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Beware of the sneaky new website that can crash your iPhone with one click

Updated Jan 25th, 2016 4:30PM EST
CrashSafari URL iPhone Crash

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iPhone and Mac users should be aware that clicking on the URL CrashSafari.com will make your Safari browser crash and could even force your device to restart. And that’s not the worst part: As 9to5Mac’s Benjamin Mayo points out, some pranksters on Twitter have been using URL shorteners to disguise the website’s identity from unsuspecting victims who will click on it and have their browsers crash.

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The website contains JavaScript code that essentially calls the HTML5 History API repeatedly in a loop until it overloads your browser’s memory capacity and forces it to crash. Thankfully the website doesn’t harm your device in any way and is only a nuisance to people who click on it. I’ve found that it’s also crashed Chrome on Windows 10, so it looks like the website can crash other major browsers out there and not just Apple’s Safari.

There’s really no way to see if someone is using this URL in a shortened link, either. I tried to “peak” at the URL using 3D Touch on my iPhone 6s and it still crashed my device. The only thing you can do is be careful about clicking on links from people you don’t trust.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.