There have been some updates to Safari that could cause access issues for Canvas and for third party tools (LTIs) in Canvas. With the recent updates to Safari (version 13.1+), the browser has started taking a strict stance on cross-site tracking (either completely on or completely off). In many browsers you can set the default setting and specify sites that are exceptions to the rule. Cross-site tracking is used to create cookies that Canvas then uses to authenticate users for third-party tools such as Panopto.
Some Safari users have reported errors when trying to access third party tools in Canvas like “we were unable to sign you in because your browser is not accepting cookies.” or “Web Login Service- Stale Web Request.” when trying to access to Canvas.
While using Safari 13.1+ to access Canvas, users may experience a similar issue in tools that use third-party cookies for authentication. Over the past week approximately 30% of our users access Canvas with Safari and ~8% are using version 13.1 or greater. We are still looking into how to resolve this update and will keep you updated on the status of this issue.
We recommend holding off on any iOS update that would update Safari to this newer version until a solution is confirmed. You can also use a different browser to access third party tools in Canvas like Google Chrome or Firefox. If you are already using Safari 13.1+ and do not want to use another browser you will have to enable cross-site tracking for all sites.
Further Reading
- Full Third Party Cookie Blocking and More
- Safari 13 Release Notes
- Enabling cross-site tracking in Safari
Last Updated: 20 Oct 2021