Safari keeps crashing/freezing after install of El Capitan

Chrome has its own Flash, so I just used it for YouTube. On my end, it's even showing the HTML 5 player.

Yes, Google have been pushing HTML5 video heavily on all browsers for some time and making it difficult to select Flash. Although they include a modified integrated version of Flash with Chrome, they've no allegiances to Adobe to push Flash and had their own input on HTML5 video standards (as well as Apple) for their planned departure from Flash video.

Sooooo...no word from Apple on this issue...any chance Apple is going to try launching a YouTube competitor? (Just throwing it out there.)

I mentioned it a few comments ago but I have issues with embedded HTML5 videos from Vimeo too. It's a completely different issue to YouTube ones in that I haven't had freezes (yet) but the unplayed video can sometimes display garbled on a page as I scroll by it until I click play.

I don't think anyone said YouTube can't use flash.

I'm not sure if this was intended for me or Grant, but if it was me I was taking it from what Grant said here:

...are accompanied by very high CPU associated with a flash player instance. I was told that YouTube uses HTML5 and it could not be the case

A lot of people are linking Safari crashes to You Tube, however I rarely use it - the crashes I experience happen on certain newspaper sites, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times etc which are becoming ever more graphics heavy. Ebay is another website that will load half way and then crash. Also get the spinning wheel of death when I try to copy and paste from web site into Word, but that is probably a different issue.

I had a clean install of El Capitan. I have repaired permissions using Onyx and it did improve performance for a short while but then same problem returned. I have no extensions, turned off security software, cleared cache, turned off LCD font smoothing and still the problem persists.

My son also suggested I increase memory so this has now been doubled to 8GB - hasn't helped. Grrrrr. All was fine when I had Yosemite so for me, definitely a problem with El Capitan or one of its updates.

@need2know, are you using a 2014 model Mac (apologies if you've posted this already)? It probably won't fix the issue but have you removed all extensions/toolbars/plugins/etc. from Safari? Making sure there's non running in the tab for extensions?

Regarding:

A lot of people are linking Safari crashes to YouTube

My system freezes are exclusively happening in Safari when changing tabs from a page that has a YouTube HTML5 video embedded that has been played or paused. I've had no freezes that haven't been under these circumstances. The only other unusual symptom I've seen in Safari is garbled video previews on embedded HTML5 videos from Vimeo, but no freezing from this.

Hi palegreenghosts

I have an early 2009 24" IMac - 293GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA Ge Force GT 120 250MB Graphics card. Nothing at all running in the tab for extensions - completely blank.

Writing the above spec just now made me wonder if graphics memory - or lack thereof - could be the culprit. Who knows. I just wish Apple would come up with a solution or even a cause.

(I would buy a new Mac but for the fact that they removed the DVD drive - so my 2009 better for me)

Hmmm... sounds like a seperate fault from the one that's causing HTML5 videos to freeze the system in Safari.

I am using an 09 with an even lower graphics card. Works perfectly.

G

Safari issues with all of my machines:

- 2012 Macbook Pro Retina 15", 16GB RAM

- 2015 Macbook Pro Retina 13", 16GB RAM

- 2013 iMac 21", 8GB RAM

- 2015 Mac Pro, 64GB RAM

All have max'ed out RAM, all with the same problems: Safari sluggish, won't load page/picture/movie, spinning beachball of death, requiring force quit, or on rare occasions computer restart. I have zero extensions on any of my computers. I am running flash, but after reading that so many continue to have problems even after removing flash, don't want to waste time with a likely non-fix.

This seems to happen with image intensive websites, including many car websites like Motortrend / Automobile, and even just now at the Apple website! Not limited to youtube. To be honest, I seemed to be having problems even in Yosemite, but with El Capitan the rate of problematic Safari usage has increased exponentially.

Just throwing in more data to the pool. It seems Safari/El Capitan/Yosemite code driven, rather than hardware-limited.

I seemed to be having problems even in Yosemite, but with El Capitan the rate of problematic Safari usage has increased exponentially.

I mentioned wayyyy back in the thread that I also had issues on Yosemite. As you mentioned, I don't remember it happening quite as often.

I think you're the first to mention the Mac Pro! Wow! So it's just across the board.

I did try waiting a few seconds after closing a tab the other day. That seemed to help, but since the crash isn't consistent...I need to test it out a bit more. Of course, that's NOT a solution.

Thanks for the validation, it's a long thread.

Ya isn't it a real pity that their top of the line machine can't handle opening a webpage in their proprietary browser. (of course it's not the machine, it's the eff'd up code . . . )

Thinking about this further, it's not just that a page that's "image intensive" won't open up, but there seem to be embedded videos in the side columns off the main text (again, Automobile.com, Motortrend.com, etc are particularly bad offenders). Maybe it's those embedded videos contributing to the problem?

The other offenders are forums that won't fully load. Not sure of embedded videos there, but so many ads (with videos) in the sidelines and headers and footers that it must be those. But I don't know how webpages work, so I'm clueless.

Firefox on same sites: non-issue.

Firefox on same sites: non-issue.

Exactly - no issue on Firefox OR Chrome here.

Maybe it's those embedded videos contributing to the problem?

Sounds like the likely culprit since everyone else is reporting the problem on YouTube. Some have mentioned other sites with video.

Not sure of embedded videos there, but so many ads (with videos) in the sidelines and headers and footers that it must be those. But I don't know how webpages work, so I'm clueless.

Yes, I was also wondering whether those who've had issues on sites with a lot of images are actually not seeing videos amongst all the images, expecting to see a tell-tale play button when there mightn't be any.

I had freezes on Yosemite too. Also with Chrome but Chrome's now working fine for me in El Capitan.

From my experience I've only ever had issues with Safari and YouTube. The videos play fine but when I close the tab or the browser my entire system locks up for a good minute or two and then is really sluggish until I restart it. I had no problems like this with Yosemite, only when I upgraded to El Capitan.

Don't use Safari at all anymore. Went to Firefox as browser, keeping Safari and all the reading list. Firefox is responsive and quick. Taking a little time to get used to it, but NO PROBLEMS with freezing or crashing when I go to Yahoo Mail or other sites. don't understand why Apple is not addressing this issue. Look how many people just here in this community are having problems.

Then I also have problem with iPhone5s. It overheats at times and drains the battery. Apple knows that it is a problem, but the only thing that I was able to do was to update the OS to the latest OS. So far, I have my fingers crossed and carry a charger with me when I drive any place! Don't want to be stuck somewhere at night with no way to get a hold of anyone!

I have been reading a lot of posts about safari 9.0.3 crashing due to El Capitan etc. I been a mac tech managing 1,000 macs for the last 20 years or so. To all those of you posting its a problem with Safari, Flash and El Capitan..... I am pretty confident, it has nothing to do with El Capitan. My laptop is still running 10.10.5, Yosemite. Just recently there was a Safari update (going by memory), and for sure a very recent Flash update version, 20.0.0.286. I can't tell you which one of the two is causing the issue for sure, but when the browser freezes, and I use Force Quit to see what is going on, the Flash Web plugin and the Flash Player Plug in are both in RED. I am leaning towards a problem with Flash itself. Steve was right about Flash!! A very interesting post here which I want to try, is one guy saying he has not loaded flash on his computer and rarely encounters websites that he can't view, because many are using html5. I work for a school board, and it would be a major crisis, if they opened a laptop and could not access a flash website!! So I have never entertained the idea of a computer without Flash, but maybe its time.

I tend to agree with regard to Flash Player - Every time Safari has frozen for me FP was showing red. I just used Safari on Ebay - just scrolling down a page of items - had a freeze and Activity Monitor once again showed FP in red hugging all CPU resources, but, when I force quit it ,the page would not display properly - FP was the culprit.

So some sites still need Flash Player, which works fine in Firefox, but seems to misbehave in Safari.