Help Apple squash an OS X bug :)

[mumph]

I've got a call pending with Apple next week to discuss a bug in Safari/Webkit and/or OSX itself. I just wanted to ask has anyone else noted the issue and if so what system you were/are running it on so I can mention it to Apple.

Basically on some websites and definitely the Mac App Store, text changes its appearance depending on certain circumstances.

I'm no developer so my terms may not be the most technical but if you visit the Mac App Store on your computer and navigate around a bit then try using your trackpad or magic mouse to 'slide' back and forth between pages so they slide in from the sides, keep a close eye on the text already on screen. Does it flicker? Does it seem to get bolder or thinner when the sliding action takes place?

On my iMac the effect is very noticeable. Its as though the text has changed style i.e. from light to bold.

If you notice it on your set up could you let me know which OSX your running and what graphics card.

As I've said it also happens on some websites in Safari AND Chrome so maybe its a Webkit problem and Google switching to Chromium carried it over from Webkit.

I've submitted the bug to Apple and they seem quite keen to nail it hence the call I'm waiting for so if you spot it hopefully you can let me know so I can pass the information on.

A developer has told me the issue can be resolved on your own websites by setting CSS translate3d to 0,0,0 but obviously if its not your website its happening on and its an inherent problem in Safari/webkit then it needs sorting by Apple.

 

[Silvereel]

I think what you're seeing are the pages reloading. It's very annoying to me, and I wish they would let them be stored in the system memory for longer.

As it is now, Safari seems to store a snapshot of the last page you were on whenever you navigate to another. When you swipe back to the previous page, what you see first is a snapshot of how that page looked the last time you visited it. It is then replaced by the actual page, once it loads

 

[mumph]

I think what you're seeing are the pages reloading. It's very annoying to me, and I wish they would let them be stored in the system memory for longer.

As it is now, Safari seems to store a snapshot of the last page you were on whenever you navigate to another. When you swipe back to the previous page, what you see first is a snapshot of how that page looked the last time you visited it. It is then replaced by the actual page, once it loads

It happens as soon as you start to swipe in so nothing has actually reloaded or been 'snapped' at that point, I know what you mean though its annoying to see a crappy snapshot image. This problem is purely text based on the current page not the snapshot version sliding in to replace it. It also happens on some webpages with a slider where nothing else on the page is reloaded.

Click the link below and rollover the first image (iphone) a green slider should roll in from the left. When that happens on my iMac (in Safari or Chrome) the text on the page turns bold then when the animation stops it goes back to normal.

http://theme-fusion.com/avada/1-column/

This happens in the App Store when you swipe back and forth between pages (but not for everyone) so far I've had two people confirm they have the same problem. One is on Snow Leopard and the other, like myself is on ML.

 

[Silvereel]

I see what you're talking about. It could be something to do with the rendering engine (WebKit) not playing well with someone's coding, or it could even be something to do with OS X's font rendering. I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to this, but I'm pretty sure that I've seen similar issues before.

 

[mumph]

I see what you're talking about. It could be something to do with the rendering engine (WebKit) not playing well with someone's coding, or it could even be something to do with OS X's font rendering. I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to this, but I'm pretty sure that I've seen similar issues before.

I'm finding more and more people with this problem. Its looking like an OSX problem as you say, mainly font anti aliasing. Some people get the text going bolder, some thinner and some even say it seems to change colour (lighter).

 

[mumph]

Not that anyone here seemingly had this problem but I spoke to Apple engineering team and they sent me a load of stuff to download and capture some data regarding the problem and they are quite pleased with the results. They are now working on eradicating the bug. Possibly for the next OS update.

Just had a call from Exec relations to thank me for giving them 'great data'.

 

[Silvereel]

Wow, congratulations and good work Hopefully it makes it into Mavericks.

What sort of tools did they send you to capture data?

 

[mumph]

Wow, congratulations and good work Hopefully it makes it into Mavericks.

What sort of tools did they send you to capture data?

It was a .dmg creatively called 'Data Capture' hehe. It had a few tick boxes for capturing various bits of data, mail, wifi etc.

Basically I think it just captures your log files and you give them a description of the problem and the time it occurred so they can then check the logs at that time to see what is happening.

They said it was something they were aware of but needed more info on the problem as its rare and mine was very helpful. I sent videos, screen captures, descriptions etc.

They said the fix should come in an update but cant obviously say when. At least its logged and they are on to it. Its obviously not a massive problem but it still something to be quashed.