Question

I have an HTML5 offline application doing the following things:

1. display a page
2. check manifest (according to specs)
3. perform an ajax request (using Prototype) to check if online.

I have the following issue ONLY on Mobile Safari iOS (not Safari, not Chrome, not Firefox):

• OK: Run scénario online
• OK: Run scénario offline (plane mode)
• OK: Stop the server OK
• KO: Restart the server

The Ajax-Request is performed but hangs until timeout like if it was offline

WorkAround

• OK: If I update the manifest the cache is refreshed
• OK: If I clean cache in iOS preferences
• KO: If I put a parameter in the ajax-request (like ?d={timemillis} )
• KO: The ajax request is in POST
• KO: The request has heades: Cache-Control: no-store and Pragma: no-cache
• KO: If I kill MobileSafari and reload
• KO: The NETWORK part of the manifest have expliclty the URL

So I do not know what to do:

• I can’t clean mobile safari storage because it also clear localStorage
• I can’t ‘touch’ the manifest file on the server
• I can’t be sure my user will always be in “plane mode”

Question:

• Is there a way to force cache update ? (according to specs no)
• Is there a way to forbidden caching of Ajax Request ? (other than manifest)
• Is there any jsFiddle that demonstrate it works on iOS ?

Best Regards

Answer 1

After many tests it seems the MobileSafari on iOS is really buggy. My company decide to stop this Proof of Concept and wait for an improved version or a framework dealing with all bugs.