iOS 26 Enables Safari’s Advanced Fingerprinting Protection Feature by Default

iOS 26 is not anticipated to roll out for one more couple of months, however builders and early adopters can already entry upcoming options and expertise the brand new Liquid Glass interface through beta releases. When Apple rolls out iOS 26 later this 12 months, it can allow Advanced Fingerprinting Protection, a privacy-focused function on Safari that protects customers from being tracked as they browse the net, even after they aren’t utilizing a non-public searching tab. Mozilla’s open supply Firefox browser additionally presents safety in opposition to fingerprinting.

iOS 26 Public Beta Requires Advanced Fingerprinting Protection to Be Enabled

When Apple unveiled iOS 26 at WWDC 2025, the corporate introduced that it will enhance consumer privateness by increasing the Advanced Fingerprinting Protection function “to all browsing by default”. The function was beforehand enabled for Private Browsing tabs in September 2023 as a part of iOS 17. It will probably be accessible for all Safari tabs in September, when iOS 26 rolls out to all customers.

Advanced Fingerprinting Protection on iOS 26 (Tap to broaden)

Fingerprinting is a nefarious type of monitoring used by firms to observe a consumer’s exercise throughout the web. Think of it as a digital fingerprint that’s generated based mostly in your system’s {hardware}, your third-party browser extensions, customized fonts, and particular settings.

This type of monitoring is designed to persist even after the browser’s historical past, storage, and cache are cleared. In order to guard customers, Apple gives random data and modifications the small print about {hardware} and software program shared with trackers. This makes it tough for information brokers and corporations to create a fingerprint for a browser and observe customers.

Safari’s rival Firefox has additionally supplied safety in opposition to fingerprinting since 2020. However, the open supply browser blocks third-party requests to firms that fingerprint customers on-line, which is a extra aggressive method in comparison with Advanced Fingerprinting Protection on Safari.

It’s value noting that Advanced Fingerprinting Protection is not enabled for all tabs on Safari, with the primary iOS 26 public beta that rolled out to eligible smartphones final week. A (*26*) 360 workers member confirmed that the function was working for Private Browsing tabs, however it needed to be manually enabled through the Settings app.

Users who wish to activate Advanced Fingerprinting Protection can navigate to the Settings app and faucet on Apps > Safari > Advanced > Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting > All Browsing. This will allow the function on Safari earlier than the secure model of iOS 26 rolls out in September.