My site loads in Chrome for Android but not in IOS. why?

[born2run]

Hi so I have a website and it loads in OK time in Android using chrome browser app or chrome for PC/Mac desktops.

However if I load the same site on Chrome for IOS 12 (latest version) the content is loaded completely but the progress bar just gets stuck late and the site never loads fully!

Also, if I stop the loading on the chrome browser app and then reload the page again it loads it OK then!

So first time browser is not successful using Chrome for ios on an iphone. Why would this be and how do I debug this issue? Thanks!

[lucy24]

how do I debug this issue?

The two things that come to mind are:
--investigate the two browsers' settings, especially with regard to scripting and adblockers
--look at your logs for the relevant requests and see if anything unexpected is happening.

I think some mobile browsers don't immediately request all images; if the human user leaves the page before scrolling down, not everything will be loaded, although the browser knows (from reading the html) that there are more supporting files to come. At least, that's my impression based on the occasional quirk I find in logs. It would certainly make sense for a browser to do this, though I'm not certain thay actually do.

[born2run]

It’s strange coz it only happens with ios and chrome and iPhone. Ipad is normal and so is Android chrome

[not2easy]

If you are trying to isolate any possible error that might be causing a problem the fist steps would be to validate your html and css. It is free and it can give you a detailed report in less than 5 minutes. At least you can see what might cause a problem so that it could be fixed. Start with the HTML Validator: [validator.w3.org...] and then check with the CSS Validator: [jigsaw.w3.org...]

Websites do not NEED to be standards compliant to work, but it can prevent them from working as expected if they are not.

[NickMNS]

It’s strange coz it only happens with ios and chrome and iPhone.

Chrome for iOS is simply a version of Safari that has been made to look like Chrome it is not the same as actual Chrome. What is strange is that iPad is "normal" as iPad also uses iOS.

The way to debug this is to get into "inspect element" mode, to do this for iOS Safari you will need to connect the iPhone/iPad to Mac. Here is an article that explains the process:
[adao.co.uk...]

Are you using any Javascript or AJAX? The behavior you are describing sounds like a request that is being made that isn't returning.

[born2run]

Yes JavaScript ads mostly

[born2run]

What’s strange is that if the site is reloaded in that same session it then loads fine. So for the first time it hangs and then later it’s fine..

[NickMNS]

So for the first time it hangs and then later it’s fine..

I'm working on project that was giving me the same behavior, in my case in both Chrome and Firefox, but it was fetch request that returned a 404 (for some odd reason that I still don't fully understand) but when I refresh the page and then re-launch the fetch request the server returns a proper response. So it is likely the result of a bug in somewhere in the ad code. Not sure what you can do about it.

[not2easy]

The iPad and iPhone are not necessarily on the same version of ios. A look at your logs as suggested earlier could tell you whether they are the same or not.

I have one old iPad (from at least 6 years ago, iPad version 2 I believe) that does not update the ios when clearly there are newer versions for the iPhone and newer iPads. An older version may not have the same third party cookie aversions that the newer ios incorporates. The newer ios defaults could delay loading in your tests - but it would for visitors using recent ios as well.

[born2run]

Hmm it’s only happening in iOS devices and chrome browser. I suspect it’s a script but could be the cms Drupal

[NickMNS]

Is it possible that you are somehow detecting the browser type serving each different code. In which case you may be serving Google Chrome to iOS Chrome.

[born2run]

Anyway to stop JavaScript on iOS chrome browser?

[tangor]

I don't run Chrome ... but you might try this:

[technipages.com...]

[lucy24]

Anyway to stop JavaScript on iOS chrome browser?

Probably, but changing anything in iOS is harder than on a desktop--individual apps don't have a Preferences menu or equivalent--so most people don't bother. As a result, <noscript> options for mobile devices are less crucial than for desktops.

[born2run]

Yes well I see this script popping up in my Chrome developer tools console:

Tracking Script from myvisualiq.net

The console gives this message:
Refused to execute script from '<URL>' because its MIME type ('image/gif') is not executable.

[born2run]

The fact that it’s only on ios and not on android and that too with chrome app means a ad script?