How do I enable DuckDuckGo Fire Button in the iOS 17 DuckDuckGo app and Safari?
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Executive summary
DuckDuckGo’s iOS app includes a prominent “Fire Button” that clears tabs, cookies, caches and site permissions; Apple’s App Store notes that recent updates let the Fire Button also delete Duck.ai chat history and that Data Clearing settings control that behavior [1] [2]. DuckDuckGo’s help pages explain what the Fire Button does and what it does not remove (fireproof sites’ 1st‑party storage, bookmarks, downloads, and some app settings) and point you to Settings for related controls like Fireproof Sites and automatic clearing on restart [3].
1. What the Fire Button is and what it clears — a one‑tap privacy kill switch
DuckDuckGo describes the Fire Button as an instant tool to erase local traces of your browsing: cookies, website caches and favicons, open tabs and session history, and site permissions such as geolocation and camera access [3]. Multiple reviews and app descriptions stress it’s meant as a single‑tap “clean slate” that signs you out of sites and purges most local tracking artifacts [1] [4].
2. How to enable the Fire Button to clear Duck.ai chat history — Settings > Data Clearing
DuckDuckGo’s updates page and the App Store release notes both state that you can make the Fire Button also delete Duck.ai chat history by turning on the option in the app’s Data Clearing settings: “Go to Settings > Data Clearing to enable” [2] [1]. That is the explicit path the company gives for coupling chat deletion with the Fire Button action [2] [1].
3. Where the Fire Button lives and UI touches referenced by guides
Guides and reviews place the Fire Button in the browser’s top area (commonly the top‑right in the DuckDuckGo app), and note other UI options around it such as Fire Window and Fireproof Site controls; the HardReset guide and XDA pieces describe navigating app menus and settings to adjust Fire Button behavior or adjacent appearance and features [5] [6]. The exact label and location may vary across iOS versions, but DuckDuckGo’s app and documentation point users to the in‑app Settings to control behaviors [5] [6].
4. Limitations and deliberate exceptions — what firing won’t erase
DuckDuckGo’s help pages are explicit about exclusions: the Fire Button does not delete first‑party cookies and storage for sites you’ve “fireproofed,” nor does it remove bookmarks, downloaded files, or DuckDuckGo Search settings and their storage [3]. The app also supports Fireproof Sites precisely to let users retain logins while still clearing other tracking data [3] [6].
5. User requests and product decisions — why some desired options aren’t present
A longstanding GitHub issue shows users asked for a Fire Button mode that clears only data but preserves tabs; that request was closed as “not planned” in the archived duckduckgo/iOS repo, indicating the team has deliberately declined that specific behavior in the past [7]. That repo closure suggests product priorities favor a full wipe model rather than a split option that preserves tabs [7].
6. Practical steps to enable and test the setting on iOS (based on DuckDuckGo guidance)
Follow DuckDuckGo’s published guidance: open the DuckDuckGo iOS app, go to Settings, then Data Clearing, and enable the option to have the Fire Button also delete Duck.ai chat history [2] [1]. After toggling it, test by creating a Duck.ai chat, tapping the Fire Button, and verifying the chat history is gone. If you want to retain certain sites, set them as Fireproof via Settings so the Fire Button won’t remove their first‑party storage [3] [6].
7. Competing viewpoints and transparency — privacy tradeoffs and design choices
DuckDuckGo markets the Fire Button as a strong privacy affordance and documents what it removes and what it spares, signaling a transparent design tradeoff: aggressive clearing vs. convenience of persistent logins [3] [1]. Some users pushed for a “clear data but not tabs” option, but DuckDuckGo’s archived iOS repo shows that idea was closed as not planned, reflecting a product judgment that the full‑wipe model better matches their privacy goals [7].
Limitations of this report: available sources document the Settings > Data Clearing path and the Fire Button’s effects, but do not provide a step‑by‑step screenshot walkthrough or note exact UI labels for every iOS 17 build; for those visuals, consult the app’s in‑app Settings or DuckDuckGo’s updates page [2] [1].