Youtube Lags using Safari

SecRpm · Mar 18, 2012

Well, my problem appears to be the following:

Every time I start a Youtube video Safari starts to lag like hell and is almost paralyzed until the video is finished loading.

As far as I've noticed, this appears only on youtube, and neither updating Safari nor Flash Player helped.

This started to happen for about 1-2 Weeks i guess, and I've used Firefox in hope it would disappear by itself or get patched, but now it is just annoying and i really have no clue what the cause could be.

Did anyone of you experience similar problems or knows a fix?

I'm using a Macbook Air Mid 2011 in case it's important.

kjmff5 · Mar 18, 2012

ME TOO! Man it is the most annoying thing ever. I would like to use FireFox but I'm kinda use to iCloud....love syncing my book marks and stuff...

if you find a fix, post it!

I have a MBP 13" i5, 4GB RAM

Also, I've noticed it really just on Youtube videos, like when they are on MacRumors or on Gizmodo or at Youtube.com Other flash stuff like Amazon instant video has been doing great.

Schtumple · Mar 18, 2012

Don't take this post as a "use chrome" post, but my mind was blown at how smooth youtube etc is when using chrome, I still use Safari because it has a few features I depend on, but man, Chrome is faster by a landslide at virtually everything.

AFPoster · Mar 18, 2012

I have the exact same issue when watching HD videos on youtube. It got fixed in the 5.1.3 update but then went back to crap. Hopefully OS X 10.8 will fix this.

yanksrock100 · Mar 19, 2012

try chrome.

SecRpm · Mar 29, 2012

Well, don't know if it was solved before but I've finally found the reason for this problem.

It seems that Safari doesn't like the HTML5 experiment of Youtube at all.
Today I've noticed that for some reason I was taking part in the html5 test and turned it off immediately. And now youtube works just fine.

So for all of you, who experience the issues described in my first post:
Visit this link and exit the html5 test. This should solve the problems, well at least it did for me.

http://www.youtube.com/html5

imagine18 · Mar 30, 2012

SecRpm said:
Well, don't know if it was solved before but I've finally found the reason for this problem.

It seems that Safari doesn't like the HTML5 experiment of Youtube at all.
Today I've noticed that for some reason I was taking part in the html5 test and turned it off immediately. And now youtube works just fine.

So for all of you, who experience the issues described in my first post:
Visit this link and exit the html5 test. This should solve the problems, well at least it did for me.

http://www.youtube.com/html5

I've had this problem but this solved it for me. It's odd though, knowing how much Apple seem to push HTML5 as the future of web content, yet it's struggling to work in Apple's software... Thanks for this - you're a star!

BlueHedgehog · Apr 10, 2012

Reset Safari/Empty Cache?

Has anyone tried resetting Safari and/or emptying the cache (in Safari)?

For now I chose to disable HTML5 in that browser and used Flash instead.

roguepink · Apr 30, 2012

Exiting the HTML5 trial has solved it for me as well. Agreed that, for all the support Apple has put behind HTML5, I expected this to work better in Safari.

EssentialParado · Apr 30, 2012

If you want Safari to display the native H.264 file, and bypass the ugly Flash container or any ugly HTML5 player (like the Youtube HTML5 player), do this:

1. Go to Safari -> Safari Extensions
2. Install ClicktoFlash

- Youtube will be buttery smooth
- It allows you to automatically load the native H.264 file
- You can also right click on a video to download it
- Choose resolution by hovering cursor in the top left corner of the video

Note: You need to opt-out of the Youtube HTML5 trial for it to work

blinkie · May 6, 2012

I'm glad I found this thread. I was about to switch to Chrome there.

JAILLUD · May 29, 2012

SecRpm said:
Well, don't know if it was solved before but I've finally found the reason for this problem.

It seems that Safari doesn't like the HTML5 experiment of Youtube at all.
Today I've noticed that for some reason I was taking part in the html5 test and turned it off immediately. And now youtube works just fine.

So for all of you, who experience the issues described in my first post:
Visit this link and exit the html5 test. This should solve the problems, well at least it did for me.

http://www.youtube.com/html5

THANKYOU

this worked for me.

AnonMac50 · Jun 11, 2012

I prefer the Flash player for YouTube, but always use ClickToFlash. One thing that annoys me though is I seem to get opted into the HTML5 thing by itself and I have to opt out, lots of times.

GGJstudios · Jun 11, 2012

For Flash-related issues:

Find your Flash version and make sure it's the latest version available. Never install or update Flash from a pop-up on a website. Always go to Adobe's site to get Flash or updates.
Install ClickToFlash (Safari), Flashblock (Firefox) or FlashBlock (Chrome) to control which Flash content plays on websites.
Try using the YouTube HTML5 Video Player to watch YouTube videos, when available. (May impact fullscreen viewing. See link for details.) As far as performance impact, YMMV.

SM411 · Jun 28, 2012

SecRpm said:
Well, don't know if it was solved before but I've finally found the reason for this problem.

It seems that Safari doesn't like the HTML5 experiment of Youtube at all.
Today I've noticed that for some reason I was taking part in the html5 test and turned it off immediately. And now youtube works just fine.

So for all of you, who experience the issues described in my first post:
Visit this link and exit the html5 test. This should solve the problems, well at least it did for me.

http://www.youtube.com/html5

Thanks alot! You saved my life

mastermind865 · Jun 28, 2012

Problem is most likely the Perian plugin

If you have Perian installed (check System Preferences, it will have it's own icon there), it adds a new codec (called WebM) that Safari tries to use to play the videos... as long as Perian is installed it will cause jerky video performance unless you use one of the work arounds that has been suggested on the forum.

I *wish* that the group that develops Perian would put an option in the preferences to disable that codec, it sure would make things a lot easier on everyone.

There is a lot on the web about this - do some google searches for "Safari Youtube Perian".

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Youtube Lags using Safari

SecRpm

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kjmff5

macrumors regular

Schtumple

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AFPoster

macrumors 68000

yanksrock100

macrumors 6502a

SecRpm

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imagine18

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BlueHedgehog

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roguepink

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EssentialParado

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blinkie

macrumors 6502

JAILLUD

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AnonMac50

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GGJstudios

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SM411

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mastermind865

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