If you are having trouble using Safari on the iPhone, don’t worry. Errors and problems in the browser usually have a simple and quick solution. And it is that, despite not being usual that they occur in a systematic and generalized way, it is necessary to know the possible causes to be able to stop them. Here are all the steps to fix these bugs in the native iOS browser.
General solutions in this type of failure
When it is the software that fails, which is with almost total probability what happens when Safari gives problems, the normal thing is to always resort to a series of typical actions that end with this type of failure.
- Close the app and wait 10 seconds before reopening it, thereby forcing it to close permanently and restart its actions in the background.
- Restart the iPhone , something very useful when another process in the background is causing problems. Although, yes, it is advisable to manually turn off the device and turn it on again after about 15-30 seconds to ensure that all processes have stopped.
- Update iOS to the latest version available from Settings> General> Software update, thus ensuring that Safari is also in its most recent version.
- Restoring the device, something that seems too drastic, but that would completely eliminate any software errors. In any case, we recommend that you review everything that we comment below in this post before proceeding to this.
Problems viewing websites in Safari
If the problem you are having is in relation to not being able to open web pages in the browser, there are several identified causes that fortunately usually have a quick and easy solution.
If the app closes by itself
This generic problem, which really not only involves not seeing websites but not being able to perform another action, may be due to problems with the iPhone’s RAM. It is practically the only case in which a hardware failure can intervene in this section. However, if it does not happen to you with other apps, that is probably not the cause.
Most likely, there is a junk file generated by the app that is causing conflicts and therefore Safari cannot even start. In this case, the most sensible thing to do is to do a complete system restore without loading any backup, since if you do, the same error could occur again.
The page does not load or is blank
This can happen for a number of reasons. The first and totally foreign to you is that the web is the problem due to a crash of its servers or any change at a technical level. This can be easily verified by entering that same website from another device and, in case it does not load, you can rest easy because it is the problem of the creators of the page.
Although in the end the most common is that it is due to a problem related to a bad internet connection . And more if this happens to you with all the pages or a vast majority of them. Therefore, if you were browsing on WiFi, it would be advisable to try to do it using mobile data or vice versa. Also try to carry out other actions that require the internet, such as making a query to Siri for a data for which you need the internet.
Any problem you may have with the coverage or speed of your navigation will ultimately correspond to your operator. That is why you must have their contact at hand to communicate the incident and that they can solve the problem as soon as possible, ruling out then that it is Safari that is giving you errors.
If it’s a security bug
It is possible to come across certain websites where a notice appears stating that the website is not secure. It does not mean that it cannot be accessed, since if you access the advanced configuration option it will allow you to do so, but you may even be asked to enter the iPhone code.
In any case, it is recommended that you do not ignore this alert, as it could endanger the system and / or your personal data. Therefore, make sure that it is indeed a safe website for it, by checking the URL or doing a google search about it in case it ends up being a dangerous website.
Other browser glitches
In addition to those mentioned above, there are other problems in iOS Safari that, despite being less common, can also be annoying. And although they have a somewhat more diffuse origin and solution, they can also be solved.
Handoff does not work
Handoff is the system by which it is possible to use an app on an Apple device and immediately continue using it on another device. If you are browsing in Safari with an iPad, Mac or another iPhone using the same Apple ID, it is possible to continue browsing from the iPhone by opening the browser windows view on the iPhone.
If the pages you are visiting on other devices do not appear in this section, it may be because the function is not activated . You can check it in Settings> General> AirPlay and Handoff. If the function is active, the problem could be due to failures with the internet connection , for which we again recommend contacting the telephone operator.
Problems with extensions
Starting with iOS 15, it is possible to use Safari extensions on the iPhone. Therefore, the first condition for them to work is precisely that your device has a version equal to or later than iOS 15.0 (preferably the most recent one available at the time).
If you already comply with the above, it is advisable that you make sure that the extension is fully compatible . As these extensions are just another application, you must go to the App Store and open its file to check compatibility. Any problem with its use being compatible must be reported to the corresponding developer.
If the tabs won’t close
This is a problem that is really very rare, but it can happen on occasions when there are so many windows open that for some reason the iPhone crashes. Although it is true that going one by one is a method that should always be effective, there are other formulas to erase them.
To delete them suddenly or find an alternative option to delete them by sliding with your finger, you must press and hold the windows icon (upper / lower right, depending on where you have the navigation bar) and choose the corresponding option to delete them all.
If it does not work even like this, we refer again to what was commented in the first sections regarding restarting the iPhone and even restoring it to permanently eliminate the possible problems that the software is generating, which is in the end the origin of this failure .
There is also the possibility that you will not find open tabs and this is usually due in the vast majority of occasions when they were closed automatically. And is that if you go to Settings> Safari you will find an option in which you can close these manually or when a certain time passes (a day, a week or a month). If you have the latter configured, there you have the origin.
Not being able to see the history
Several situations can occur here. The first and most common is that you cannot see the history correctly or that it is incomplete. If you use private browsing frequently, it is normal that it does not exit, but if you browse openly, it should appear and the reason why it does not exit is that you have deleted it on another device.
If you have Safari synced with iCloud and you are using it on other devices, you should know that by deleting one or more history entries, they will be automatically deleted from all of them. Therefore, you will have to desynchronize Safari on the iPhone or on the other devices to avoid it or directly not delete anything.
Bookmark issues
Here again we find the iCloud synchronization as the main problem when bookmarks appear, disappear or are modified. If you have this functionality active, you should know that you will have identical bookmarks on all devices and that each modification will be carried over to all of them.
In any case, it is important that you check in Settings> Safari, since in this section you will be able to find options through which to choose what content to see as bookmarks, as well as suggestions from Siri and from the search engine itself.
