Constantly crashing and freezing.

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

This started about 3 weeks ago with constant crashing. Now it’s freezing too and taking ages to load,

Maybe. We know for sure that one or more of mumsnet's ad network(s) are feeding bad ads because of all the reports of active malware being supplied via ad integration (https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/site_stuff/5178951-virus-scam-appearing-only-when-on-mumsnet?page=1). I've seen these myself and it's what spurred me to enable ad blocking on this site.

Since enabling ad-blocking I don't get the malware alerts but neither do I get the random crashes/freezes any more. I suppose it's possible that mumsnet is signed up to crappy ad networks that are supplying malware and that mumsnet's own code are causing web browsers to crash/freeze. But if that's the case it seems likely that the freezing would happen regardless of having an ad blocker.

It’s been freezing a lot today. I’m on the verge of giving up on Mumsnet.

I’m going to whisper it but I think mine is working again…

I complained about this early on in this thread and nothing has changed.
I came on tonight and tried to read a thread and all it's doing is either freezing and I have to keep closing everything down and open MN again or I just get a blank white screen that won't load.
It's absolutely doing my head in.

It's only on MN every other site works fine.

I was pleased to see this thread because I've been the same since the change to encourage more people to pay. However, it's disappointing to realise that there doesn't seem to be any enthusiasm for actually fixing the problems! I can't work out if the team are really unable to fix it, or if this is a deliberate attempt to force people to pay for an ad free version because it's otherwise bordering on unusable. Either way, it's a bit shit!

Thought it might be useful if I post this; I had a video call with Becky and Matt from mnhq the other day and learnt more about the root cause of this, I had a slow morning so could afford a little time to show them what those of us on the thread (mostly) are experiencing. I did a screen share of my phone so they could see it happening in real time; Safari crashing and locking pretty much instantly. Matt explained it well to me; I’m not massively tech savvy wrt IT and the workings of websites but not completely new to it either.

It’s essentially caused by a rogue cookie or cookies. As the various ad agencies will base what adverts they display tailored to each users viewing patterns (targeted ads I guess) then some users will have received the dodgy cookie/s and some won’t. As long as the bad cookie remains in your cache, Safari will crash- hence the advice of clearing cookies/cache to solve the problem. Chrome, if I understood him correctly has additional things that stop this cookie wreaking havoc, hence some of us (not all) being able to use chrome relatively problem free.

MNHQ don’t decide which ads are displayed- that’s decided by the third party ad supplier. There are going to be thousands and thousands of different ads across MNs user base and all it takes is one or a few badly coded ads to sneak a dodgy cookie into your cache and you will then get the Safari crashes.

So @HowardTJMoon was probably closer to the truth than I was.

Matt said therefore it’s practically impossible for them to know which cookie precisely it is that is causing it. It may not even be being delivered anymore by current ads, but the fact it’s sat in your cache is what’s causing the problem. He also said although it was useful to see this happening on my phone, it’s far easier and useful to interrogate a laptop or desktop computer that they’re physically sat next to, so that they can monitor the processes directly to find the bad cookie/s. They’ve said this will be hopefully happening next week at MNHQ.

I think he also said once the offending cookie/s had been identified then steps could be taken to mean this cookie is essentially zapped from your cache- but as they still don’t know which one it is, that can’t happen yet.

Anyway sorry that’s a bit long winded, hope I relayed that fairly accurately though. @BeckyAMumsnet feel free to correct me or add anything.

@Lonelycrab

Thanks, that’s interesting and ties in with my experience that deleting browsing history often fixes the problem for a week or two until….

FWIW despite being on fora (?sp) various far too much these days I only ever get this problem on MN, so I guess it does point to either the problem being down to the specific ad supplier MN is using and/or a specific Ad that certainly I only ever get fed when looking at MN……

I have just tried clearing my cookies on safari, and MN is still freezing.

Thank you @Lonelycrab

Thanks @Lonelycrab

It was a pleasure to speak to you 🙂

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius You may need to clear what's called "Local Storage" as well in order for the corrupt piece of data to be removed.

What device are you on and I can give you some specific instructions for doing that just for Mumsnet so it doesn't affect any other sites.

Can you please tell me for an iPad. Issues on safari.

Of course!

Open the settings app and then tap on "Apps".

Scroll down until you find Safari and click on it. At the very bottom there is an "Advanced" option. Click on that and then click on "Website Data".

It may take a few seconds to load.

Search for Mumsnet and when it shows you the mumsnet.com line, swipe to the left on it and click "Delete".

That will clear all data related just to Mumsnet.

You will need to login to your Mumsnet account again, but that should stop the issue from happening.

Perhaps you could add this info (for each supported platform) to the FAQs or suchlike?

Thanks, so far that seems to have helped!

@MattTech - sorry -I just tried that, and long pages are still not loading on Safari.

Doesnt work Matt. Still sticks and crashes.

Same here.

MN starting slowing down earlier, then freezing, I checked and no other sites effected.

A selective delete of MN data only didn’t fix it.

A full delete of all Safari browsing history seems to have sorted it out…for now.

I installed the latest iOS update last night, and now Safari is working again, which suggests that, in part at least, this may have been an Apple issue, not just a MN one.

I just tried as well for the first time in a while (have mostly defected to the app as it was unusable), and it seems fine. I don't think I've updated iOS yet though, so not sure what's changed.

The update may have just cleared your cache.

Just done this and had to log in again, but it seems to be working fine now on first glance.

Has this issue been resolved because I have been using Mumsnet for 22 years and in all that time I have never experienced problems like this!

It’s really bizarre. Just like the other posters. It's like my use of Mumsnet is slowing down my entire phone.

Accessing through Safari on my iPhone.

i’ve tried the app but don’t like the lay out so deleted it.

I'm going to cautiously say its stopped. Hasn't done it for a couple of days now.

Does it make a difference if you sign up for premium membership?

I wouldn't mind doing this if it means smoother access; but I am a bit worried about giving my credit card number to a site that has had so many security breaches lately.

I hope that doesn't sound unfair Mumsnet HQ! I love the site otherwise!

No, doesn't seem to.