Purchased Cookie and Privatus when on sale a few weeks ago for around AU$20 which I thought was a good deal. I wanted to be able to keep my 'favorite' cookies and have all the non-favourites regularly deleted so that I am not being constantly tracked by unwanted spies.
Seems you can only remove all of the cookies ... with no option of keeping the ones you want to keep.
After playing around for almost a week, I gave up on Cookie and Privatus on Safari ... and downloaded the Firefox Browser on my iMAC so that I could use 'Ghostery' that I previously liked on old model iMAC, as well as adding 'Privacy Badger' that someone recommended.
I am now able to keep my favorite cookies plus identify the dodgy ones which are automatically blocked as they appear. Combined with Firefox's own Privacy features and Little Snitch ... I am now happy. :D
ps. I'm being generous with the 1 star ... I'll end up deleting these duds.
Great programme that lets you prevent the proliferation of cookies without trashing the ones you need e.g. online banking. You can set up various levels of privacy or see a list of cookies and manually check them to allow them to remain. It's quite sobering to see the huge amount that appear after each internet session and quite satisfying to know that they will disappear when you close your browser or at whichever point you set Cookie to delete. The only question is why isn't this facility already in Safari? (P.S. if you're in the UK it's cheaper to buy direct from the website than through App Store).
There seems to be a 5 comment limit, hence this new post. This is getting wearying, Russell. It's NOT about whether HSTS should or shouldn't be disabled, or why. It's about Apple saw fit to include it in Safari by default, and with no option to disable it, and while some users may not value it, it's just plain NOT YOUR PREROGATIVE to disable it or, for that matter, any security feature unilaterally with neither an upfront warning nor an included means for those who do value it to re-enable it. Bottom line! You can rationalize it, but you can't justify it.
Safari 14 blocks trackers from phoning home with no help from Cookie necessary. And if you've ever looked at your Safari > Prefs > Privacy > Manage... pane you've seen how many non-favorite cookies Cookie is unable to block. Much as I"ve loved and supported Cookie for years, I've got to concede that the bad guys have gotten ahead of its ability to block them, and at this point I value it most for its ability to save my favorite cookies when I quit Safari. Yeah, it does block some non-favorites, but it's not the same highly functional app it used to be.
Cookie only gets better as the developer works to keep ahead of the increasing and various ways users can be identified via cookies and other potentially intrusive data collected by websites and browsers. I consider it a Must Have utility for keeping my Internet travels private, out of the hands for potentially unscrupulous marketing, black hat and government intrusion nutters. There is nothing like it and I highly recommend supporting it.
Cookie has two faults that seriously detract from its credibility (and I apologize to all for not having exposed them long ago):
1. COOKIE DISABLES HSTS (AN INTERNET SECURITY FEATURE) BY DEFAULT any time it clears cache, it doesn't advise you that a security feature has been disabled, and it doesn't give you an option to change the default behavior.
(Cookie's developer) Russell's response to my objections to his having unilaterally and with finality disabled a security feature was "if no one [other than you] wants this option, it’s not worth my effort."
And THAT is as stupidly dangerous and bizarrely arrogant an approach to security as I can imagine.
Security is NOT a toy for developers to play with, and no RESPECTABLE developer would disable a security feature with neither an up-front warning nor a means to re-enable it!
2. Cookie offers timer options to clear Safari's cache and history while it's running despite the fact that Russell has known for years that it is/was (see next paragraph) impossible to do so other than from within Safari.
Actually, it has recently become possible for Cookie to clear Safari's cache while it's running, but it remains impossible for it to clear its history, and despite that, the option, which is a flat out lie, remains.
And Russell's response to my requests that he remove the options/option was the same, "if no one wants this option [other than you], it’s not worth my effort."
Sorry, Russell, but HONESTY SHOULD BE INHERENT IN AN APP, NOT a feature that needs to be requested!
Other than that... GREAT APP!
Cookie 6 developer (SweetP Productions) is an unethical company. There is no upgrade path from Cookie 5 to 6 without paying the full price again. Cookie 5 disappeared a few short months after I bought it from Apple's App Store so you can't download it again. Despicable behaviour. I've filed a complaint to Apple.
I DO NOT recommend this product for the following reasons:
* Not long after buying it in March 2019 a paid for upgrade was released which is only free for those who bought after 1 June 2019.
* No documentation explaining the interface. For example, it is not clear why some websites are greyed out or what it means when the favourite checkbox is ticked/unticked.
* Automatic removal is on but tracking cookies are not removed
* Essential cookies on popular sites are removed, leading to problems. You can white list these but it involves trial and error.
* Many browsers are tightening up on cookies with new functions to limit them. Having Cookie as an extra layer only complicates cookie management and problem solving.
* I can find no way of contacting the owners (SweetP Productions) on their site.
If you hate Cookies, Histories etc. and want to get rid of them quickly and at your discretion then this is the app to own! Buy from the Developer not the App Store! Much more flexible and updates are quicker. Support is big time!
I'm impressed. This has worked well for years through system upgrades and is promptly updated when needed. It is quality software and I'm glad I bought this when I did. I feel like I control cookies and they don't control me. I love every time FB doesn't recognize me and wants me to open a new account - this means, they can't track me. Yay!
I have used Cookie for a very long time. It is one of a very few indispensable pieces of software I own. I wouldn't want to be without it. I find it to be set it and forget it. Russell, the developer is one of the most responsive developers out there. If only other developers would take a lesson from him.
In reading Big Johnson's comments it seems to me that by having 305 cookies he is defeating the very purpose for which this piece of software exists...to reduce the number of cookies to only those you need on a regular basis and to avoid tracking cookies. Cookie does this better than any piece of Mac software I know of.
No piece of software, or anything else we use for that matter, has unlimited capacity. Even if you were able to design such a thing the cost would be prohibitive and the resources it would use would be astronomical.
You absolutely must be using Cookie! The trial is enough for you to be persuaded, you need it. It's a must have. I have seen Safari fail to clear cache. Get cookie! It's better than chocolate chip malanos! ?
Tried using 5.9.8. After setting up and trying to remove a few cookies, it crashed. After having crashed, it can not start again. It never even gets to run. I still can run version 4.8 without issues. I tried totally removing 5.6.8 using AppDelete. After that it ran once, crashed and back to square one. Don't buy without trying. (MacOS 10.13.6., MacPro 5,1)
What a horrible, useless pi*ce of ****** this has become!
For the past several weeks I've been using Firefox and Cookie is completely ineffective - does not function at all with FF Quantum.
FF cookies aren't ever shown in the cookies list so they can't be removed there either.
And there are two cookies shown for Chromium that are impossible to remove even though I manually deleted them in Chromium; One is a Demdex tracking cookie.
The icon in the menu bar is no longer white with black chips. For the past several version it's now dark grey with black chips and I don't like it. I'm using dark menu bar, but disabling it makes it even uglier.
Cookie routinely uses more than 120% CPU which causes my fans to race. And Cookie can almost never be quit from the menu bar - I must open Activity Monitor and quit it there.
Why is one of the choices for icon appearance a location indicator?! Cookie's not a map! That's just dumb AF.
Never have I seen such bizarre behavior in a list window on a Mac before. Clicking disclosure triangles [in the Websites panel] and whitelisting their contained items leads to all kinds of strange UI responses (short freezes, odd jumps). Something in Cookie's list-window code is seriously wrong.
And there's still no keyboard shortcut to whitelist an item!?!? Does the author even use his own program?
I can't leave a zero, but that's what this piece of crap deserves. Stay away at all costs. The support website gives instruction to do things and open things that DO NOT EXIST. Run and manage the damn things yourself directly in Safari because this junk won't do it for you
Firefox 63 broke Cookie functionality. None of the stored cookies seem to work anymore, i.e. I have to manually log in every time I visit a website that should log me in automatically. When I disable the setting "Remove every (x) minutes while Browser is Open", everything is back to normal again. Still a great application, though. Best cookie manager imho.
Cookie v5.9 is now available. It's macOS 10.14 Mojave ready. Here's what's new:
• macOS Mojave Dark Mode support
• Added a notification window outlining how to enable Cookie in Sytstem Preferences
• Cookie app is now Notarized by Apple
• Updated Sparkle
Cookie is my cookie total control system. Thank you SweetP!
hey guys, theres a bug in the Mac App Store v5.8.1. Ive uploaded a fix to Apple, and v5.8.2 should be available tomorrow. The version from my store is not affected at all.
Based on some of the reviews here, I did a test to see if after I removed cookies in Safari, they still persisted. Upon opening Safari, the cookies I deleted via Cookies App were gone in Safari. Of course, once I revisit the website, they will be dropped back on my computer, obviously. But I have my timer set to fire every few minutes to delete any unwanted cookies, cache and databases I don't want to remain. I've been a Cookie user for about 5 years.
Wish I could add other browsers on my own, such as Cliqz, Brave and Epic.
It doesn't remove anything. I logged into a site today that placed 21 cookies in Firefox. Deleting them in Cookie does NOTHING - they're all still showing in FF.
And then there's the never-ending bug of cookies mysteriously opening in Cookie's window - that is the arrows turn down and reveal the enclosed cookies.
And no matter how many times you close them, it WILL happen again, probably within a day or two.
There's not much reason to buy something that does nothing (except aggravate you).
Inexplicably opens random cookies from time to time, causing me to have to go through clicking each of their arrows to close them again. It's never just one, it's usually 10 or more at a time - this time it was 32, and not all in a row.
There SHOULD be an option to open all/close all, but of course there isn't.
I've had an ongoing problem with the Blur extension. I'd adjust all the settings where I want them, and from time to time they'd revert to default and I'd have to set 'em again. I thought it was caused by Blur, but today I diagnosed it as being caused by Cookie.
I have the option set to "never remove browser extensions." And all three of Blur's database files are checked as favorites, so they should never be removed.
But if I adjust Blur's settings, click the button to remove NON-favorite databases and reopen Chrome, Blur's settings will have reverted to default because its databases were deleted.
Why are not the existing settings taken over during an update? Everything away ... Importing the previously exported favorites also does not work - of 80 entries were only 9 again improrted. Annoying! As far as I can see, version 5.5.8 also works with Safari 10.11.
Paid for it, installed it, puzzled how to use its functions like for example Whitelist or Favourites (what's the difference??). Why so complex and why no manual available. Tutorial is on Vimeo which is censured in my country. I can't believe somebody askes $20 and doesn't provide even a manual. Wasted $20. Miss the days of programs like Cookie Cutter which did the job simple and effective and were cheap.
I've used Cookie for a number of years, both on my MacBook Pro and now on my iMac, although to be fair, I haven't run it consistently until recently. As a previous User, I even got a reduced price upgrade to the latest version.
What I can tell you is that 1) the product works very well indeed and 2) the developer, Russell, gives first rate (and fast) support - perhaps better than any I've come across.
The latest version v5.5.7 also supports Vivaldi, which is worthwhile in itself. The product has been developed a lot since I first started using it, and the option of timed removal is much welcomed.
My response to other negative reviews is simple: just try the latest version. It is really flexible with numerous options for cookie removal - on startup, browser exit or on demand. If you don't believe that, just look at the list of cookies before and after a manual removal or have a look at the removal notifications?
Highly recommended and better than any of the other cookie removal apps I've tried over the years.
And apparently the failure to clear cookies at login wasn’t fixed either - I haven’t restarted yet but the update doesn’t mention it.
After clearing cache and cookies I can still find sites listed in Safari’s prefs > Privacy section.
Yesterday I had some stuff in my cart on a shopping site. After clearing cache & cookies the cart was still full next to my name. Only after deleting the entry in Safari were my name and cart contents removed.
Not sure what this is really good for since it doesn’t do most of what it’s supposed to do and doesn’t block bad cookies at all.
Evidently it’s just for people who like installing things every week whether they work or not.
Does NOT remove cookies at login.
"Remove non-favorites" only works intermittently and is very aggravating because I use it often and I never know if it will work.
Crash, crash, crash! When Cookie works it's a good app, but more than often it just crashes. I start it after the crash click the same "Remove Non-Favorites" button and this time it may work. Work is a very broad verb for Cookie, often it just refuses to remove some cookies. Clicking twice (after 5-10 sec. delay) fixes the problem. I haven't seen so unstable app as Cookie. In all 20 crashes of v5.2.1 to v5.5.3, not a single one is equal to another one. EXC_BAD_ACCESS is always in different functions. Console app is full of Sandbox deny file read messages about Cookie.
I use this app only to clear Firefox (latest version) cookies on El Capitan. I close Firefox, then start Cookie and click on "Remove Non-Favorites" button. I have only two favorite websites. I can't believe that such a simple task as updating Firefox "cookies.sqlite" file could be so cumbersome.
Beware updating from 5.2.3 to 5.5.1. It will lose your favorites for Chromium, even though it will keep your Safari and Firefox favorites. By this I mean not that it will delete your Chromium cookies, but that it will fail to recognize (under the Chromium heading) that Websites X, Y, and Z were marked as favorites. For instance, I have github as a favorite in Cookie for all my browsers. Upon updating to 5.5.1, github is not listed by Cookie among my Chromium favorites even though github is still listed under Firefox and Safari.
Since I'm on Cookie, have no way to be hijacked while browsing. Having experienced first-rate privacy and security, feel more comfortable in the Internet.
This is the best Cookie control app for Mac users. The developer is excellent, very responsive and very responsible. He's constantly polishing and improving Cookie. I have Cookie running 24/7 on my Macs and won't surf the net without it. The GUI is very good. It's easily configurable. It has a dirt simple and effective cookie removal timer. It never causes me problems or headaches. When I have run into bugs in the past, the developer has responded and repaired them immediately.
There is a learning curve as you set up and get used to Cookie. You will have to get used to toggling on and off its Removal Timer or manually dumping cookies, as you choose. As such, it's not something Granny will easily get used to. But for what it does, Cookie is well worth the investment of time and money.
The closest competitor is Cookie Stumbler, but it's not as good or as cost effective. I never saw the point in paying its yearly subscription fee. Cookie can be just as effective removing cookies, if you configure it correctly. Plus, Cookie Stumbler is a bit buggy and appears to be in a state of stagnation. I gave up bothering with it.
in principe this is a good app, but sadly there seems to be no sense at all for a reasonable gui. wish it had a simple "remove all" button in the toolbar.
I don't post here often but I feel compelled to respond to the negative reviews for Cookie. To me it is, far and away, the very best cookie manager available for Mac. I've been at this a long time and seen quite a number of cookie managers. Nothing comes close to this one. Once you set it up, you forget it while is quietly goes about doing its job. Invisible is the word that comes to mind.
As far as the developer, he is one of the most responsive and helpful developers out there. He responds quickly to any questions and rapidly solves any problem that may exist, which is a rarely..
I not only use Cookie, I wouldn't want to be without it, It makes my web use so much easier and more secure.
I also use another product from SweetP named Hides. Hides invokes Single Application Mode. Its only task is to automatically hide other open applications making your workspace cleaner. It can easily be turned of or on in the menu bar.
The claim that "Cookie prevents third parties from hijacking your browsing experience" is completely false.
In my experience ALL hijacking of my browser has been caused by Javascript on pages I visited. That has nothing to do with cookies. Simply visiting certain sites and clicking anywhere on the page activates a new malware window like this awful one. http://pcnetworksteadycloud.online/?source=62968_609618_
Lets see you stop that, Cookie!
Removing cookies won't do a damn thing to prevent this. The only way I've found to stop 90% of them from occurring was to install the JS Blocker extension for Safari from Apple's Extension Gallery. https://goo.gl/GsakKs
