just like it's removed in chrome in mv3.
1
2
139
Mar ’25
What is the recommended way to programmatically apply proxy to WKWebView
Hi Apple engineers! We are making an iOS browser and are planing to deliver a feature that allows enterprise customers to use a MAM key to set a PAC file for proxy. It's designed to support unmanaged device so the MDM based solutions like 'Global HTTP Proxy MDM payload' or 'Per-App VPN' simply don't work. After doing some research we found that with WKWebView, the only framework allowed on iOS for web browsing, there's no API for programmatically setting proxy. The closes API is the WKURLSchemeHandler, but it's for data management not network request interception, in other word it can not be used to handle HTTP/HTTPS request well. When we go from the web-view level to the app level, it seems there's no API to let an app set proxy for itself at an app-level, the closest API is Per-App VPN but as mentioned above, Per-App VPN is only available for managed device so we can't use that as well. Eventually we go to the system level, and try to use Network Extension, but there's still obstacles. It seems Network Extension doesn't directly provide a way to write system proxy. In order to archive that, we may have to use Packet Tunnel Provider in destination IP mode and create a local VPN server to loop back the network traffic and do the proxy stuff in that server. In other word, the custom VPN protocol is 'forward directly without encryption'. This approach looks viable as we see some of the network analysis tools use this approach, but still I'd like to ask is this against App Store Review Guidelines? If the above approach with Network Extension is not against App Store Review Guidelines, I have a further question that, what is the NEProxySettings of NETunnelNetworkSettings for? Is it the proxy which proxies the VPN traffic (in order to hide source IP from VPN provider) or it is the proxy to use after network traffic goes into the virtual private network? If none of the above is considered recommended, what is the recommended way to programmatically set proxy on WKWebView on an unmanaged device (regardless of where the proxy runs, web-view/app/system)?
4
0
1.8k
Jan ’26
Canvas performance slow on Safari, iPad 10 only
This is my first time to post on this forum. If there are something we didn't notice, please tell me. Thanks. Background We're using canvas to provide a web component to marketing. https://demo.mescius.jp/spreadjs/BenchmarkSample/ Problem Recently we have met an issue from customer. He is using iPad 10th to access the web component but when he tries to scroll it and it's very slow on iPad 10th. His iPad OS version is 17.7 and this issue also can be reproduced on our iPad 10th with iPad OS 18.0.1. But if we use iPad 9th with iPad OS 17.7 and 18.0.1, things are fine and there isn't any performance issue. We developer took some time investigating and found it's because of iPad 10th's safari takes longer time to paint each frame. On iPad 9th, it needs nearly 10ms to paint each frame. But on iPad 10, it needs nearly 70ms to paint each frame. Also we can provide simple code for you to check the different. We tried to simulate the repaint when user is scrolling. You can see on iPad 9th, it will be 2~3ms but on iPad 10th, it will be more than 10ms for each frame. test-ipad10.html It has been happening on iPad 10th only with iPad OS 17.6/17.7/18.0. This will be a big problem for us because it means on the iPad 10th (the latest iPad, non Pro or Air), it can't be used. Question Is there anyone knowing similar issue with this one? And do you know how to solve it on iPad 10?
Topic: Safari & Web SubTopic: General
1
2
815
Oct ’25
SwiftUI WebView: Is action.target == nil a Reliable Way to Handle New Window Requests?
In WKWebView, there is the WKUIDelegate method: func webView(_ webView: WKWebView, createWebViewWith configuration: WKWebViewConfiguration, for navigationAction: WKNavigationAction, windowFeatures: WKWindowFeatures) -> WKWebView? {} This delegate method provides a callback when a new window (for example, target="_blank") is requested in the web view. However, in native SwiftUI (iOS 26), WebView / WebPage APIs do not provide an equivalent delegate method to handle new window requests. As a workaround, I am using the following method: public func decidePolicy(for action: WebPage.NavigationAction, preferences: inout WebPage.NavigationPreferences) async -> WKNavigationActionPolicy {} In this method, when action.target == nil, I treat it as a new window request. My question: Is relying on action.target == nil in decidePolicy a reliable and future-safe way to detect new window requests in SwiftUI’s WebView, or is there a better or more recommended approach for handling target="_blank" / new window navigation in the SwiftUI WebView APIs? Code: public func decidePolicy(for action: WebPage.NavigationAction, preferences: inout WebPage.NavigationPreferences) async -> WKNavigationActionPolicy { guard let webPage = webPage else { return .cancel } // Handle case where target frame is nil (e.g., target="_blank" or window.open) // This indicates a new window request if action.target == nil { print("Target frame is nil - new window requested") // WORKAROUND: Until iOS 26 WebPage UI protocol is available, we handle new windows here // Try to create a new WebPage through UI plugins if handleCreateWebPage(for: webPage, navigationAction: action) != nil { // Note: The new WebPage has been created and published to the view return .allow } } return .allow }
0
1
323
Jan ’26
Concerning recent trend of start page bugs on Safari
Summary Recently a number of bugs affecting our Safari extension have been introduced with various Safari 18.X updates. We've submitted feedback for all of these, but most have received no response. We need to raise this to your attention as it has been affecting our developer experience and causing a lot of frustration for our users. It's something that adds a lot of uncertainty for us. These issues affect core web functionalities but seem to be isolated to the Start Page or Extension environments. For example: using window.open, no longer works using window.location.href = ... no longer works Including a tag in our start page causes infinite reloading to occur. registering a content script more than once will crash Safari Details Unable to open new window as as start page extension in Safari 18 FB15879470 What happens: Calling window.open does nothing. This broke our links to our feedback submission, marketing site & help site. When: Nov 18, 2024 - Initial launch of Safari 18 on macOS Status: Open, No response Unable to open app url scheme with window.location.href in start page extension in iOS 18 FB15879596 What happens: Changing the URL in this way does nothing (well actually it does work about 10% of the time). This broke our navigation to in app payment. When: Nov 18, 2024 - Initial launch of Safari 18 on iOS Status: Open, No response New tab extensions broken FB16126043 What happens: Having a tag in your causes an infinite loop of reloading the start page. This broke our entire start page extension. When: Dec 19, 2024 - Safari 18.3 on iOS beta Status: 10 similar tickets found, marked for future OS update. We did get a response and a fix is identified for a future release window.open opens “about:blank” when called from Start Page extension. FB16427985 What happens: calling window.open from the start page opens about blank on iOS 18.3. Similar to the first issue, but slightly different behaviour. This broke our links to our feedback submission, marketing site & help site. When: Jan 30, 2025 - Safari 18.3 Status: Open, No response Registering a content script more than once causes Safari to crash in macOS 15.4 beta FB16831768 What happens: We have an optional content script that we were registering every time it was used. Although somewhat redundant, it was much simpler than checking if one was already registered and tracking if an updated one needed to replace it. This works fine on all other browsers and all prior Safari versions we've released it on. However if a user enables site blocker on the latest version, as soon as they visit any website, our content script registration causes Safari to crash. Essentially preventing users from using Safari until they uninstall our extension. When: Mar 11, 2025 - Safari 18.4 Status: Open, No response In Conclusion Luckily we have been able to isolate and find workarounds for most of these issues so far, but we are not guaranteed to in the future. We are raising this not only to have these issues looked into, but to raise awareness of the rising trend of basic functionality of Safari extensions breaking with Safari updates. We hope that this can influence a shift in your QA & feedback intake practices to ensure these issues are less frequent in the future. We are happy to raise future issues through your provided channels as they are discovered. But to have our feedback ignored and then have to rely solely on workarounds to prevent disruptions to our users' experience is concerning. We submitted this feedback to our developer relations contact, and he suggested we submit a TSI to look into these issues. In response to this, we were advised to post this here.
1
2
195
Apr ’25
Steal some The Browser Company Arc browser side tab ideas
Please kindly improve the Safari browser side bar implementation further along with what The Browser Company has done with their Arc browser. Arc is about to retire soon too and they're willing to sell their SwiftUI code perhaps too for a decent pile of dollars, not the Jony Ive piles at least it should not. The toggle for side bar is nice and works perfect though!
Topic: Safari & Web SubTopic: General Tags:
1
0
424
Dec ’25
CSS filter produces incorrect colors in iOS 26.2 WebView (works fine on iOS 18.6.2)
I'm using a CSS filter to achieve dark mode for my HTML page. I know it's imperfect, but I have no choice for many reasons. However, I found that the CSS filter produces incorrect colors in iOS 26.2 WebView, while it works fine in iOS 18.6.2 WebView. Here is my HTML and CSS filter: <html> <head> <style> .filter_container { /* invert colors for the entire page */ filter: invert(1) hue-rotate(180deg); } .filter { /* restore colors for specific elements, such as img */ filter: hue-rotate(180deg) invert(1); } </style> </head> <body> <div>original & bgcolor+filter & img+filter</div> <table> <tr> <td> <div style="display:flex; gap:1px; align-items:center; justify-content:center;"> <div class="origin_container"><div class="origin" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; height:60px; width:60px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; border-width: 1px;"></div></div> <div class="filter_container"><div class="filter" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; height:60px; width:60px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; border-width: 1px"></div></div> <div class="filter_container"><img class="filter" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAADwAAAA8CAYAAAA6/NlyAAAAdklEQVR4nOXOQQEAIACEMKR/57OFPliCnW0jRGIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkRmIkxt+B1y6HmAR0uIzOQQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" style="height:60px; width:60px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; border-width: 1px"></img></div> </div> <div style="text-align:center;">#FFFFFF</div> </td> ...many other colors </table> </body> </html> It works fine in iOS 18.6.2 WebView: But renders incorrectly in iOS 26.2 WebView:
Topic: Safari & Web SubTopic: General Tags:
1
0
328
Jan ’26
WebAuthn
The passkey authentication dialog appears, and after unlocking with Touch ID, the dialog closes without any notification of success or failure. This issue occurs with high frequency. access to the https://passkeys-demo.appspot.com/ register account and create passkey. logoff access to the url again you can see the passkey dialog unlock device then the dialog disappears nothing happens reload the page proceed 5) to 6) nothing happens or success webauthn.
4
1
928
Jan ’26
Safari tabs lost updating to macOS 15.4
Problem As the title says, Safari lost all my tabs once I updated to macOS 15.4. I do of course have "Safari opens with: All windows from last session" set. This has been my default for many years. Past Mitigation In the past I had a script that I could use to backup ~/Library/Safari that would save all my bookmarks and tabs. Unfortunately they made this method of backup non-function sometime around when tab groups were introduced. Suggestion Fortunately my tab groups are still intact. But this sort of problem doesn't give me a lot of confidence. I haven't had something like this happen in a while, but when it does happen, it's quite frustrating. Apple really needs to recognize that this sort of thing can and will happen and they should make it easier for users to manually save/restore their tabs. Problem with forums To add insult to injury, as I was typing this message in the forum, I decided to select "Edit Bookmarks"... which proceeded to replace the current window with my bookmarks, thereby losing my post! It did this without warning of page content changes (which I get from most other websites). I felt somewhat relieved that the forum had recognized a previous draft and offered for me to continue. However, when I selected it, it brought me back to an old post... that was actually posted! smh
Topic: Safari & Web SubTopic: General Tags:
2
1
100
Apr ’25
Fairplay license with lease/rental expiry not stopping playback after license expires
Hi there I've been having trouble finding any details around how safari is supposed to behave when a FairPlay license expires. My assumption was that the video segments would stop getting decrypted and playback would stop, however I just see that the playback continues like nothing has happened. I've setup the "fps_safari_has_key_renewal.html" sample code from the Fairplay SDK and got encrypted playback working. The renewal method also appears to work. However, if I don't issue a renew call, or if I wait several minutes after the renew has succeeded the video never stops (my license is set with a 1 minute expiry so I can test this quickly). I've also observed that the MediaKeySession expiration property is always set to NaN even though my license has an expiry. I've tried with both Lease and Rental expiries set in the license (separately AND at the same time in separate tests). I'm using EZDRM as my drm provider. Just looking for some feedback on if this is supposed to work this way in safari or if license expiry isn't supported in safari. Thanks!
0
1
236
Dec ’25