Real Device

Safari Settings for App Automation

TestMu AI allows you to configure Safari browser settings on real iOS devices during your automated tests using Appium. By passing the crossSiteTracking and blockSafariPopups capabilities, you can control Safari's privacy and pop-up behavior to match your testing requirements.

Overview

Safari on iOS enables Prevent Cross-Site Tracking by default, which restricts third-party cookies and website data from being shared across different websites. This can interfere with test scenarios that rely on cross-site authentication, third-party integrations, or cookie-based tracking.

Additionally, Safari's Block All Popups behavior can prevent pop-up windows from opening, which may block testing flows involving payment gateways, OAuth pop-ups, or multi-window interactions.

With TestMu AI's Safari Settings capabilities, you can programmatically control these settings during your automation test sessions on real iOS devices.

Capabilities

Capability	Type	Default	Description
crossSiteTracking	Boolean	false	When set to true, disables Safari's "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" setting, allowing third-party cookies and cross-site data sharing.
blockSafariPopups	Boolean	false	When set to true, enables Safari's "Block All Popups" setting, preventing websites from opening pop-up windows.

Supported Platforms

Device Type	Supported OS Version	Supported Frameworks
iPhone	iOS 16 and above	Appium, XCUI, Flutter
iPad	iPadOS 16 and above	Appium, XCUI, Flutter

note

These capabilities are supported only on real iOS devices. They are not available on simulators or virtual devices.

Usage Examples

Pass these capabilities alongside your other desired capabilities when initializing the Appium driver.

Java

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability("platformName", "iOS");
capabilities.setCapability("deviceName", "iPhone 15");
capabilities.setCapability("platformVersion", "17");
capabilities.setCapability("isRealMobile", true);
capabilities.setCapability("app", "YOUR_APP_URL");

// Safari Settings
capabilities.setCapability("crossSiteTracking", true);   // Disable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking
capabilities.setCapability("blockSafariPopups", true);    // Enable Block All Popups

Python

desired_caps = {
    "platformName": "iOS",
    "deviceName": "iPhone 15",
    "platformVersion": "17",
    "isRealMobile": True,
    "app": "YOUR_APP_URL",

    # Safari Settings
    "crossSiteTracking": True,       # Disable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking
    "blockSafariPopups": True,       # Enable Block All Popups
}

JavaScript

const capabilities = {
    platformName: "iOS",
    deviceName: "iPhone 15",
    platformVersion: "17",
    isRealMobile: true,
    app: "YOUR_APP_URL",

    // Safari Settings
    crossSiteTracking: true,         // Disable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking
    blockSafariPopups: true,         // Enable Block All Popups
};

C#

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("platformName", "iOS");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("deviceName", "iPhone 15");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("platformVersion", "17");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("isRealMobile", true);
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("app", "YOUR_APP_URL");

// Safari Settings
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("crossSiteTracking", true);   // Disable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("blockSafariPopups", true);    // Enable Block All Popups

Ruby

capabilities = {
    "platformName" => "iOS",
    "deviceName" => "iPhone 15",
    "platformVersion" => "17",
    "isRealMobile" => true,
    "app" => "YOUR_APP_URL",

    # Safari Settings
    "crossSiteTracking" => true,     # Disable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking
    "blockSafariPopups" => true,     # Enable Block All Popups
}

Capability Details

crossSiteTracking

When crossSiteTracking is set to true, it disables Safari's "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" privacy setting on the device. This allows:

• Third-party cookies to be read and written across different domains.
• Cross-site tracking mechanisms (analytics, ad-tech, session sharing) to function as expected.
• OAuth and SSO flows that depend on cookies across multiple domains to work seamlessly.

When set to false (default), Safari's built-in cross-site tracking prevention remains active, and third-party cookies are restricted.

blockSafariPopups

When blockSafariPopups is set to true, it enables Safari's "Block All Popups" setting on the device. This:

• Prevents websites from opening new browser windows or tabs via JavaScript (window.open()).
• Blocks pop-up windows triggered by user interactions on websites.

When set to false (default), pop-up windows are allowed to open normally.

Use Cases

• OAuth / SSO Testing: Disable cross-site tracking to test login flows that rely on cookies shared across identity providers and your application.
• Ad-Tech & Analytics Validation: Verify that third-party tracking pixels and analytics scripts function correctly when cross-site restrictions are removed.
• Payment Gateway Flows: Test payment redirects that involve pop-up windows or cross-domain cookie sharing.
• Pop-Up Blocking Verification: Enable popup blocking to verify your application gracefully handles blocked pop-ups with fallback behavior.
• Privacy Compliance Testing: Test your application with cross-site tracking both enabled and disabled to ensure compliance with user privacy expectations.

tip

• These settings are applied during test setup and remain active for the entire session duration.
• Settings reset to their defaults when the session ends.
• The crossSiteTracking capability does not bypass CORS restrictions on 3rd-party iFrames. This is an Apple-level restriction that cannot be overridden.
• For manual testing, you can configure these same settings through the Safari Settings panel in the device toolbar during App Live or Browser Live sessions. See Safari Settings on Real Devices for more details.