XF 1.4 Small group of users unable to stay logged in (Safari / iOS)

kontrabass

Well-known member
I just don't know where to start. A handful of users, since last night, are having to log in every time they visit our forum with safari on their iphones. I made some changes to our CDN last night but nothing that should affect cookies.. Specifically I disabled the zone referrer functionality (made it possible to only allow certain domains to access the CDN) because it was giving us some problems (google couldn't index our attachments stored on the cdn etc).

ANYWAY,

Steps tried:
- reboot/ reset phone
- cleared history and website data
- verified that safari is allowing cookies on sites i visit
- "stay logged in" is checked

And still these users have to log in every time.

Anyone have an idea how to troubleshoot? I'm unable to duplicate this issue as are my forum admins. Is there any way to see what cookie data is stored on an iphone?

Thanks :)

Edit: this isn't a xenforo issue, so feel free to move to off-topic or something.... sorry.
 
If you want to see the cookies, you'd have to create a script to see them. Something like:
Code:
<?php
header('Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8');
print_r($_COOKIE);

Note that this is only for debugging; don't leave it around publicly.

Beyond that, "stay logged in" should always keep people logged in within XF itself (without it, IP changes could trigger a log out).
 
If you want to see the cookies, you'd have to create a script to see them. Something like:
Code:
<?php
header('Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8');
print_r($_COOKIE);

Note that this is only for debugging; don't leave it around publicly.

Beyond that, "stay logged in" should always keep people logged in within XF itself (without it, IP changes could trigger a log out).

Now this is weird: Had user clear all website data/cookies, then log into our forums. Even after doing so, there were 0 bytes (no cookies) stored on their phone (via settings -> safari -> advanced -> website data). The user opened cookies wide open ("Always allow") and still no data stored after visiting, logging into our forums.

Will try that javascript to see cookies, but it looks like there's going to be nothing there...

EDIT: Must be a phone issue. No cookie data is being stored from other sites either. Sorry for the trouble! Suspect maybe multiple users turned on private browsing without realizing it.. Odd.
 
Last edited:
Just a follow up on this thread for future visitors (like myself) who come across this after converting their forum.

I have been having this "issue" on my iphone, as well as several users. Just like @kontrabass mentioned, I was in private mode without even realizing it on my iphone.

To instruct your users to "fix" this, have them click on the "tabs" icon on mobile safari/ipad safari, and then look in the lower left for the "Private" button. Click it.

If your/their safari skin is dark, you are in private mode, if it is light, you are not.

Whew! That one had been driving me nuts.
 
One more followup. I do have at least one user who has a 3rd gen ipad, uses Safari, it checking "stay logged in" and is not in private mode, yet he is always getting booted (I know, because he constantly lets me know about it).

Are there any issues or other things to check that I am not aware of?
 
If it's just one user, not really -- it pretty much has to be a client side issue. (Any server side things would affect other people.) If "stay logged in" isn't working, that seems to imply that cookies are being thrown away with some regularity.
 
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