Safari 14 on Big Sur: How to prevent a webpage from automatically reloading because it was using significant memory?

StarklyNedStark wrote:

… So I start watching a recorded Zoom lecture on Safari, and it keeps crashing and saying it's using too much memory. I often play these on Safari on my iPhone while I'm at work and never had a problem. Ugh. …

That’s interesting:

• Works on an iPhone, but has an issue on a MacBook.
• Both using Safari.

Since the iPhone certainly has less memory capacity and, likely, other cases of fewer resources, the only remaining explanation is that the website (for your «recorded Zoom lecture[s]») must be changing its behavior for Safari on iPhone, in order to work properly.

Hence, all that is necessary is for the website to similarly change its resource use of Safari on the MacBook.

Note:

1. Websites are not supposed to use large amounts of browser storage: they are supposed to use Server Side storage.
2. Unfortunately, many websites have gotten increasingly lazy about using Browser memory.

Perhaps contributing to this problem are the following:

1. Many streaming sites used to use Flash for such purposes, but with the demise of Flash (at the beginning of this year, even though they were forewarned three and a half years ago), they may be new to the idea of streaming directly to browsers using HTML5.
2. There are some web-browsers that have very “relaxed” standards about the use of your computer resources: these browsers are well known resource “hogs”, but they may have contributed to websites being lazy in their use of browser resources. (Google Chrome is one well known resource “hog”.)

Have you, and others, provided Apple Feedback through their provided Feedback mechanisms? See Product Feedback - Apple.

If people don’t provide such Feedback, there is little chance that Apple will change anything.

I would provide my Feedback in the form of a Bug Report, on matters such as this.

In the meantime, there are a couple of things that have been found helpful:

1. Access such web-pages through a browser window with only a single tab: this helps isolate the resource use.
2. Other browsers, such as Google Chrome, don’t seem to have this issue. (Resource “hogs.)

Welcome, muuk2, to Apple Support Communities!

It may help to read my comment at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252041706?answerId=254747164022#254747164022, above.

Report the issue, Eddy1015, using the Safari Feedback option.

There’s nothing that writing here will actually accomplish.

The only workaround is to use another browser, when you run into this issue.

(Well. Some have found that, at least sometimes, using a separate Safari window, with no other tabs open, in that window, helps avoid the issue.)

jelleverbeek wrote:

disney+ nearly always gave me that error message, and now with the auto reload i can't get through a movie without it reloading at least like 4-5 times. incredibly annoying; wish i could turn this off at least temporarily

Are you running Disney+ through a web-browser, or through the Disney+ App?

If through a browser, what browser? Have you tried a different browser?

The problem, Gregory Jones1, is that websites are not supposed to be using so much of any browsers’ resources!

Unfortunately, websites have gotten increasingly lazy in their use of browsers’ memory resources, particularly.

The workarounds are:

1. Access such web-pages through a browser window with only a single tab: this helps isolate the resource use.
2. Other browsers, such as Google Chrome, don’t seem to have this issue.

Sounds good, muuk2.

Accessing such sites «in a separate window» has been one of the workarounds (it helps isolate the resource usage).

The other modifications you made to browser add-ons certainly may have helped as well.

Welcome, DeepS Tunes, to Apple Support Communities!

Have you provided your Feedback to Apple, such as through Product Feedback - Apple?

We are but fellow users, here. Apple does not frequent these fora.

In the meantime, there are a couple of things that have been found helpful:

1. Access such web-pages through a browser window with only a single tab: this helps isolate the resource use.
2. Other browsers, such as Google Chrome, don’t seem to have this issue. (Resource “hogs.)

(Oh. By the way, I only access Disney+ and Netflix through their Apps. No such issues there.)

MartinAS65:

The problem is:

1. Websites are abusing the internal memory of your browser. This should not happen. Websites should be using Server-Side storage (especially for uploads). Only the offending website can correct this.
2. There are, typically, not browser options to permit this abuse, though some browsers are more permissive than others. (This does provide for a workaround, in many cases. Another potential workaround is to isolate the offending website to its own browser window with no other tabs.)

Perhaps the most important Feedback is to the abusive website(s).

One can also provide Feedback to Apple: Product Feedback - Apple.

DeepS Tunes wrote:

…

ps: when i said manage the website, i meant manage how the browser deals with the website, apologies for being unclear

Thank you, for the clarification.

Unfortunately, there are no such controls, either.

However, at least in that case, some such controls are, at least, possible, in principle.

That’s the kind of Feedback one can provide to Apple: Product Feedback - Apple.

Welcome, jbmint, to Apple Support Communities!

Unfortunately, there are no such controls, at this time.

However, at least in that case, some such controls are, at least, possible, in principle.

That’s the kind of Feedback one can provide to Apple: Product Feedback - Apple.

On the other hand, you wouldn’t have any need for such “controls” if the website were properly coded.

The very best thing to do is to provide Feedback to websites that abuse the local resources of your browsers.

Websites have access to Server Side resources which you, the user, have no actual access to: these Server Side resources are what legitimate websites use!

Yes, esau888. It’s not that there is no RAM (or swap) memory available.

It’s that the website is abusing the local memory resources of your browser, and Safari isn’t going to “stand for it” anymore.

You are certainly free to provide Apple with your Feedback on this issue.

However, a more productive course of action, which will have broader beneficial impact, will be to provide Feedback to the websites that are abusing the local storage (memory) resources of your browser(s).

Websites are supposed to be using Server-side Storage, for their operations! Not Browser resources.

Jakob12345:

«webprocessproxy» is not about proxy servers, in anything like the usual concept, so using «Passive FTP Mode (PASV)» would not be expected to do anything.

Instead, this has to do with the way web processes (primarily JavaScript running within a browser) can use both local storage (RAM and drive) and Server side storage.

The intent is that JavaScript processes that deal with large amounts of data, should be using resources primarily on the Server, where the website resides—not on your local machine.

Now, different browsers have different limits on local storage of data, for web processes. If these limits are exceeded, the browser can either extend the limits, or hold the limits as hard limits. In the latter case, if the web process continues to try to exceed the hard limit, the process may be terminated.

Unfortunately, I certainly don’t know the particulars, in your case.

Welcome, Fuzzyolive, to Apple Support Communities!

«same problem», same solution.

In this case, report the issue, using the Safari Feedback option.

There’s nothing that writing here will actually accomplish.

The only workaround is to use another browser, when you run into this issue.

(Well. Some have found that, at least sometimes, using a separate Safari window, with no other tabs open, in that window, helps avoid the issue.)

M1User_sandy wrote:

@Halliday: I agree, VM is a different issue. However, is there any progress on memory issue on safari and other browsers ? I see no progress at least as per this forum ... Do you see it getting fixed in near future ?

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M1User_Sandy

On the browser issue, there is a similar issue, though with slightly different behavior, even on both processor types.

As explained, elsewhere, the principle problem is the with website programming! There’s only so much that can be done, on your machine, to accommodate websites abusing the resources on your machine! (This is especially true with some of the techniques used by some Adds, trying to avoid Add-blockers, and circumvent anti-tracking measures.)

The long-term solution will, almost certainly, take a concerted “push-back” against such abusive website practices!

Unfortunately, that does not lend itself to any sort of “quick fix”.

KerryA21 wrote:

… Worse is that no representative from apple has even addressed this issue (unless I missed it) or given any explanation.

Representatives from Apple do not “weigh in”, here, usually.

This is not the best place to post, if you want to get Apple’s attention.

Instead, one should provide Feedback, to Apple, by way of their provided Feedback mechanisms: see Product Feedback - Apple