The link – simply called crashsafari.com – overloads the browser with a complicated string of code, causing the browser to freeze and ultimately crash.
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While users can easily avoid clicking the above-mentioned websites, pranksters can utilize URL shorteners to make it more likely for users to click on a link without realizing the original source.
The effect is more notable on iPhones and iPads because the web page will cause iOS devices to heat up and eventually force it to restart after about 20 seconds. In addition it could also crash Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and the Mac version of Apple Safari.
According to Wired, the site was created by 22-year old Matthew Bryant, a coder based in San Francisco, who discovered the bug and made the website as a joke.
A tweet from “News from the Lab” shared interesting stats that the crash safari link has been clicked over 100,000 times.
Social media has seen the link circulated more and more over the past days and weeks, with users disguising it as many things, ranging from Kanye West’s new album to viral videos.
People on Twitter have confirmed that the link is affecting both iPhone and Android phones, and that it’ll open and operate on Safari and Chrome as well.
But the prank is a helpful reminder that there are quirks built into a lot of the tech we rely on that can have unexpected consequences.
Seeing you iPhone screen go black then reboot is enough for anyone to panic, but this prank isn’t programmed to install malware on devices.
Desktop and laptop computers are also affected to a lesser degree, depending on how much processing power they have.
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Apparantly, and thankfully, Apple is working on a fix to block this site and its Javascript code causing the problems.
