- You can enable cookies on an iPhone to help personalize and streamline your web browsing experience.
- Cookies are small text files that save information about websites you visit.
- Most browsers enable cookies by default. If you’ve turned cookies off, it’s easy to turn them back on.
- You can enable cookies for the iPhone’s Safari browser in the Settings app.
- For most third-party web browsers, cookies are not only enabled by default, but they generally can’t be turned off.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
You sometimes hear advice from security- and privacy-minded individuals suggesting that you should “block” or “disable” cookies in your web browser. But is that really the best advice?
Cookies are simply small text files that web pages store on your computer (or phone, or wherever you are web surfing), and their main purpose is to store settings and preferences for whatever site you’re browsing.
These settings can remember what country you’re from, that you’re logged in, and that as a returning customer, you already have items in a shopping cart or other work in progress.
So, in defense of the cookie, it’s a good idea to leave cookies enabled to personalize and streamline your web browsing. If you’ve ever disabled cookies on your iPhone, it’s easy to turn them back on.
How to enable cookies on an iPhone
1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap "Safari."
3. In the Privacy and Security section, make sure that "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" is turned off by swiping the slider to the left.
4. In the same section, ensure that "Block All Cookies" is turned off by swiping the slider to the left.
How to enable cookies in third-party browsers on an iPhone
If you install third-party browsers on your iPhone, the good news is that cookies are always enabled by default, and they generally can't be turned off in those apps.
In fact, with browsers like Firefox and Chrome, if you want to browse without cookies being stored on your phone, you should use the "Incognito" mode (in Chrome) or "Private" mode (in Firefox). There's no way to turn off cookies in the main browser mode, so there's nothing to enable.
