Apple's WebKit team has managed to break the popular IndexedDB JavaScript API in the latest version of Safari (14.1.1) on macOS 11.4 and iOS 14.6. The

Bad Apple Safari update breaks IndexedDB JavaScript API, upsets web apps

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2021-06-17 01:00:06

Apple's WebKit team has managed to break the popular IndexedDB JavaScript API in the latest version of Safari (14.1.1) on macOS 11.4 and iOS 14.6.

The bug, first reported on June 2, 2021, only manifests when applications first try to use IndexedDB NoSQL manager to store data. Reloading a web page or app implementing the API resolves the issue, according to several bug reports.

Nonetheless, the situation is less than ideal for web developers and for anyone using the desktop or mobile versions of Safari. While there are a variety of storage APIs available to web developers, IndexedDB is one of two (the other being the Cache Storage API) that's recommended; the other options have specific use cases, shortcomings, or aren't widely supported.

Feross Aboukhadijeh, an open-source developer who runs Socket, on Monday said that the bug prevented his firm's web-based file transfer app Wormhole from working when initially loaded until a workaround was implemented.

"Opening an IndexedDB database fails 100 per cent of the time on the first try," he said via Twitter. "If you refresh, it starts working."