Cookie Issues w/ Downloading Password Protected Images

LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins
edited October 21, 2021 in Bug Reporting
Original Title: "Download Password" and Safari 12.0.3 (or similar)

I think I have narrowed this issue to being unique with Safari. I have some galleries that I am attempting to let a client download via password. It works great in Chrome, but in Safari 12.0.3 (freshly deleted all cookies, disable all extensions), it keeps giving me the following error:

That password doesn’t match what the owner told us.

Works as expected in Google Chrome. I spoke with SmugMug tech support today. Her name was Ana. She inferred there are indeed issues with the newest version of Safari. Can anyone else confirm that you are having these issues?

I have a "hidden" folder accessible via link, with a simple passcode for gaining access. That works. Within that folder are numerous galleries. I can view them. When I click the download button, the download passcode does not work in Safari but does Chrome. I've tried different passwords, etc.

Comments

  • leftquarkleftquark Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,784 Many Grins

    Safari does indeed pose some problems with download passwords (and shopping carts) with SmugMug customers who have custom domains. In an attempt to crack down on advertising trackers and keep your browsing private, Safari is also making it difficult for websites like SmugMug to perform functions for people with custom domains. We’re working to solve the issue so that full functionality is restored on Safari.

    I believe a temporary workaround is to visit www.smugmug.com and then try the download gallery.

    dGrin Afficionado
    Former SmugMug Product Team
    aaron AT aaronmphotography DOT com
    Website: http://www.aaronmphotography.com
    My SmugMug CSS Customizations website: http://www.aaronmphotography.com/Customizations
  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins
    Thank you. That is reassuring that I'm not losing my mind. That also potentially explains why at times it has worked and other times it hasn't on Safari.

    I know this is something that is almost NEVER commented on regarding timelines, but is this something that you think can and will be resolved in a timely manner? A month or so isn't a big deal. But 6 months or 2 years is a very, very long time in my book and defeats one of the main purposes I purchased SmugMug for to begin with.
  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins
    I can confirm that visiting SmugMug.com, then opening the "hidden link" allows me to download the passworded images via the password.

    Shall I imagine once setting a cookie/etc by visiting smugmug.com, a user may be able to come back the next day and download directly from that gallery again without the workaround?
  • rainforest1155rainforest1155 Registered Users Posts: 4,566 Major grins

    Glad to hear it's working. As long as the browser isn't set to clear cookies on its own and there's no extensions installed that clear cookies, I'd expect the download to also work fine the next day.

    We don't have a way to provide a ETA on when the issue might be resolved.

    Sebastian
    SmugMug Support Hero
  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins
    I understand, programmers or their representatives rarely give ETAs.

    Is it somehow a cookie issue between he custom domain and the SmugMug domain?
  • rainforest1155rainforest1155 Registered Users Posts: 4,566 Major grins

    From my understanding, it's connected to third party cookies as using a custom domain SmugMug.com is seen as a third party by the browser. Visiting SmugMug.com likely sets a cookie that then allows the feature to work properly.

    Sebastian
    SmugMug Support Hero
  • leftquarkleftquark Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,784 Many Grins
    edited March 14, 2019

    As Sebastian mentioned, it's hard to estimate when we'll be able to resolve this, but I can comment and say that this is a priority for us and we'd like to get it solved as fast as possible, especially since it's impacting more than just Gallery Downloads.

    Seb is also correct about the cookie setting bits :)

    dGrin Afficionado
    Former SmugMug Product Team
    aaron AT aaronmphotography DOT com
    Website: http://www.aaronmphotography.com
    My SmugMug CSS Customizations website: http://www.aaronmphotography.com/Customizations
  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins

    Any update?

  • leftquarkleftquark Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,784 Many Grins

    The first change as part of the Safari issues should roll out within the next week: the Organizer will no longer load within your custom domain, but instead load on https://secure.smugmug.com. We're still looking into Gallery Downloads and other impacted issues with Safari on Custom Domains.
    (FWIW, Apple isn't making this easy).

    dGrin Afficionado
    Former SmugMug Product Team
    aaron AT aaronmphotography DOT com
    Website: http://www.aaronmphotography.com
    My SmugMug CSS Customizations website: http://www.aaronmphotography.com/Customizations
  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins

    What are the chances that the following behavior is somewhat of a fix?

    I've noticed via Google Analytics that the top referrer for my domain is: smugmug.com/visit/safari-redirect/

    I'm wondering if custom domains push Safari users to the Smugmug.com domain which in turn pushes the user back to the original custom domain. This would allow you (SmugMug) to set that cookie, effectively accomplishing the "temporary workaround"?

    I'm just curious at this point. I noticed that referrer and started wondering about it.

  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins

    Any update on this? One of my main clients was working with me today because she couldn't download photos with the exact same photo that other galleries have had for years. I'm unsure whether this specific bug was her problem, but seemingly she was having issues.

    I gave it a try in Firefox via Private Browsing, it worked fine for me. I tried it in Safari and it would not work at all, inline with this bug.

  • Chasing DaylightChasing Daylight Registered Users Posts: 65 Big grins

    Happy to report that the experience where an error was seen when a download password was used in conjunction with a custom domain and you try to download the image, has been resolved.

    Kelly | SmugMug Support Specialist
  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins

    @Chasing Daylight said:
    Happy to report that the experience where an error was seen when a download password was used in conjunction with a custom domain and you try to download the image, has been resolved.

    I was ecstatic to see this, albeit it 2.5 years later! That being said, I'm involved in IT work myself and understand that sometimes fixes take time, especially when the issues themselves are caused by a third party.

    With that being said, I noticed that a gallery I created just a few days ago was still giving similar issues. I'm dedicating a bit of time right now to further test the variables (browser, password, etc).

  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins

    I can confirm again, that for me trying Safari and Firefox yields an error about being the wrong password. I tried about 10 galleries from over the years that I know have worked in the past for downloading images from a client's point of view. I tried Google Chrome and it worked on every gallery I tried.

    It appears that now Firefox is added to a list of browsers that are causing problems? I didn't pay that close attention surrounding the above fix by @Chasing Daylight , perhaps Safari worked for a time after 09/04/2021. That was over a month ago, perhaps a new Firefox/Safari update broke it again?

    Surely I am not the only user that is experiencing this issue?

  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins

    SmugMug support essentially confirmed what I suspected. Depending on browser settings and also third party plugins, if you are using a custom domain paired with password protected downloads (possibly paired with password protected galleries), then there can be issues where the correct password is not recognized as the correct password. You can "get" any of them to work but I personally do not see it reasonable to instruct my clients to change their browser's security/privacy settings to allow more cookies.

    Anyone else having this issue and have more input than me?

  • Chasing DaylightChasing Daylight Registered Users Posts: 65 Big grins

    @LinuxHack3r Hi! Please send me a link to your SmugMug site so I can take a closer look and email you directly. Thanks!

    Kelly | SmugMug Support Specialist
  • LinuxHack3rLinuxHack3r Registered Users Posts: 16 Big grins

    This is still going on, likely even worse. Users that I've "trained" over the years are now having more and more issues. Does anyone at SmugMug actually even care that this "feature" is completely broken? I know that modern day browsers are making this more difficult, but other websites support features such as "download after typing in a password" just fine even with a custom domain.

Sign In or Register to comment.