I’m encountering a consistent crash in WebKit when using WKWebView to play a YouTube playlist in my iOS app. Playback starts successfully, but the web process terminates during the second video in the playlist. This only occurs on physical devices, not in the simulator.
Here’s a simplified Swift example of my setup:
import SwiftUI
import WebKit
struct ContentView: View {
private let playlistID = "PLig2mjpwQBZnghraUKGhCqc9eAy0UbpDN"
var body: some View {
YouTubeWebView(playlistID: playlistID)
.edgesIgnoringSafeArea(.all)
}
}
struct YouTubeWebView: UIViewRepresentable {
let playlistID: String
func makeUIView(context: Context) -> WKWebView {
let config = WKWebViewConfiguration()
config.allowsInlineMediaPlayback = true
let webView = WKWebView(frame: .zero, configuration: config)
webView.scrollView.isScrollEnabled = true
let html = """
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0">
<style>body,html{height:100%;margin:0;background:#000}iframe{width:100%;height:100%;border:0}</style>
</head>
<body>
<iframe
src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/videoseries?list=\(playlistID)&controls=1&rel=0&playsinline=1&iv_load_policy=3"
frameborder="0"
allow="encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; fullscreen"
webkit-playsinline
allowfullscreen
></iframe>
</body>
</html>
"""
webView.loadHTMLString(html, baseURL: nil)
return webView
}
func updateUIView(_ uiView: WKWebView, context: Context) {}
}
#Preview {
ContentView()
}
Observed behavior:
First video plays without issue.
Web process crashes when the second video in the playlist starts.
Console logs show WebProcessProxy::didClose and repeated memory status messages.
Using ProcessAssertion or background activity does not prevent the crash.
Only occurs on physical devices; simulators do not reproduce the issue.
Questions:
Is there something I should change or add in my WKWebView setup or HTML/iframe to prevent the crash when playing the second video in a playlist on physical iOS devices?
Is there an officially supported way to limit memory or prevent WebKit from terminating the web process during multi-video playback?
Are there recommended patterns for playing YouTube playlists in a WKWebView on iOS without risking crashes?
Any tips for debugging or configuring WKWebView to make it more stable for continuous playlist playback?
Thanks in advance for any guidance!
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