local (file://) website favicon works in Firefox, not in Chrome or Safari- why?
The Question
When my website is local (using the file:// protocol), the favicon doesn't show up in Chrome or Safari, but it works in Firefox (all on a mac). However, when the exact same site is actually hosted, the favicon works fine in all of the browsers I tried. Why do the webkit browsers not display local favicons?
Details
The favicon.ico file is in the same directory as the index.html page. I am using the following code, although I've tried several variations of it:
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />
Since the favicon works when accessed over http://, I doubt that there's something wrong with the way I'm including it, but you never know...
Update
I've found a few forum posts (nothing too official) that suggest that this is by design, but none of them give the rationale. Also, it sounds like some versions of IE have the same problem. Is there some security risk with local favicons? (I know that some browsers have issues with local cookies, for example.)
Disclaimer: There seem to be a ton of questions in a similar vein, but I haven't found exactly this one. (In fact I have basically the same question as this one, but none of the answers there worked for me.)
Answer
You can use Base64 data of an image. Put something like this:
<link href="data:image/x-icon;base64,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" rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" />
into the <head> section of an html file.
Base64 data can be received, for example, by favicon.cc