Courier Mail Users Advised to Enable Cookies After In-App Browser Issue
3: 12 p. m. ET — Townsville Bulletin says visitors must enable cookies to use the site, a detail that affects readers who click stories through social apps including the Facebook App. That timing matters because the site warns a defect in the in-app browser can intermittently make requests without previously set cookies.
Why now: the publisher highlights a specific in-app browser behavior that should be fixed soon, and offers an immediate workaround for anyone hitting a cookie barrier when following links from social apps. For readers of sites such as courier mail, the simplest step is to keep using the app but not its embedded browser.
Townsville Bulletin explains cookie requirement and the Facebook App defect
To use the Townsville Bulletin site, cookies must be enabled in the browser. The site points out a defect in the Facebook App’s in-app browser that intermittently strips cookies that had been set earlier, causing access or login problems for some visitors. The publisher recommends not using the embedded browser until the defect is resolved.
Courier Mail readers can avoid the issue by opening links externally in the Facebook App
The simplest approach offered is to continue using the Facebook App but not its in-app browser: open the app’s settings menu the hamburger icon in the top right, select “App Settings, ” then turn on the option labeled “Links Open Externally. ” That sequence — open settings, choose App Settings, enable Links Open Externally — directs links to the device’s default browser and avoids the in-app browser behavior.
Browser-specific cookie settings: Internet Explorer 7, 8 & 9 and modern browsers
For users who need to enable cookies directly, the publisher provides step-by-step instructions. Internet Explorer 7, 8 & 9 require Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > Advanced, then override automatic cookie handling and set first- and third-party cookies to Accept. Firefox requires Tools > Options > Privacy and enabling Accept cookies from sites and third-party cookies, with Keep until set to their expiry. Google Chrome users should allow local data and unblock third-party cookies in Content Settings. Mobile Safari steps instruct selecting Settings > Safari, choosing accept cookies and restarting Safari for changes to take effect.
Each browser set of instructions is presented as an explicit path to allow sites to store cookies so login, personalization and access work as intended when the in-app browser is bypassed.
More details expected 4: 00 p. m. ET; for now, enabling cookies or opening links externally is the confirmed workaround to avoid in-app browser cookie loss.
