ALL PDF files crash Safari!

Question

Level 1

8 points

ALL PDF files crash Safari!

I can open PDFs sent thru email, and I can sync PDFs to the phone from iTunes and open them in iBooks... but, regardless of size or content, I cannot open a PDF in Safari.

When I click on a PDF link in Safari, the browser display refreshes and, for a split second, I see the PDF's first page displayed... and then immediately Safari crashes.

I've been seeing this around the internet, too, and I'm wondering when Apple will recognize this as a bug and issue a patch... anyone?

iPhone 4, iOS 4

Posted on Jun 28, 2010 7:20 AM

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Answer 1

E.C.H.

Level 1

15 points

Jul 10, 2010 3:04 PM in response to jrypkahauer

I am having the same problem too. I thought it was the issue with iBooks and Stanza.
But Dunno on why it does it either.

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Answer 2

frankxiv

Level 2

458 points

Jul 22, 2010 6:29 AM in response to jrypkahauer

I am having the EXACT same problem.

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Answer 3

Jul 22, 2010 7:20 AM in response to jrypkahauer

You can hold the PDF link and it would state where do you want to open it in. If you installed the free iBooks or an office program, you can tell it to open there which would save into the program.

One other resolution is to restart the i4 or first try the multitask end.

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Answer 4

frankxiv

Level 2

458 points

Jul 22, 2010 7:28 AM in response to Joe Z in VA

Joe Z in VA wrote:
You can hold the PDF link and it would state where do you want to open it in. If you installed the free iBooks or an office program, you can tell it to open there which would save into the program.

One other resolution is to restart the i4 or first try the multitask end.

That is NOT an option. When you hold down your finger on a link to a PDF file in Safari the options you get are:

1) Open
2) Open in New Page
3) Copy

And yes, I have iBooks and office software installed.

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Answer 5

jrypkahauer Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 22, 2010 10:27 AM in response to frankxiv

Exactly what Frank said... that was the first thing I tried.

I'm trying it again now, but I doubt it'll work. If it does, I'll post back here.

Nope, it only brought up those same 4 options and when I opened the PDF it crashed Safari.

I should add that I was able to open a 1-page invoice in PDF form at one point, but anything else, and that covers about 2 dozen PDFs, have crashed the browser. I was able to put the one important PDF into iTunes and sync it over and it works fine... I just can't open it in Safari.

You have no idea how irritating this is... I used to use PDFs with my iPhone all the time, but at this point it's bricked as far as PDFs are concerned.

Gahhhhhhh...

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Answer 6

frankxiv

Level 2

458 points

Jul 22, 2010 11:54 AM in response to jrypkahauer

And we haven't even mentioned the worst part of this. It crashes the browser and then every attempt to reopen the browser results in that same PDF trying to load and immediately crashing the browser. There are only two options that I have found to get around this ridiculous problem:

1) Immediately after launching Safari I touch the page count and attempt to close the loading page. This does not always work.
2) Go into the Safari settings (very glad these are outside of the app) and Clear Cache. This immediately solves the problem because it clears all open pages in Safari. The problem is that it clears ALL OPEN PAGES in Safari which means that the pages you weren't having a problem with close as well.

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Answer 7

w7ox

Level 4

2,407 points

Jul 22, 2010 1:07 PM in response to jrypkahauer

No such problem here. I just opened and read a few pages of a 408 pp pdf file at an on line site using Safari.

Phil

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Answer 8

frankxiv

Level 2

458 points

Jul 22, 2010 8:39 PM in response to w7ox

Please post the link to the page you're talking about. It would be nice if we're all testing the same page if you say it worked for you.

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Answer 9

ramkam

Level 1

0 points

Aug 13, 2010 1:34 PM in response to jrypkahauer

updated to iOS 4.0.2 last night, in a hope that it would behave differently but nope!

I guess if I say something bad about apple I will get banned, but you get the idea.

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Answer 10

Aug 13, 2010 3:40 PM in response to w7ox

w7ox wrote:
No such problem here. I just opened and read a few pages of a 408 pp pdf file at an on line site using Safari.

Phil

Can't reproduce it here either.

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Answer 11

CTYankee

Level 4

1,920 points

Aug 18, 2010 2:31 PM in response to jrypkahauer

I had the same problem. I cleared all cookies and cache and reset the history and it works fine now. I noticed that the 'open in ibooks' prompt was not shown when I had the issue, now it is.

No idea what was wrong, but that seems to fix it. Maybe just one of those will do it, not sure as I did all of them before trying again.

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Answer 12

Aug 30, 2010 11:53 AM in response to CTYankee

Clearing my cache/cookies/history did not work for me. However, resetting my settings under settings > general > reset (Reset All Settings) did work.

No fun to have to go back and reconfigure everything, but at least I can read pdf's now.

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Answer 13

jrypkahauer Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 18, 2010 9:39 AM in response to jrypkahauer

I'll try the resetting ideas when my phone is charged and usable. At the moment it's displaying the red battery/lightening bolt icon. 😟

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Answer 14

jrypkahauer Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 18, 2010 9:52 AM in response to chrisatpm

Well, that fixed it. I tried resetting cookies, cache and history and that didn't fix it, but doing a "reset all settings" and then hitting a PDF link worked exactly as you'd expect.

Thanks Chris!

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