Imagine my surprise when I found Apple’s Safari to be broken on both my iPhone, and my Mac. In OSX I got an “uncaught exception” error. In iOS, Safari just crashed (quit forcibly) without any warning.

Luckily, there’s an easy fix for both. Here’s how to fix Safari’s January 2016 bug.

On a Mac (OSX)

Open a fresh Safari window. Do not touch it. The error will activate as soon as you touch the search bar (for reasons you’ll see. In the top menu, go to Safari>Preferences. A preferences window will open up. Go to the “Search” tab in the preferences window (signified by a magnifying glass and the words “Search). Deselect “Include Search Engine Selections” and “Include Safari Selections”. (If you’ve never really used a Mac, this means Click the blue checkboxes. If you do it correctly, they’ll turn whitish). Close Safari. Congrats. Safari should now work on your Mac. (Now check out Morning Short, a daily curated short story (no browser required!). It’s the best way to start your morning and read more fiction.)

On an iPad, iPhone, or iPod (iOS)

Go to your “Settings” app, scroll down to the settings for system apps, and select “Safari”. Tap on the toggle-button for “Safari Suggestions” to turn it off. The box should turn from white to green. Safari should now work on your iOS device. (Go check out Morning Short, a daily curated short story (no browser required!). It’s the best way to start your morning and read more fiction).

Here’s to hoping Apple can fix this bug quickly, so we can get our search suggestions back – Michael