Warning to iPhone users over 'glitch' exposing private browser history

An embarrassing glitch has reemerged on iPhone, judging from complaints online — a bug that dredges up old web searches many would like to keep private.

Some Apple users are discovering that their devices are displaying old adult content at unwanted moments, despite their best efforts to clear their browser history, tabs and cookies, even after making sure to view risqué content in 'incognito mode' only.

'I have a fairly new iPhone and this is happening,' one Apple fan confessed. 'Old porn vid stuck in Firefox preview mode, only happens in landscape [mode] though.'

Another user told horror stories of their iPhone displaying old adult content while 'people have been looking over my shoulder as I am showing them something.'

'My mom was one of them,' the iPhone owner posted to Reddit with weeping emoji.

The glitch echoes recent warnings about Apple's Mirroring feature, which security experts advised this month might inadvertently share users' private information with others, particularly when activated on work-issued iPhones, iPads and other devices. 

The resurgence of these two mortifying, privacy glitches might be linked to the rollout of Apple's new iOS 18 operating system, which has brought with it a host of irritating issues, including reports that iOS 18.1 is inexplicably draining their battery.

'I'm scared to have other people look at or hold my phone or iPad,' one Apple customer who reported owning an iPhone 11 posted to Reddit two years ago.

'Many people have mentioned a similar issue with Safari [Apple's browser] but no fixes. How do I stop this from happening!!!!?' the user, baka-420, asked. 'I have cleared all the cookies and history components, etc. It has not fixed the problem.'

But just two months ago, this inactive thread sprang back to life with fresh reports of the glitch plaguing shame-faced users of more much current iPhone models.

'This has happened to me over several phones, over years,' one embarrassed user, Secret_Account07, posted in mid-September. 'Nothing I did would get rid of it.'

'IDK [I don't know] why Apple can't fix this, iOS is clearly caching the image for landscape mode,' the user continued. 

'It's been an issue for years, and is not a complex issue that would require a team of engineers [...] Apple please fix this,' the user pleaded.

This more recent iPhone owner advised the group that they were eventually able to fix the problem, after much trial and error, by 'uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox.'

But even with some sort of makeshift solution available, many of these iPhone users were still outraged: 'It's a problem that has potential to lead to very inappropriate things. Imagine a kid using your phone or showing them something on your phone.'

One other concerned iPhone owner speculated that something more malicious than a simple bug or glitch might be at work. 

'I have the same exact problem,' they chimed in. 'It's super odd. I wonder if it's a virus of some sort? I don't know but it makes zero sense why it would flash a porn site, if I don't even have a porn site on any of my tabs.'

While Apple has yet to comment on the issue, tech industry watchers have advised that the issue does appear to be linked to an individual iPhone's cached images.

In some cases, the unwanted images appear to be popping up when users are swiping up to switch from one app to another.

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For those who browse the web with Chrome and Firefox, deleting and redownloading your web browser appears to be the most foolproof way of resolving the problem. 

But, unfortunately, that fix doesn't work with Apple's built-in Safari browser. 

The best way to clear cached images on anything running Safari via Apple's iOS — be it a laptop, desktop, iPad or iPhone — is to routinely delete your internet history.

The process is a bit of hassle, but Apple's easy to follow instructions are available online.

One way to delete your cached images, is to first go to Settings > Privacy > Clear Browsing Data and then select 'Cached Images and Files.'

Or, to clear your history directly from Safari and for Safari only, tap the 'bookmark' icon button within the Safari app, tap the 'history' (clock) button, then tap Clear.

Apple advises however that users should be mindful if they have different profiles in their Safari browser, as is common on the family iPad: 'If you have Safari profiles set up, select a profile to clear only the history of that profile, or select All Profiles.'

How to install iOS 18.1: New update includes Apple Intelligence

To install iOS 18.1, open the Settings app. Then navigate to General, and tap Software Update. 

Your phone will take a couple seconds to search for new updates, and if the update is available, you should see it displayed on your screen. 

Then, tap Install Now. If you see Download and Install instead, tap it to download the update, enter your passcode, then tap Install Now. 

Once iOS 18 is installed, you'll need to join the Apple Intelligence waitlist.

To do that, go to Settings, tap Apple Intelligence & Siri, then tap Join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist.

You will get a notification when Apple Intelligence is ready to be activated on your iPhone. Once activated, the AI features will begin to download.

Those include intelligent writing tools that can help you proofread, rewrite and summarize text anywhere that you can write words, such as Mail, Notes, Messages and other apps.

The proofreading function suggests better words to use and corrects grammatical errors. 

With rewriting abilities, you can make your text sound more friendly, concise or professional. 

And summarizing allows Apple Intelligence to read your text and produce a brief summary of the main points. 

The Photos app will also receive a new Clean Up feature that allows you to quickly erase any unwanted object from a photo.

For example, if a person walks into the background of your selfie, you can remove the photobomb just by tapping on them.

The update says good bye to mindless searching in the Photo app by letting users input key words to find specific images, such as 'Mom in front of the Eiffel Tower.'

You can also create a custom Memory movie in Photos with Apple Intelligence. 

To do that, just enter a description and the AI will find the best photos and videos to match, then arrange them into a Movie with its own narrative arc.

The launch version of Apple Intelligence will also come with productivity features. The AI can summarize notifications from multiple apps, including Messages, Mail and more. It will also prioritize notifications that need your immediate attention.

The new Reduce Interruptions Focus feature allows your iPhone to intelligently inform you of important notifications and mute unimportant ones. 

And the Mail app will get a priority messages feature that sorts important emails at the top of your inbox. 

Siri will get a whole load of upgrades. In addition to the flashy new interface, the digital assistant will be equipped with a new level of intelligence and capabilities to help it perform tasks for you.

The bot will have new product knowledge that allows it to answer questions about your device's features and settings. You can even ask for help while learning to do something new on your iPhone, and Siri will provide instructions.

It will also be easier to communicate with Siri thanks to a more natural voice and the ability to type requests to the bot instead of relying only on voice activation.

Siri will also be able to remember requests you've made in the past, and use them to inform responses to new requests. 

These are just a handful of the full suite of Apple Intelligence features that will eventually be coming to iPhones. 

Most of the features that have made headlines since Apple first announced the AI in June are still months in the making - with some slated to roll out in 2025.