Safari crashing iPhone: Search suggestions feature seems to force phones and Macs to break

The problem appears to be related to the server that would normally give the iPhone its search suggestions

(PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Apple iPhones and Macs around the world are crashing this morning.

Numerous people are reporting that attempting to search in the bar at the top of Safari on iOS and Mac OS devices brings them to a halt, and forces the browsers to quit.

The problem is related to the search suggestions box that comes down when someone is searching, according to iOS developer Steven Troughton-Smith.

That means that it can be fixed by heading to the Safari settings and turning off search suggestions entirely. It also doesn't appear to show in private browsing mode.

The problem appears to be arising because the phones and computers are looking to reach Apple's servers to retrieve the search suggestions, but are unable to do so.

Not all phones and computers appear to be affected by the bug. But that might be because those phones still have the working information collected in their memory — that will be reset periodically or can be forced by enabling Airplane Mode, at which point the problem will probably occur.

Apple released an update for iOS, 9.2.1, this week. It isn't clear if the issue is connected to that new release.

The problem appears to be affecting users across the world.