iPhone users might want to think twice before clicking on any old URL their friends send them.
Twitter users armed with a plan to annoy their followers have been sharing a link that crashes any device using Apple’s Safari web browser. The link – simply called crashsafari.com – overloads the browser with a complicated string of code, causing the browser to freeze and ultimately crash.
The website will then cause the user’s iPhone to shut down and reboot.
The website will also cause iPods and iPads to crash. According to user reports, depending on how the website is opened, it will either crash the app it was accessed through, the Safari app, or the entire device itself.
The website has been around since last year, but began spreading widely on social media again Monday.
Global News reached out to Apple for comment on the prank; however, a request for comment was not immediately returned.
READ MORE: iPhone bug lets anyone crash your phone with a text message
Many have compared the prank to the “effective power” text message bug that was widely reported in May. The bug caused users’ iPhones to crash and restart after receiving a specific text message or iOS message containing the words “effective,” “power,” and a series of Chinese and Arabic letters.
But the prank isn’t just limited to iPhone users.
It appears that the website will crash Safari when accessed through a desktop computer. Some Android users also tweeted that the website made their devices sluggish when accessed through Google’s Chrome browser.
The good news is the website doesn’t appear to be dangerous or malicious, just plain old annoying.
If you don’t want to waste time watching your iPhone reboot, stay away from opening any links that resemble the “crashsafari.com” URL.
Of course, people are now sharing the link on social media using a link shortener, so some users are being tricked into visiting the website.
Our best advice – if a friend sends you what sounds like a super enticing link, think twice before actually opening it.
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