iOS 17 Locks Your Safari Private Browsing Behind Face ID - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

iOS 17 Locks Your Safari Private Browsing Behind Face ID

Apple is enhancing the security of Safari in iOS 17, and private browsing now requires Face ID authentication or a passcode to access. If you open up a private browsing window in Safari, you will need to authenticate with ‌Face ID‌.

safari private browsing ios 17
That means someone who has access to your unlocked phone and opens your Safari browser won't be able to get to your private browsing history without secondary authentication. ‌Face ID‌ or a passcode can be used to access the Safari private tabs.

Private browsing also completely blocks known trackers from loading on pages and removes tracking added to URLs as you browse, improving privacy. Websites are prevented from tracking or identifying your device with these new additions, plus Apple also offers improved extension control.

In private mode, extensions with website access are turned off, and you will need to manually re-enable them. iCloud Private Relay also uses IP address locations based on country and time zone rather than a general location.

Safari in iOS 17 is also gaining a Profiles feature so you can keep your personal browsing and work browsing separate, with different histories, Tab Groups, cookies, and favorites.

Tag: Safari
Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...

Top Rated Comments

antiprotest Avatar
37 months ago
Need a section in setting with the option to toggle on FaceID for each app.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fel10 Avatar
37 months ago
Porn watchers unite
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
37 months ago
What about photo albums? That’s why I never let anyone use my phone 😖
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
37 months ago
Huh? Why is there history on private browsing?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
37 months ago
I use private browsing 100% of the time. I personally don’t need history, so the only thing history does for me is increase my risk factor. Remember a few years ago there was a bug in Safari that allowed any website to view your full browsing history. No thanks.

If this can’t be toggled, my life is going to become extremely painful. I really, really, really don’t want to have to authenticate every time Safari opens.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
37 months ago
This looks promising. Another feature for ‘private’ browsers would be for you to be able to set certain profiles to only use certain wifi networks. No accidental ‘private’ traffic on the work network because the wrong tabs were left open…
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Local News | World News | Iphone | Ipad | Lifestyle