iPhone Safari Crashes: Does It Happen to You?

Update: Has Safari stopped crashing?

At times when I’m surfing the web on iPhone’s Safari browser, it crashes and takes me back to the home screen. Safari hasn’t crashed as frequently on my new replacement iPhone compared to my old one, but the fact that it has happened on both makes me wonder how widespread the problem is.

On my old iPhone I performed a restore through iTunes and the problem was minimized but not completely eliminated.

I was surprised to see the Safari browser crashing on my new phone starting about last week. There are certain scenarios when it’s most likely to happen:

  • Safari crashes when I’ve got the iPod playing in the background while I’m browsing.
  • Safari crashes when I’ve got 4 or more tabs open. Maybe the iPhone gets overloaded and that’s why it crashes, but it doesn’t happen while I’m using any app other than Safari.
  • Safari crashes sometimes when I’m entering text into a text field.

It rarely happens when I’m browsing with one or two tabs open and the iPod is off.

I did a search on Google and found that iPhone’s Safari crashing problem is not all that uncommon. Ed Shull posted about it back in July and has received 66 replies, many from people who have experienced the same problem.

Phil Windley has a post on fixing Safari crashes by rebooting your iPhone — he says holding the home and power buttons down for 10 seconds does the trick. I tried this and Safari hasn’t crashed since then, but I think it’s still too soon to tell.

Update (Feb. 4): Safari continues to crash on me. Just now I was browsing (on a WiFi network) with two tabs open and listening to the iPod, and Safari crashed 3 times in 10 minutes. I came to update this post on my iPhone while still using the iPod app and Safari crashed another two times.

Now that I turned the iPod off it hasn’t crashed. It seems the problem is largely related to browsing while simultaneously using the iPhone’s iPod application.

Does Safari crash on your iPhone? Please share your experience in the comments.

151 thoughts on “iPhone Safari Crashes: Does It Happen to You?”

  1. I have an iPhone 6s and I use Safari with Bing as my homepage. When I click on a link for an article and wish to go further in that article it always takes me back to my home page. I just updated today with the new OS and have reset my phone with no improvement.

    Reply
  2. My iphone6 crashes when go on safari over and over. I’ve had to do 2 hard reboots ( not through iTunes ). In less than an hour today. Why and what to do?

    Reply
  3. Here i have similer problem . When i connect wifi and open 3,4 tabs in safari it hanged and crashed today i got this problem 5 times in 10 mins . I buy iphone 4s 5 days ago and now very upset

    Reply
  4. Hey there..
    Whenevr i open facebook md log into it.. Safari in my iphone 3g automaticaly shuts down nd auto went to home screen .. 🙁 i had restored it nd den i reinstaled the software too.. But it didnt help.. Only during facebook it occurs.. Not on any other website.. Its very iritating…
    Anyone there who can give us the best solution for dis problm..
    Waitnf fr da rply.. Thnx

    Reply
  5. This problem has been happening on my iPhone 4s since I purchased it 15 months ago. I’ve searched how to fix it and nothing has helped. In my case it has nothing to do with an iPod, iPad, etc as I do not have those items. I strictly have an iPhone. I thought the problem would be corrected with one of the iOS updates but the problem still persists. You would think Apple could correct the issue.

    Reply
  6. When I’m on some websites and hit the back button my iPhone 4 crashes and goes back to the home screen. I deleted a bunch of pics and closed some tabs, thinking its a memory issue.

    Reply
  7. This has been happening to me as well and I don’t use the iPod feature on my phone. I haven’t noticed how many tabs I have opened when it happens.

    Reply
  8. I noticed something similar as well. It closes immediately when I attempt to enter a single letter of text into a textbox on a google maps application I developed. I closed the other windows I had open, and it allowed me to at least enter all the text I needed to enter, but it still closed once I attempted to press enter. This is the sites URL:
    http://www.sevencsinc.com/GoogleDirections.aspx
    I wonder if the size of the map (memory consumption maybe…clueless) has something to do with this?

    Reply
  9. My IPhone 3GS 16gig started randomly crashing back to home screen. Only a few times to start with then more and more frequent mostly when online but in a few apps offline too! I was thinking about battery replacement or doing a factory restore.
    But then i tried clearing out safari cache cookies browsing history, deleted a few memory intensive apps that I never really used (mostly SMS ones) a power cycle and let the battery drain flat and bobs your uncle not a single crash since and running like new 🙂 I would point out I know this won’t work in all case as some phones it is caused by battery or poorly installed apps etc .

    Reply
  10. ever since I updated my ipodtouch on iTunes, when ever I go on safari , it crashes, and sends me to home page, I think I updated it wrong? I’m not sure, please help me!

    Reply
  11. Yes, the same problem has happened to me on my iPod Touch. Whenever I use the Safari app, it takes me to the History page. After I click ‘done’ it freezes before taking me directly back to the home screen. This problem started just today when I was browsing the news. I googled this problem and I suggest rebooting your device by shutting it down to help the circuitry, then give it some time before turning it on again. This has minimised the problem and so far it has not crashed on me since.

    Reply
  12. whenever I open up safari or youtube they crash it looks like they’re going to load but they just take me to the home screen, I’ve rebooted it more times than I can count and no other programs are running while I open it

    Reply
  13. I Have iPhone 3G with iOS 4.2.1, my iOS before is 3.1.3 and While I use iOS 3.1.3, I jailbreak it, after that I restore through iTunes, and now I BROWSING ONLY ONE TABS AND IPOD IS OFF CRASH!!!. THAT SOME FATALITIES FROM APPLE!!! Why??? That the foolies thing from apple!!!!! ONLY ONE TABS AND IPOD IS OFF CRASH? fool stupid thing!

    Reply
  14. Yep. I have the same problem but I don’t use the iPod often. I have all my settings to allow maximum battery time so nothing I know of is running in the background. Often the page will crash before it finishes opening. It will often takes several attempts to get a successful page opening. It does it with one page open or 6. There will be instances when it will work fine for 2 days then it will be a crash-amatic for a day.
    I have not tried to reinstall yet but will do so soon. It started doing this a few months ago with only an occasional glitch. Now it is annoying. I hope I hear of a correction or update soon.
    Any advice would be welcome

    Reply
  15. My Safari always freezes on startup when I try to enter a website in the address bar, I click the first letter and need to wait ages to write the rest.
    iPhone 4 16gb iOS 4.3.1

    Reply
  16. I tried all the method and it still couldn’t fix. At last, I uninstalled the My3G app and reinstall it, and it’s fix.

    Reply
  17. FUKKKKK
    DAM U APPLEEEEE
    MY SAFARI JUST FKING CRASHED THIS IS SO FKING DAM ANNOYING I WAS ABOUT TO FINISH SENDING A LONG BLOGPOST UGHHHHHH FK

    Reply
  18. my iphone 4 crashes every time i go to the google website. This even happened when i had my 3GS too. I’ve replaced my iphone 4 due to other issues…and it still happens!

    Reply
  19. Hi. It certainly does. Immensely irritating when you’re logged in on a few pages. You have to start all over again. But Apple does’nt seem to give a shit, at all. We are directed to forums trying to solve this ourselves. Incredible!

    Reply
  20. I crash Safari on a daily basis. I’m usually on a G3 net. My iPhone is the G3 model with extra mem. No doubt about it, this is due to a bug in the latest version of Safari. Safari almost never crash before I made the mistake of updating to the latest version. I don’t buy the “too many tabs open” idea. For one thing, using the previous version of Safari, I often had up to 7 tabs open with no problems. It’s only since I’ve updated that I get these crashes at least once a day or more. Additionally, what’s the point of being able to open multiple tabs if you can only open one or two at a time? Used to be, with the previous version I could use 7 tabs at one time. Being able to only open one or two at a time with the new version is pretty bogus. Lastly, I never run ANY other apps while using Safari.
    Let’s face it, the new version has “issues”.

    Reply
  21. My safari crashes only on selective sites, im worndering if its something to do with my settings of Cydia ?

    Reply
  22. Recently bought the I phone 4 and whilst trying to solve the ‘safari crash’ problem came across this website.So frustrating, holding the buttons worked so far, hope it’s not going to happen everytime i use it? Apple needs to take yet another fault seriously ( seriously obvious signal issue without the bumper ). Probably wouldn’t have bought if i’d known. Still not sure how to work loads of phone features, why isn’t there any instruction information?

    Reply
  23. as for me it seems to crash ONLY if i go to any google related website.
    all the rest of pages seems to work

    exept they host any google code

    Reply
    • Mine ALSO only crashes on Google related websites. I’ve tried all of the obvious fixes and nothing has worked. I’ve had my iphone4 for about a year and this is the first time with my problem. Any help?

      Reply
  24. It appears that this bug came with latest version of Safary Download manager 1.5.
    So if you will uninstall it Safary will start working again. The other fix is to click “download” icon and then press “done”. You will need to do this any time your safary will stop responding till new vertion of Safary Download manager will fix that bug. Watch video on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVZ_a74fCUw

    Reply
  25. My Safari – iPhone, 3GS since the latest upgrade – crashes whenever I type into the address bar. Almost always on the second letter I type… guaranteed after typing T & F 🙂 Without fail. The keyboard freezes for a while, then Safari closes. Infuriating. Any suggestions other than rebooting – doesn’t help!

    Reply
  26. Wow thank you very much, actually I didnt even know about the home+power button, worked great for me. Now let’s just hope it will be fine.

    Reply
  27. wow I have the same problem. When I first got this phone it Rarely ever crashed, now it happens EVERY time I go on it. I have an unlocked iPhone and this Really Really posses me off. It’s been happening more and more often and sometimes I’m ready to chuck the phone at the wall. I’ll try to update to whatever version I can use that’s most recent for this unlocked version and see it it solves the problem. I need to restart my phone more than once a day because I get knocked off and it freezes in safari all the time as well. Sucks

    Reply
  28. Hi All,

    I bought iphone 3gs two days back, was trying to understand diff options but suddenly safari screen blacked out, i was not able to see any thing, so i checked in google and as suggested by Phil ,i restarted iphone and it started working back. But this is just a temp solution for browser crash, can some shed more light on this.

    Regards,
    Amit Parashar

    Reply
  29. Tried rebooting and emptying my cache and history. Still crashes. It is always when I am on my news sites such as clickondetroit.com. Mine crashes repeatedly several times per day with only one tab open. Rarely use mire than one tab. Nothing else (iPod or other) is running in the background.

    Extremely annoying. Count me among those who wish I never bought this thing. This problem alone will keep me from ever buying another iPhone.

    Reply
  30. Thanks a lot. Yesterday(3 apr ’10) i experienced the safari crash on my month old ipod 3GS.

    The fix (rebooting by holding sleep and home buttons for 10 seconds) was very useful. Did the job.

    Reply
  31. A few days back Safari crashed on me, it was the first time and I didn’t realise what had happened, only that I had a blank screen and that no amount of clearing cookies and cache etc would help.

    I googled the problem and came across this site, with the recommendation to reboot the iPhone (I hadn’t realised one could reboot the iPhone before) and my problem was resolved in a trice.

    Reply
  32. Hey it happens to me when I have 10mb opened in safari. I think the iPhone is limited to how big of a web page it can read. So in theory 2 pages or 6 pages if there over 10mb it will crash. I have tested this with various PDFs and text documents

    Reply
  33. I have had my iPhone for 7 month, iPhone 3g 8gb.

    I have to say that safari is the best function on it, I use 400mb a week for business reasons browsing.

    My safari has never crashed untill today and that’s because I hard restarted it and when I launched safari and opened google from my favorite it crashed 10 times, I fixed it by restarting five times etc.

    Works perfect for me:)

    If you jail break your iPhone you screw it up.

    Reply
  34. Safari freezes when I am in eBay and go once in a while sometimes it’s rampat when I keep trying to do the same search etc
    it’s been with two different 3 g phones and Now with my 3gs phone and my 3 gs replacement it us definitly widespread

    Reply
  35. Yes mine crashes alot. iPhone 3g on 3.0. Has crashed about ten times tonight. And I thought apple never have any of these issues. My eBay app does the same. will just close and go to the home screen. I give up sometimes.

    Reply
  36. Mine is now crashing all the time. I just tried it with the ipod not playing anything and had the same problem. What the hell? lol

    Reply
  37. Lets see in the 3 weeks that Ive owned the Iphone: Safari repeatedly freezes up and is uselss until I restart the phone, voicemail is ‘unavialable’, ‘no sim card’, ‘no phone service’,,,I’d keep going but im starting to get depressed.
    But I do have some great fart applications!! Hurray!!
    What a junk. I should have gotten another blackberry. The network was slower but at least the phone worked.

    Reply
  38. My safari crashes when I’m on intense websites. Websites that have a lot of galleries and such. Then when I try to close a window it freezes up. This last time was the worst. It froze and for a minute had nothing but the time bar and a black screen. I may try a restore. It’s been happening often. I do NOT have the iPod going at the same time as you have.

    Reply
  39. Still crashing just download the super search app.
    Then go to google to get the web page you desire
    this app works and connection travels fast in my experience

    Reply
  40. Still crashing alright ! I just got this phone for my
    birthday back in June so here's how
    I circle around this I downloaded supersearch
    application, from there I go to google
    and just get the webpage I want & proceed until
    Safari gets it act together

    Reply
  41. I have owned an iPhone for about 2 weeks now. Within the last few days Safari has been crashing while trying to access Google Finance – particularly when I attempt to view a particular stock (symbol). I disabled Java and TADA! No crashes! Now i will see how limited my browsing experience will be without it. Go figure.

    Reply
  42. Try the app mentioned above. I informs you how much free memory is available, if it is a small amount you can then free it up and increase it. This stops the crashing!
    Tc

    Reply
  43. My Iphone crashes when page is not completely loaded
    Webpages marketwatch.com moneycontrol.com crshes
    No iPod or other apps running

    Reply
  44. there is an app called ‘Free Memory’. With one click it clears the memory cache. Itvalso tells you how much static memory you have available at a paticular time. Give it a go. I think its free.
    Tc

    Reply
  45. I agree about the Java and database intensive websites. My itouch crashes pretty regularly on specific sites that I go to. For instance, my homepage is SFGate. Com. This site crashes pretty regularly but not all the time. My theory is that certain ads that are being pulled cause it to crash. This doesn’t matter if I have one tab open or six, once I get to a Java intensive website, if I don’t wait for everything to load completely, it will almost surely crash.

    I also had a theory that it did not crash prior to me installing some huge apps on my itouch, this kinda went along with the memory usage theory.

    Reply
  46. So far it’s been 99.9% perfect, the only thing that has crashed it is an extremely large and Javascript heavy page (about 2MB of HTML and JS code) I wrote some years back for a customer. Everything else has been perfectly stable even on really large sites like IGN.com. So I’m quite happy to consider this problem fixed!

    Reply
  47. I see a new firmware is out: 2.2.1. It claims to improve Safari stability, but I think 2.2 claimed that as well, so we’ll have to see. I’ll make sure to come back here and report on how well it works after a few days of heavy usage.

    Reply
  48. About the crashes. It is clear that it is almost always caused by Safari using too much memory.

    1) Reboot the ipod (hold the top button for 5 seconds). This removes any resident programs from memory that may have been spawned by an app.

    2) If you have jailbroken your iPod: Disable anything resident. For example, scrobbled, a nifty app to scrobble songs in the background takes up 12 of my 128M of memory. Disabling SSH can help (but not much). Winterboard takes up a good amount of memory. Disabling this can help. In short, DON’T JAILBREAK YOUR PHONE unless you know wtf your doing.

    3) Reduce the amount of web pages.

    4) Delete cookies from settings menu.

    5) Deal with it. Sadly, even doing all of the above won’t stop a page with heavy jscrpting from crashing your Safari.

    Reply
  49. My browser crashed multiple times daily. I have tried deleting cache, reset, shutdown, memory freeing app. Nothing seems to work I am on firmware 2.2 btw.

    Reply
  50. Every time I’d go on myspace or facebook the iPhone would crash. So I deleted the cookies and everything in safari then reset the phone it was fine for a few than started again .what’s the problem?

    Reply
  51. As far as I know, no-one is talking about this problem. I’d have thought at least one of the tech sites would have picked up on this and started making a noise about it by now. I don’t think returning your phone for a replacement will help, it really seems to be a software rather than hardware problem unfortunately.

    It’s pretty bad O2 are just telling people to reboot, as that’s not a real fix it just masks the problem for a bit. All rebooting does is free up some memory for a while to make it seem like it’s fixed.

    I’ve noticed very big/complex pages or Javascript heavy pages tend to be the ones that cause crashes the most often. For example, the badly written homepage to IGN.com causes my iPhone to crash regularly. Kotaku.com and the various icanhascheezburger.com sites also tend to cause frequent crashes.

    Apple never acknowledge faults in their products if they can help it, so I wouldn’t expect them to talk about this problem. For now all we can hope for is that the tech press actually pick up on this problem and start making a noise about it. If there is enough bad press Apple will have to get off its arse and start fixing it.

    Reply
  52. My Safari used to crash a lot particularly on the Facebook site. But now I view Facebook through the Facebook application it doesn’t happen much.
    It’s one of those things.
    Tc

    Reply
  53. Ive had my iphone 3g for about 3 weeks now and safari crashes at least once a day, i phoned O2 who said to do a reboot by holding the home button and on/off button but it hasnt made any difference, should i bother sending my phone back to get a replacement or is there not much point since everyone seems to be experiencing this problem. Has Apple actually acknowledged these problems????

    Reply
  54. I have started having frequent crashes of late. Noticed that it crashes on certain kinds of web pages. For example it crashes on the google finance site. I dont think it has crashed on sites designed for the web such as cnn and reuters. Also, it crashes when i expand web pages to increase text size to read them. These crashes are getting more and more frequent. I also suspect this might be linked to the apps that we download. i had faced this crashing problem with a air hockey game i had downloaded and had to remove it.

    Reply
  55. Ya I just bought the iPhone 3g from the at&t store upgrading, I’ve had it less than 3 weeks and as I’m traveling to see family it crashes alot. Yes it’s mostly when I have 4 to 5 tabs open doing multiple things but it’s very annoying and I have noticed that it gets kind of sluggish at times as well so it’s got to be a memory thing, I just cleared my cookies and all those temp stuff to see if it improves. Since I’ve added quite a few applications straight through the iphone, since I first got it so I have done a few hard resests for the applications to show up after I installed them.

    Reply
  56. Crashes all the bloody time.

    Real pain the ass.

    We early adoptors should singing Apple iPhone praises to our followers, and tell the truth. Maybe I should advise all my friends on iPhones draw!!

    Reply
  57. Yes, it has crashed probably 10 times now from initaly being on the internet and straight back to the home screen! 🙁 I’ve only had the phone for a week!!!

    Reply
  58. my fone crashes everday I only have one tab open and it still crashes. I don’t know what the problem it. This is my 3 iPhone and I have this problem everytime. It drives me crazy. I have restored my fone got the replacement phone everything. But the
    problem is still there. Apple really need 2 figure this out and fast.

    Reply
  59. Mine crashes on occasion which I find really irritating. I’m using it at the moment though so it’s not all bad. What I find really strange is that in the old days Apple used these mass market appeal consumer goods like the iPod to showcase Apple products, but there are many things wrong with the iPhone that put me off Apple computers completely. You May argue that the iPhone is a Market leader in it’s field but let’s face it, phones are hardly well represented with impressive alternatives. In fact I think most of the main phone manufactures are to blame for the iPhone’s dominance by producing unimaginative poorly designed products.
    There is always talk of an iPhone killer and Its only a matter of time before someone pulls their finger out and produces a true rival

    Reply
  60. I’ve noticed far less crashing lately after the big 2.2 update. It’s only crashed so far when I tried to open a YouTube blog page with 5,000 comments!

    Reply
  61. My Safari crashes all the time. At least 3 times a day. Doesn’t matter how many tabs I have open or if I have the ipod app running. Very frustrating. Newest OS version, 3G phone, I reboot it at least a couple times a week.

    Reply
  62. With 2.2 installed Safari now crashes every ten minutes or so and doesn’t return to the site it’s crashed on. But I’ve got street views and I can turn off predictive text; That makes me feel *so* much better. Useless piece of Apple cr*p.

    Reply
  63. After the 2.2 update, I thought the crashing was over. After about a week, however, they have returned with a vengence. I had 1 crash while listening to the iPod and that apparently opened the floodgates. Every five minutes or so it crashes. It is definitely a memory issue. Which is strange because I thought OSX is supposed to give apps all the resources available on the system…

    Reply
  64. yeah I have this problem with the safari crash too,and very poor 3G signal,had the phone replaced twice still the same problem,even replaced the sim,but no help,I am running on the 2.1,at the moment many people recomend updating on itunes to 2.2 software,they say it solves most common problems like bad signal for 3G or safari crashes,so I think I will give it a try,when I get me mac back from repair,not really sure if it safe to go to Internet caffee to download itunes and update my phone? Is it safe,any advice?

    Reply
  65. One day old iPhone, trying it out by browsing using wifi at a starbucks and it kept on crashing. wasn’t using iPod or any other app. Was browsing apple store searching for the reviews on apple’s Bluetooth headset. Everytime I type Bluetooth on the search line, it seems it tries to load the result page and then it crashes and takes me back to the homescreen. Today it kept on crashing again when I try AT&T website to find a the nearest store. Had to keep repeating the search because it keeps on crashing. Oh btw, on AT&T website when I’m typing the zip code the delete or back button doesn’t work. Had to reset the page. I got to this forum doing a search on safari crashes. And it crashed again while I was posting my comment. This is the second time I’m typing this after doing the iPhone reset and it seems like I’ll be able to post this now. Today is the 2nd day I’ve had this iPhone.

    Reply
  66. hi,
    my 3g italian iphone crashes too;
    it happens multiple time each day in wifi and 3g with cleared cache and after complete reboot

    Reply
  67. Its not technically Safari’s fault.
    Its the iPhone.
    I dont think changing browsers will help.
    Best thing to do is let the page fully load before you start typing (its invariably when you are on a forum that is crashes).
    Tc

    Reply
  68. Hey guys ,
    Well definitely the wishlist will go on.But for the Safari Crashes i found this new app useful. Its named MyFox …it didnt crash for me till now.Lets see.Try it.

    Reply
  69. Yes, mine crashes often, multiple times each day. When I called Apple just now for support, I was asked for an example of what I’m doing when it crashes. I said “checking Gmail”. Then I was grilled on why I am checking Gmail through the broswer instead of using the email app. “Jeez”, I said, “do I really have to explain it to you? And why should it matter. Safari crashes a lot during all sorts of various activities”.

    They had me reset, clear the cookies, cache and history, and I’ll see if it improves. But I’m also calling ATT next and letting them know that if it continues I will return the phone and expect a refund. It’s not performing as advertised.

    Reply
  70. On my 20 minute train ride to work, safari will regularly crash twice. Some days (like today) it crashes 3 times in this time period. It also crashes in my apartment and it crashed in Europe.

    Reply
  71. Was having the same problem on wifi, edge and 3g (new iphone, only had it 3 weeks). Would crash after 40 seconds on anything, with nothin running in the background. Tried recommended reset, so far so good

    Reply
  72. Mt Safari crashes regularly, too. I’ve had the iPod music going into spasm repeat mode at the same time, needing a hard reset. Very bloody annoying! Perhaps the good news is my brother-in-law works on the production team of Today Tonight (a tabloid style current affairs TV show in Australia … very trashy, he admits, but strangely popular) and they are poised to do a story about the phenonomon in November … perhaps this might kick Apple into action.

    Reply
  73. I get Safari crashes VERY frequently – especially on Flickr. If I am typing that usually slows, freezes then a few seconds later – crash. Never had this issue with previous iPhone software releases

    Reply
  74. Safari crashes constantly on my 3G iPhone with version 2.1 software.

    Apple are you listening!! These bugs tarnish an otherwise fine product.

    P.S. Will a flash player ever be integrated into iPhone Safari? What a shame 🙁

    Reply
  75. Safari crashes on me regularly on my new (2 weeks old, latest firmware) iPhone 3g. Very annoying. I’ve tried the suggestions I’ve seen, including rebooting the iPhone and clearing the Safari cache. That didn’t help. I turned off support for Javascript and didn’t have any crashes for a short time, but browsing without javascript support is almost useless these days.

    IMHO Apple really needs to fix this. They can’t replicate this problem and debug it? Just browse to news sites like Yahoo or what Google news points to. Crashes for me are quite frequent for those sites.

    Reply
  76. I think I found a solution for frequent safari crashes (at least it works for me). What started to do is to wait until safari loads the page completely before clicking any button or link or moving around the page. Forcing safari to quit and rebooting iPhone helps the issue as well.

    Good luck…

    Reply
  77. Safari has got to be the worst, most unstable browser I have ever used. I’ve been an ardent Windows user for all my life and this is my first experience using Apple products. Let’s say, I’m not very impressed at all. I can guarantee a Safari crash within a minute of opening the browser, even with no other apps open. Just try surfing to a content rich site such as Facebook. Unfortunately, the cut down made-for-iPhone version of Facebook lacks alot of features only available in the full regular site.

    Reply
  78. I’ve had my 3g Iphone since beginning of september – its crashed 5 or 6 times a day soince then. Either it dumps out of safari into the main menu screen or more annoyingly, it freezes the screen and ipod music sticks like a scratched record and the only way out is a hard reset.

    Its a shame because as a photographer in the music scene the iphone is everything I want and need (except blimmin copy and paste!) I’d just like it to work the way it should. I get really fed up of typing in a forum and losing everthing I’ve done.

    Reply
  79. Same issue, darn thing crashes all the time (9-10 times a day). Facebook, banking… you name it.
    Just like appfzx I have felt like throwing it against the wall many a time.

    Reply
  80. I am also having this problem. I used to reduce the crashing when 1.1.4 by eliminating the auto-correct feature. In facebook regular site happens while loading the page. Apple… you should work on a fix… its about time

    Reply
  81. I’m not alone in experiencing Safari crashes it seems. Mine dies on me all the time, most frequently while loading “big” pages with lots of content, e.g. icanhascheezburger.com.

    I think Tim S’s comment above showing Safari quitting due to low memory is very interesting, as that would certainly explain why it crashes for people when they have lots of tabs open, they’re typing and the dictionary is in memory or have the iPod playing.

    I guess this means it’s up to Apple to fix this by slimming down Safari’s memory footprint so it doesn’t run out as quickly. It’s not like on Windows Mobile where you can close a few apps, the iPhone supposedly only has one program running at once so it should have plenty of memory available. Maybe some apps have memory leaks and that’s why rebooting helps?

    Reply
  82. Same problem, and not just with Safari. Most apps would quit after a few minutes. Tried resetting which solved the problem but then spent an entire day re-building my faves and other settings…painful. Today I tried re-booting (hold down home and power buttons for approx 10 seconds) and that seems to have done the trick. Seems like it’s a memory leak problem to me. Guess I’ll just have to do that every couple of days. Not the end of the world but really annoying. ;-(

    Reply
  83. someone gave me a great tip.
    Literally power off your iPhone every night.
    I think by doing that it keeps things fresh and I’ve had far less crashes.

    Tc

    Reply
  84. I don’t use the iPod ever and my safari still crashes on average once every three minutes. Esp when entering text or loading long pages.

    Reply
  85. Man, I’m pissed.
    My safari just won’t stop crashing. There were times, I thought I’d throw the damn thing at the wall.
    It always seems to happen while typing a text for me.
    Which makes this even more annoying

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  86. I’ve only had my iPhone for a week, and I’ve had a stack of Safari crashes, mostly whilst browsing sites with a few photos on them. I had a look in the console log (you can access it through XCode with the iPhone SDK) and I found:

    Sat Sep 27 11:48:04 unknown SpringBoard[22] : Memory level is urgent (9%). Asking Safari to quit.
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:04 unknown SpringBoard[22] : Writing low memory report regarding com.apple.mobilesafari
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:04 unknown MobileSafari[1561] : Safari got memory level urgent while active with one document, destroying plug-ins
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:16 unknown ReportCrash[1563] : Saved crashreport to /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileSafari-2008-09-27-114815.plist using uid: 0 gid: 0, synthetic_euid: 0 egid: 0
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:17 unknown SpringBoard[22] : Application Safari got sufficiently warned but is still alive, killing it. Jetsam level: 9%
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:17 unknown SpringBoard[22] : Writing low memory report regarding com.apple.mobilesafari
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:17 unknown MobileSafari[1561] : Safari got memory level urgent while active with one document, destroying plug-ins
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:19 unknown configd[21] : kernel memory event (96), free: 374, active: 610, inactive: 452, purgeable: 0, wired: 8462
    Sat Sep 27 11:48:27 unknown ReportCrash[1564] : Saved crashreport to /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileSafari-2008-09-27-114826.plist using uid: 0 gid: 0, synthetic_euid: 0 egid: 0

    In other words, Safari runs out of memory and is killed by the OS. The only solution that I can think of is to stop using so many tabs…

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  87. My iPhone has been crashing quite regularly while trying to play “parking wars” on facebook, I have the iPod running all the time.

    This one is running 2.1

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  88. I am entering this from my iPhone and crossing my fingers it doesn’t crash again.
    What happens is the screen will blank and drop me out to the phone home screen – i.e. App icons.
    I have just wasted several minutes on the apple store trying to purchase accessories but failing when safari kept crashing.
    This device and the ‘native’ apps have evidently not been tested enough by Apple… And the US army are rolling these out? (according to Apple keynote PR)… Lord help us!!

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  89. Well im from middle europe and it crashes here too.
    🙂

    Yesterday it froze for 10 minutes… Reset was not working.

    The phone is nice, but the quality is so poor…

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  90. My iPhone Safari crashes on me multiple times daily. It’s probably the worst browser I have ever used. At this point I would consider IE to be an upgrade from Safari.

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  91. My iPhone Safari is also completely useless when trying to enter a message. Anything over three sentences is a guaranteed crash Windows style – losing all of my hen-pecking and tempting me to throw this thing against a wall.

    Whatever happened to that “It just works” slogan Apple used to bandy about?

    If only Apple weren’t so completely Draconian and would permit Firefox on the iPhone. Something with more customization and less stability issues please.

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  92. Mine has always crashed. I was hoping the new update would tackle it but it hasnt!
    Its very frustrating when you are typing a messege, you’ve nearly completed it and the browser crashes!!

    Mine crashes a lot on Facebook and even the official Apple forum!!

    Someone said to empty Safari’s cache (Settings>Safari>Clear Cache) on a regular basis. Will this help?

    Tc

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  93. My Safari crashes every time i use it with out fail and never whilst using the ipod function, its the only app i really use on it as the email part sucks and will only give me my emails from 1 year ago and nothing newer! Push doesnt work either!
    The iphone from my experience is just as bad if not worse than my old windows mobiles!

    Reply
  94. it’s the java most likely. Java is very intense on system resources so dirty java code would over load the mini browser. I find I crash went I enter a java heavy site driven by a database if they could just alocate more systememory to it when needed like OSX does then I don’t think it would crash with heavy or frequent use

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  95. I recently upgraded the firmware and the regularity of safari crashes is not very comforting. I can see this crash when I have three tabs open, browsing on wifi, and the site in question: apple.com apps page.

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  96. Yes safari crashes almost everytime i use it. Only tried it with wifi so far. Tried the hard reset and tried the iTunes restore. Still the same. Any solutions?

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  97. Yes it does happen. The iPhone 3G is my first Apple product. I’ve always used PCs and WM. I love the design and overall functionality of the iPhone, but I’m really dissapointed about its stability. I went through three updates already and the applications continue crashing. Safari is not the exception. Sometimes it crashes at random, sometimes you can repro the crash by going to the same site. Regarding complete freeze, I’ve got just one since I got the phone three weeks ago.
    I would have expected more stability considering the lack of features in the individual applications.

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  98. My phone has actually been consistently crashing for about 3 months now, i’ve learned to live with it and hope that Apple will come out with some type of fix for this…basically I post alot on a sports message board and every time i get on the site and begin posting it would freeze up and go back to the home screen. Now it used to just do this when i would attempt to type on the website, but recently it has been doing it when i simply just want to view sites. I performed a restore on it last month but it doesnt seem to help, this is extremely dissapointing as this is probably the best phone on the markert right now and no one is even close to challenging it.

    Here’s to Apple finding a solution to this headache….

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  99. Just to throw my experience in here:

    I noticed earlier today that when my iPhone 3G was switching between Edge and 3G, safari would reliably crash.

    Perhaps you folks on wifi are having a similar issue, just with it for some reason switching between wifi and OTA.

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  100. Hi,
    I have had iPhone since March 2008.
    But recently the Safari started crashing.
    Yesterday it crashed 4 times during my usage for 30 min.It costs losts of data as when it comes alive again its fresh with memory.So all the information that you were visiting or say writing vanishes.

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  101. I am the proud owner of the iphone (16g) and I’m also experiencing safari crashes. Im only using wifi and the problem occurs mostly on data intensive webpages, but sometimes also on smaller pages.. First i thougt unlocking and jailbreaking the device with ziphone could have something to do with it but after seeing so many experiencing the problem i doubt that now – my guess is that the defect is caused by a memory leak..

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  102. I am also a new iphone user. I bought it last thursday (5/22/08). And I am also experiencing the crashes on the safari browser. I only have that open no email no music just the one page and it crashes on me often. Also it has crashed on my while watching movies. I wonder if it is an error in the conversion I did from the dvds to mp4? But on the browser I do feel it happens more on content rich pages. I am on wifi at home and at work its the edge and same thing. One page is what it takes for me… should I exchange it?

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  103. I am a new Iphone user, I bought mine last march and it seems that safari is the only thing thats annoys me. It keeps on going back to the home page of the website I am browsing. I tried copying the settings of my Ipod touch which really works fine with safari but still I get this problem. Any suggestion aside from rebooting

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  104. yes just ryte now in about 4 minutes it crashed 3 tymes .
    And it seems lik wen it listening 2 the iPod it crashes more same with more tabs and
    SMS . Mine crashes A LOT witch is really irratating

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  105. since I power cycled my device and updated to 1.4. My browser no longer crashes and my phone has been very stable. I would recommend a power cycle if u see the problem frequently that seemed to fix my problem even before the 1.4 update. I have the 16g model with quite a bit of music and video I also browse on it very often on both wifi and edge

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  106. Ive had my iPhone since the start of December, and experience crashes on a fairly regular basis.

    Majority of times it crashes on more data heavy pages; lots of graphics, long forum posts, that sort of thing. Other times it just crashes for no perceivable reason whatsoever.

    It has the occassional tendency to load pages and fail to activate hyperlinking too, which is annoying.

    I get a full iPhone freeze once every two weeks or so too, and on about ten occassions had the touch system either slow almost to a halt, or freeze entirely.

    Annoying.

    Reply
  107. That’s highly disappointing, but not surprising.

    Every Mac I’ve ever used crashed, and I’ve never bought into that hype.

    For the record, my WM6 smartphone never crashes. WM5 did sometimes, but never WM6.

    How ironic that it’s more stable than the iPhone!

    Glad I read this before I actually bought an iPhone.

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  108. I am seeing the same issue it happens on edge when there is more then 2 windows open and seems to happen more frequently on wifi wPA encrypted not sure if the encryption matters. The safari crash I see does not require any other apps running however I do have 10 IMAP email accounts that check for email every 15 minutes in the background that may also have something to do with it. I just power cycled my device hopefully that helps I will make sure I do it once a day like the apple customer cafe advised one of the previous posters. I’ll keep this updated if I keep seeing it.

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  109. 3day old iPhone, it crashes a few times a day. One tab, no music and only on wifi. I hope it gets fixed, as I love this little phone. ( last phone was an xda )

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  110. Tom, that’s a serious problem if it crashes the majority of times. Have you tried restoring your iPhone through iTunes? If you have and that doesn’t solve the problem, why not take it into the Apple Store? I’d assume the warranty would cover that, especially if it crashes more times than it doesn’t.

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  111. My iPhone crashes while I’m listening to music, on it’s own.
    Then, listening to music and browsing Safari, crash.
    Listening to music and typing SMS messages, crash.
    It’s not all the time, but the majority.

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  112. My safari crashes all the time. If its anything more than a news site, and oftentimes when entering text. Most of the time when entering text. The rate seems to have increased since the new patch came out. (the one released within the same time as the air) anyone else?

    I think there’s only so much this little device can handle. Which is a little dissappointing considering the commercials are all about multitasking.

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  113. I have had this problem with my phone as well. Whether on edge or wifi network it still crashes. I have had it crash while having only 1 page open while the ipod was running and it crashes. So multiple pages crashes it as well. I have actually had it crash on my just while loading a webpage as well. Now I don’t really care too much for the crashes because now I have another issue with my phone. It has to do with the silencing switch. I turn it to silent but the phone shows up on screen that it went silent then comes back to sound enabled and keeps doing it for about 5 times by itself. sometimes I switch the sound on but it goes into silent mode. Has anyone experienced this? sorry to Chris for bringing up another question in your topic.

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  114. I had the same problem, but I called Apple and they said all I needed to do was turn my iPhone off every once and a while. The problem stopped immediately .

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  115. i havent had any of these problems with my phone. i musta god lucky and got the only one that works. i actually use my phone so much and the internet. it has tto kover my life, im more connected with the people around me.

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  116. Doug, that’s interesting that it happens most often at your workplace. I wonder if the wireless network could have anything to do with it. Come to think of it, I haven’t bothered to notice whether I’ve been on WiFi or EDGE when Safari crashes.

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  117. I get the occasional Safari crash, but more often (more than once a week), I get a complete iPhone freeze-up. I haven’t figured out exactly what is going on, but it happens most often at work, which makes me think it may have something to do with the wireless.

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  118. Yes, my iPhone’s Safari browser crashes a couple times a week and goes straight back to the home screen. It doesn’t seem to happen for any particular reason. I will pay more attention to it now. I think it happens when I have 4 or more tabs open, but not always.

    Reply

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