safari debug not working

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How to Enable Safari's Debug Menu to Gain Added Capabilities

Find Safari's hidden menu

Tom Nelson is an engineer, programmer, network manager, and computer network and systems designer who has written for Other World Computing,and others. Tom is also president of Coyote Moon, Inc., a Macintosh and Windows consulting firm.

What to Know

• Enable debug menu by inputting defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu 1 into Terminal .
• Disable debug menu by inputting defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu 0 into Terminal .
• Relaunch Safari after turning the debug menu on or off.

Safari long had a hidden Debug menu that contained useful capabilities. Originally intended to assist developers in debugging web pages and the JavaScript code that runs on them, the debug menu was hidden away because the commands that were included in the menu could wreak havoc on web pages. Information in this article applies to Macs running OS X El Capitan (10.11) or earlier.

Safari Debug Menu in OS X El Capitan and Earlier

With the release of Safari 4 in the summer of 2008, many useful menu items in the Debug menu were moved to the new Develop menu . However, the hidden Debug menu remained and even picked up a command or two as Safari development continued. It was removed completely from OS X Sierra and later releases of the operating system.

Apple made accessing the hidden Develop menu an easy process, only requiring a trip to the Safari's preferences. Accessing the Debug menu, on the other hand, was a bit more complicated.

Enabling the Safari debug window requires the use of Terminal , a powerful tool for accessing hidden features of the Mac operating system and its many apps. Terminal is the secret to turning on Safari’s Debug menu.

Enable Safari's Debug Menu

Close Safari if you have it open and then:

Go to Applications > Utilities and launch Terminal .

Enter the following command line into Terminal by typing it or using copy and paste. Enter the command as a single line in Terminal, even though your browser may break it into multiple lines.

Press Enter or Return .

Relaunch Safari . The new Debug menu is available.

Disable Safari’s Debug Menu

If you want to disable the Debug menu, you can do so at any time, again using Terminal. Close Safari if it is open and then:

Launch Terminal .

Relaunch Safari . The Debug menu is gone.

Favorite Safari Debug Menu Items

With the Debug menu under your control, you can try out various menu items. Not all of the menu items are usable because many are designed to be used in a development environment where you have control over the web server. Nevertheless, useful items include:

• Force Repaint
• Show Frame Rate Meter, which displays CPU load, page frame rate speed, and updates being made to the page, all in the form of analog speedometers.
• Various flag options.
• Sync iCloud History.
• Depending on the version of Safari, the option to reset and recompute Top Sites.

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How to Debug Safari Issues on iOS Using Xcode

Ever tried opening a website on an iPhone and noticed it looks or behaves differently? This can happen because of the way Safari on iPhones (or iOS) works. If you’re making websites or web apps, you’ll want them to work perfectly on iPhones too. This guide will show you how to spot and fix these issues using a tool called Xcode.

1. Essential Tools to Debug Safari Issues on iOS Using Xcode :

• Xcode : Ensure you have the latest version installed. It’s available on the Mac App Store.
• iOS Device or Simulator : You can either use an actual device or the built-in simulator that comes with Xcode.
• Developer Account : If using a physical device, ensure it’s registered on your Apple Developer account.

2. Setting up the Simulator :

• Launch Xcode and initiate the iOS Simulator of your choice.
• Once running, navigate to the Safari app, similar to how you’d do on a physical device.

3. Setting up Web Inspector on Mac :

• Initiate Safari : Open Safari on your Mac. Ensure you’re using Safari and not another browser.
• Access Preferences : Navigate to Safari -> Preferences -> Advanced .
• Enable Develop Menu : Check the box labeled “Show Develop menu in menu bar.”

• Access Webpages : In Safari’s menu bar, click on Develop . Under this, you’ll see your simulator or connected device listed. Hovering over the device’s name will display a list of open webpages. Click on the page you’d like to inspect.

4. Dive into Debugging :

• The Web Inspector, quite similar to developer tools in other browsers, allows you to inspect elements, check console logs, monitor network activity, and more.
• Replicate your issue in Safari (either on the simulator or device) and utilize the Web Inspector to gather insights and debug.

5. Key Features of Web Inspector :

• Console Logs : Vital for capturing errors or important logs.
• Network Requests : Monitor requests to ensure all assets load correctly and to track any API issues.

In Conclusion :

Debugging can sometimes be a daunting task, especially when the issue is platform-specific. However, with the right tools and a systematic approach, you can effectively identify and resolve problems in Safari on iOS. Always ensure you’re using the latest versions of Xcode and Safari, as updates often contain crucial bug fixes and improvements.

Happy debugging!

WebKit Features in Safari 17.5

May 13, 2024

by Jen Simmons

Happy May! It’s time for another release of Safari — our third significant update of 2024. With just a month until WWDC24 and the unveiling of what’s coming later this year, we are happy to get these 7 features and 22 bug fixes into the hands of your users today.

There are several exciting new CSS features in Safari 17.5, including text-wrap: balance , the light-dark() color function, and @starting-style , plus the ability to use feature queries with @import rules. Let’s look at how you can put each one to use.

Text wrap balance

On the web, with its flexible container widths, inconsistent lengths of content, and variation between browsers, it can feel impossible to avoid having text wrap in such a way that too few words end up all by themselves on a very short last line.

When type was set by hand, typographers would painstakingly avoid this undesirable result by manually moving content around. Over the decades, web developers have tried a series of different tricks to avoid orphans in CSS, in HTML, in JavaScript, and in content management systems. None work very well. The attempts usually feel hacky, laborious, and fragile.

To solve this and other frustrations, the CSS Working Group has defined three new options that you can use to change how text will wrap. You can switch from default wrapping to another style with text-wrap . WebKit for Safari 17.5 adds support for the first of these new options — balancing.

The text-wrap: balance rule asks the browser to “balance” the lines of text and make them all about the same length.

You can see how now the text no longer fills the containing block — there’s a large amount of space on the right of the words. This is expected, and something you’ll want to think about as you decide when to use text-wrap: balance .

Where exactly each line of text will break when using text-wrap: balance may be slightly different in each browser. The CSS Text level 4 web standard leaves it up to each browser engine team to decide which algorithm they want to use in determining how exactly to wrap balanced text.

It can be computationally expensive for the browser to count characters and balance multiple lines of text, so the standard allows browsers to limit the number of lines that are balanced. Chromium browsers balance 6 or fewer lines, Firefox balances 10 or fewer, while Safari/WebKit balances an unlimited numbers of lines.

For now, Safari does not balance text if it’s surrounding a float or initial letter. And Safari disables the balancer if the content contains preserved tabs or soft hyphens.

Text wrap shorthands and longhands

The text-wrap property is actually a shorthand for two longhand properties: text-wrap-style and text-wrap-mode .

The text-wrap-mode property provides a mechanism for expressing whether or not text should wrap.

The wrap value turns it on, and the nowrap value turns it off, just like the values for white-space . (In fact, text-wrap-mode is the newly introduced longhand of white-space .) WebKit added support for text-wrap-mode: wrap and nowrap in Safari 17.4 .

The text-wrap-style property selects how to wrap. The initial value is auto — asking text to wrap in the way it has for decades. Or, you can choose a value to switch to another “style” of wrapping.

WebKit for Safari 17.5 adds support for text-wrap-style: balance , stable , and auto .

Of course, the text-wrap shorthand is a way to combine text-wrap-mode and text-wrap-style and declare them together. If you write text-wrap: balance it’s the same as text-wrap: wrap balance , meaning: “yes, please wrap, and when you do, please balance the text”.

Full support will eventually include three properties and six values. No browser supports everything yet, so be sure to look up support for the text-wrap , text-wrap-mode , and text-wrap-style properties, as well as the balance , pretty , stable , auto , wrap , and nowrap values.

The balance , pretty , and stable values will simply fall back to auto in browsers without support, so progressive enhancement is easy. You can use these values today, no matter how many of your users don’t yet have a browser with support. They will simply get auto -wrapped text, just like they would if you didn’t use text-wrap . Meanwhile, those users with support will get an extra boost of polish.

Dark mode and the light-dark() color function

More and more, users expect websites and web apps to support dark mode . Since Safari 12.1 , the prefers-color-scheme media query has given you the ability to write code like this:

Or perhaps you’ve used variables to define colors for both light and dark mode at once, making it easier to use them everywhere.

Well, now there’s a new option — the light-dark() function. It makes defining colors for dark mode even easier.

First, inform the browser you are providing a design for both light and dark modes with the color-scheme property. This prompts the browser to switch the default user agent styles when in dark mode, ensuring the form controls appear in dark mode, for example. It’s also required for light-dark() to work correctly.

Then, any time you define a color, you can use the light-dark() function to define the first color for light mode, and the second color for dark mode.

You can still use variables, if you’d like. Perhaps you want to structure your code like this.

An often-asked question when learning about light-dark() is “does this only work for colors?” Yes, this function only works for colors. Use the prefers-color-scheme media query to define the rest of your color-scheme dependent styles.

Starting style

WebKit for Safari 17.5 adds support for @starting-style . It lets you define starting values for a particular element. This is needed to enable a transition when the element’s box is created (or re-created).

In the above example, the background-color will transition from transparent to green when the element is added to the document.

Many developers are excited to use @starting-style along with display: none interpolation. To do so, WebKit also needs to support animation of the display property, which has not yet shipped in Safari. You can test this use case today in Safari Technology Preview .

Features queries for importing CSS

WebKit for Safari 17.5 adds the supports() syntax to @import rules. Now you can conditionally import CSS files based on whether or not there’s support for a certain feature.

For example, you could load different stylesheets based on whether or not CSS Nesting is supported .

Or you could load certain CSS files when a browser does not have support for Cascade Layers . (Note that any @import rules with layer() will automatically be ignored in a browser without layer support.)

Or simply test for a feature. Here, these layout styles will only be loaded if Subgrid is supported .

WebKit for Safari 17.5 adds support for AV1 to WebCodecs when an AV1 hardware decoder is available.

WebKit for Safari 17.5 adds WebGL support for EXT_conservative_depth and NV_shader_noperspective_interpolation .

WKWebView adds support for logging MarketplaceKit errors to the JavaScript console. This will make errors easier to debug.

Bug Fixes and more

In addition to these new features, WebKit for Safari 17.5 includes work polishing existing features.

Accessibility

• Fixed a bug preventing VoiceOver word echoing in some text fields. (122451549) (FB13592798)
• Fixed flickering with multiple accelerated animations and direction changes. (117815004)

Authentication

• Fixed excludeCredentials property being ignored during a passkey registration request. (124405037)
• Fixed the proximity calculation for implicit @scope . (124640124)
• Fixed the Grid track sizing algorithm logical height computation avoid unnecessary grid item updates. (124713418)
• Fixed any @scope limit making the element out of scope. (124956673)
• Fixed native text fields becoming invisible in dark mode. (123658326)
• Fixed fallback native <select> rendering in dark mode. (123845293)
• Fixed scrolling for an element when a video element with pointer-events: none is placed over it. (118936715)
• Fixed HTML5 <audio> playback to continue to the next media activity when in the background. (121268089) (FB13551577)
• Fixed AV1 to decode in hardware on iPhone 15 Pro. (121924090)
• Fixed audio distortion over internal speakers when streaming content in web browsers. (122590884)
• Fixed firing loadeddata events for <audio> and <video> on page load. (124079735) (FB13675360)
• Fixed adjusting the size of the scrollable area when changing betwen non-overlay and overlay scrollbars. (117507268)
• Fixed flickering when showing a layer on a painted background for the first time by avoiding async image decoding. (117533495)
• Fixed line breaking before or between ruby sequences. (122663646)
• Fixed mousemove events in an iframe when the mouse is clicked from outside the iframe and then moves into it while the button is held down. (120540148) (FB13517196)
• Fixed several issues that caused Web Push to not show notifications when the web app or Safari was not already running. (124075358)

Web Inspector

• Fixed info and debug buttons not appearing in the Console Tab until new console messages are displayed. (122923625)
• Fixed WebCodecs to correctly use the VP9 hardware decoder. (123475343)
• Fixed no incoming video in Teams VA. (124406255)
• Fixed the camera pausing occasionally when torch is enabled. (124434403)

Updating to Safari 17.5

Safari 17.5 is available on iOS 17.5 , iPadOS 17.5 , macOS Sonoma 14.5 , macOS Ventura, macOS Monterey and in visionOS 1.2.

If you are running macOS Ventura or macOS Monterey, you can update Safari by itself, without updating macOS. On macOS Ventura, go to  > System Settings > General > Software Update and click “More info…” under Updates Available.

To get the latest version of Safari on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, go to Settings > General > Software Update, and tap to update.

We love hearing from you. To share your thoughts on Safari 17.5, find us on Mastodon at @[email protected] and @[email protected] . Or send a reply on X to @webkit . You can also follow WebKit on LinkedIn . If you run into any issues, we welcome your feedback on Safari UI, or your WebKit bug report about web technologies or Web Inspector. Filing issues really does make a difference.

Download the latest Safari Technology Preview on macOS to stay at the forefront of the web platform and to use the latest Web Inspector features.

You can also find this information in the Safari 17.5 release notes .

If Safari isn't loading websites or quits on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

If you can't load a website or webpage, or Safari quits unexpectedly, follow these steps.

Connect to a different network

Try to load a website, like www.apple.com , using cellular data. If you don't have cellular data, connect to a different Wi-Fi network , then load the website.

If you're using a VPN (Virtual Private Network), check your VPN settings . If you have a VPN turned on, some apps or websites might block content from loading.

Restart your device

Turn off your device and turn it on again.

Restart your iPhone

Restart your iPad

Restart your iPod touch

Clear website data

You can clear website data occasionally to improve Safari performance.

Go to Settings > Safari.

Tap Clear History and Website Data.

Tap Clear History to confirm.

Turn on JavaScript

Turn on JavaScript if it's not already on.

Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced.

Turn on JavaScript.

Get more help

If the issue continues and only affects a certain website or webpage, check if you have Private Relay turned on. You can temporarily turn off Private Relay in iCloud Settings . If Safari still doesn't load websites and you tried all of these steps, contact the website developer for more help.

Explore Apple Support Community

Find what’s been asked and answered by Apple customers.

Contact Apple Support

Need more help? Save time by starting your support request online and we'll connect you to an expert.

Issue with ChatGPT on Safari (MacOS)

Showcasing the issue. It seems to drop the screen halfway down with no way of fixing it. I cleared all data related to ChatGPT on Safari and the issue still persists. Yesterday, it was not like this. Reddit users also have expressed this issue on the ChatGPT sub. Google Chrome has no issues for me.

You can also view by “new” on the Reddit sub and see others who have posted about this. Just wanted to clear up and establish that multiple users are experiencing this as well!

EDIT: The issue seems to be hit or miss. Users are reporting that the issue persists on iOS and the iOS app as well as MacOS web browsers even on Chrome. Might be an issue with Apple specifically but unsure as Android or Windows users haven’t posted anything on it yet that I have seen.

EDIT #2: Just test it on Windows 10, Chrome and Edge. Did not get the issue to occur when using either.

I am using a iOS mobile device to use ChatGPT and I have tried three different browsers. Safari, Chrome, and Google. All of which do the same thing. I refresh and it will sit normally for a moment before it just crunches. I have noticed that when I try to use the site without logging in, I can’t seem to get it to recreate the issue. But the moment I log in to use it, Crunch. Forgive my informal wording, I don’t know how else to describe it.

From what I can tell, this seems to be a safari-wide problem. I’m also experiencing it, I’ve seen others reporting it. I’m guessing we just need to wait for a hotfix or something. I’ve also seen some reports that chrome doesn’t work, and some that chrome works fine, so it might be an iOS problem in general

This is happening since this morning for me. I added ChatGPT to my taskbar and it has the same behavior. No way to correct it at all.

Same here macOS Sonoma ! Thanks

Omg same issue for me can’t copy and paste either if anyone knows how to fix this it’d be great

In the past I’ve dealt with occasionally the window being just slightly too high, this might be a problem that’s been around for a while but some UI change has made it worse (Just kind of spitballing here, don’t really have any other options)

Would you say it’s reasonable to believe it’s on their end, and it’s not that there’s something wrong with my account or device? I know it’s probably on their end, Not the smartest with this stuff, so I just wanted to make sure I could rest easy knowing nothing broke on my end.

The reason I posted was to see if the issue was for multiple users as well. Seeing that yourself and others also have the same issue across Apple devices likely means that there is some sort of bug that is causing this. I assume that since it seems to be such a widespread problem that it will be fixed pretty quickly. Here’s to hoping! In the meantime, try using a computer if possible and try a different browser than Safari.

Same issue on my phone, seems it’s an iOS issue, will try the solution by histeward

Awesome! I know little of API and integrations for web based applications, so thank you for pointing this out. It was very helpful!

Well checking the webapp again and it seems they hotfixed it real quick. It’s just an issue on their backend serving the files to the front end so it’s not a permanent fix. But glad they fixed it quite fast actually!

Related Topics

Older adults are having sex, and they’re getting STIs, too

Aging adults who have sex with a new partner should be screened for chlamydia, syphilis and other infections.

“Any falls in the past 90 days? Are you sleeping okay, getting enough exercise, eating well? What medications are you taking?” My primary care doctor asked the questions you’d expect at the annual physical of someone who had just turned 60.

There was one topic she didn’t mention, though. Even though she knew I’d recently been divorced, the doctor didn’t ask if I’d become sexually active, nor did she talk to me about screenings for chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea or HIV. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t ask her about sex, either.

In my younger years, checkups typically included at least a mention of safer sex. Granted, the topic wasn’t as pressing during my married years, but now that I was single, why wasn’t sexual health on the checklist? Because I’m… “old”? Because older people don’t have sex?

“Unfortunately, a lot of providers perceive that older adults don’t have sex, that they don’t want to have sex, or they cannot have sex, and that’s simply not true,” says Matthew Lee Smith, an associate professor in the health behavior department at Texas A&M’s School of Public Health.

Well, in fact, older people are having sex. Not only that, they like having sex. According to a new study from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, 4 in 10 adults ages 65 to 80 report being sexually active. More than half say sex is important to their quality of life. That’s the good news.

Here’s the bad: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are surging among older adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases of gonorrhea among those 55-plus have grown about 600 percent since 2010. Chlamydia cases have quadrupled, while syphilis cases are now nearly 700 percent higher than in 2010.

What’s going on?

“Rising divorce rates, forgoing condoms as there is no risk of pregnancy, the availability of drugs for sexual dysfunction, the large number of older adults living together in retirement communities, and the increased use of dating apps are likely to have contributed to the growing incidence of STIs in the over 50s,” said Justyna Kowalska, a professor of medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw and author of a 2024 study on how to manage STIs among older adults, in a news release about the study.

Mary Susan Fulghum, a retired OB/GYN in North Carolina, is on a mission to educate older people, primarily women, about rising rates of STIs, and often speaks to church groups, book clubs, community groups — such as nursing homes and retirement villages.

“I have felt a need to explain and identify risk factors,” she told me, “and let people know it’s okay to talk about it to the doctors.” On occasion, the women she talks to seem shocked — at one event an older woman told her, “I can’t believe you are actually talking to a group about this.” But more often the older women exhibit a mix of curiosity, gratitude and some denial.

Experts offered five reasons that help explain why STI rates are rising among older people:

Older adults tend to underestimate their risk. “These individuals have limited knowledge about STIs — transmission, symptomology and ways to prevent them,” Smith said. He notes that educational resources are not readily available in senior centers, residential communities or doctors’ offices. And who wants to be the one to ask for them? Fulghum agrees, which is why she goes to those in need of resources. “These people have been smart their entire lives. ... They want to know what to do and they will do it,” she said, noting that older adults may need encouragement and support about how to make smarter choices.

Providers have their own issues about discussing sex. Texas A&M’s Smith acknowledges that most health-care providers don’t talk to their patients about sexual needs, behaviors and desires — a significant proportion of providers believe that their older patients aren’t generally having sex, so “they’re not testing older adults for sexually transmitted infections.”

Fulghum suggests that if doctors feel uncomfortable having these sorts of discussions, “it’s their responsibility to make sure they have the resources in their office to make things as comfortable as possible” for patients. One suggestion she has for male providers: turn to a female associate — another doctor or nurse practitioner — who may be better able to communicate with female patients.

Chris Skidmore, deputy director of Whitman County public health department in Washington state, said time-crunched providers often focus on “larger health concerns of folks at that age, like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and cancer” rather than sex education.

Older adults tend to shy away from condoms . Those over 55 may associate using condoms with avoiding pregnancy, not preventing STIs.

“This generation rarely considers using protection because they came of age when sex education in school did not exist, HIV was virtually unheard of, and their main concern … was to avoid pregnancy,” wrote Janie Steckenrider, associate professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University, in a study published in Lancet Healthy Longevity.

Fulghum recommends anyone starting a new sexual relationship be tested for STIs. “From there you can move the conversation towards condoms,” she said, adding rhetorically, “What 70-year-old woman is going to go into a drugstore and ask to buy condoms?” (Note: They’re generally in the family planning aisle; it’s also easy and more private to buy them online.) Fulghum said it’s important that both partners take responsibility for buying and using condoms, regardless of gender.

Older adults aren’t comfortable talking with new partners about their sexual histories. Those dating again after being widowed or divorced can find themselves in uncomfortable terrain, Smith said, but conversations about sex are important — to assess risk — even if challenging. Some relevant questions to ask a new partner include: Have you had unprotected sex? When were you last tested for STIs? Timing is everything: Have that talk before you have sex. Anyone hooking up via an app — which older folks are doing — has even more reason to use protection.

New medications are helping older people remain sexually active. There are drugs for erectile dysfunction as well as injectable medications that can help a man achieve an erection (typically after prostate removal). According to the Michigan study, nearly 1 in 5 men had taken medications or supplements to boost sexual function. For postmenopausal women there are FDA-approved treatments for vaginal dryness, painful sex or low libido.

So what can be done to stop or slow rising STI rates among older people? Experts have two main suggestions:

Sexual health screening questions should be part of every older adult’s routine checkup . And STI testing should be offered when warranted .

Patients who are sexually active, or planning to be, need to be proactive with their doctors. It can be a challenge to talk with a health-care provider about sex, especially with a physician who may be much younger (more common as we age) or of a different gender or sexual orientation. If you’re not comfortable, seek out a new provider who might be a better match — or ask for someone in the practice who might be a better match.

Finally, as Fulghum said, “Our problem is that [younger] people don’t like to think about older people having sex. … Old people aren’t supposed to do things like that any more.” Except they are, she said, adding that she reminds her older audiences that sex is supposed to be a “fun kind of thing” — and safe. Even when you’re older.

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