Anything to do with Safari is freezing and unresponsive in iOS7

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Level 1

5 points

Anything to do with Safari is freezing and unresponsive in iOS7

Safari freezes as soon as it is opened and I have to manually 'force' close it using a double-tap of the home button. If I try to open a link from an email or Twitter the same thing happens. If I try to go into Safari in Settings that screen freezes. If I try to turn off Safari in Settings>iCloud the twirling icon just goes round and round for hours. Safari is unusable which is obviously very frustrating!

This is now my second iPhone 5S (o2 were very good about sending me out a replacement) and the problem is still occuring. I have backed it up from my old iPhone 4S (which worked perfectly) using iCloud (WiFi), I have backed it up from iTunes, I have set it up as a new iPhone (twice) and still the problem is occuring. I have tried this with both iPhones. Software is fully up to date (7.0.2).

It's crazy that a £700+ bit of kit is failing out of the box. Twice.

I'd love any help or advice here please?! I already took the first iPhone into an Apple Store and tried everything they suggested (listed above) after they couldn't fix it.

Thank you in advance.

iPhone 5s, iOS 7.0.2

Posted on Oct 21, 2013 4:40 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Carolyn Samit

Level 10

165,615 points

Oct 21, 2013 4:51 AM in response to brasso83

Tap Settings > Safari

Then tap to clear History, Cookies, and Data

Then reset the device. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

If that doesn't help, tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings.

No data is lost due to a reset.

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Answer 2

brasso83 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 21, 2013 4:59 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks Carolyn.

Unfortuantely, f I tap Settings>Safari the screen freezes and I have to double-tap the home button in order to manually close setting.

I have done as you suggested with the Reset All Settings option. Unfortunately, the iPhone is now stuck on the loading screen (white background with black Apple logo) with just (approximately) 10% progress along the loading bar. This happened when the assistant in the Apple Store tried a full reset too.

I'm not sure what to do now?!

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Answer 3

Oct 21, 2013 5:05 AM in response to brasso83

Sounds like something backed up in iTunes is corrupting the iOS software.

You need to completely erase and start from scratch.

Turn off the device. Press and hold the sleep/wake button until the screen goes black.

Then connect the iPhone to your computer, launch iTunes.

Select the iPhone under Devices then click Restore iPhone but do not restore from a backup.

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Answer 4

brasso83 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 21, 2013 6:56 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks Carolyn. I've restored the iPhone and started again.

I'd done this twice before but this time, crucially, I skipped logging into my iCloud account immediately. And I've left Safari OFF in Settings>iCloud now I have added my iCloud account. I think something is corrupt in iCloud/the Safari back-up to iCloud, yes.

Do you think it's safe to turn Safari on in iCloud now Safari is working properly?

Thanks again!

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Answer 5

Oct 21, 2013 7:06 AM in response to brasso83

The only way to find out is to try turning Safari back on in Settiings > iCloud.

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Answer 6

Ryn0

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2013 7:48 PM in response to brasso83

Did you ever figure this out? I'm having the same issue! It's on a 4s, and it's all of the sudden. I have narrowed it down to something with the iCloud/Safari stuff. Clean installs or Restored data still have the issue. Additionally, it just hangs when I try to restore from iCloud directly...which i assume has to do with the corruption.

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Answer 7

Jan 4, 2014 3:57 PM in response to brasso83

I´m having the exact same issue with my iPhone 5 (7.04). Tried everything in this post.

Tried a clean install without iCloud. Everything is fine. Then switching on iCloud (but not Safari). Still fine.

In iCloud settings switching on Safari and after about an hour Safari freezes and I can´t turn "Safari iCloud sync off, just a spinning wheel.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

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Answer 8

Ryn0

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2014 10:43 AM in response to isakssonfoto

Just to follow up and reply to isakssonfoto:

I got my devices fixed (my iPad was doing the same thing) but not until I called Apple and my case got escalated up to the big guys at Apple. They pretty much did a "reset" on my iCloud and it's working now. I didn't lose any iCloud data or anything, but I did have to change my password so the techs could access my stuff and check things out. (Kinda weird)

Also, I didn't have a very recent backup of my phone so I lost a month or two of stuff. iCloud restores still didn't work correctly so I had to use an old iTunes backup. I should delete my iCloud backups and start a new one from scratch, in case that fixes the backup/restore for that too. Either way, it's a good idea to make iTunes backups too apparently.

Anyways, to summarize. Call Apple. Make sure they know you're not an idiot and you've tried a bunch of stuff already (or worst case, they'll just make you do all that stuff again) and you should get up high enough to talk to someone.

I also emailed Tim Cook about my issue and got a call back from someone who works at the executive offices to direct me to someone that would help. I'm not sure if that call was in response to my email or if it was the support escalation because they both happened at the same time and I probably would've got to the same point either way.

Good luck.

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Answer 9

Jan 6, 2014 2:59 PM in response to Ryn0

Thank you Ryn0! I will try that.

Thanks again!

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