Gmail fails to load/login after browser restart * Start STP * Login to gmail * exit browser * Observe that restored tab is blank occasionally * Always note that once page loads, you are not logged in, but instead at the 'get more done with gmail' page (login/signup) Does not occur with firefox, chrome, safari STP Release 109 (Safari 14.0, WebKit 16610.1.17.2) on Big Sur 11.0 Beta (20A4299v), but has occurred for quite a few previous STP releases
Also reported 26 June as apple feedback id: FB7795522
rdar://problem/64797418
Thanks for filing! Which domain is it loading from? I assume mail.google.com but it’s best to ask. Is there a difference if you load manually in a new tab? Does this seem to be specific to Gmail? Specific to Google websites (search, YouTube)? Or have you seen similar issues for other logins? Is your Gmail tab pinned? What happens when you try to log in – do you have to provide credentials again or does account.google.com consider you logged in? If you have to re-enter credentials, does the login page remember your account or is it like a clean start? Are you using or explicitly not using any “Remember Me” functionality?
Thanks for the followup. * I am going to https://www.google.com/gmail/about/#inbox * Once logged on I am at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox * The behaviour I described was happening consistently for the last few days, however I am seeing slightly different behaviour when I try to repro today ... * I've also noticed occasionally when I return to a page after leaving browser idle for a while (I left the macbook for coffee) I get 'Gmail is having authentication problems. Some features may not work. Try logging in to fix the problem.' - instead of being dumped at start page. If clicked gmail then seems to work normally (with no prompt for user) * Occasionally gmail does seem to load correctly * Going to the page manually shows the same behaviour within the session * I've not noticed the issue with youtube previously * My gmail tab is normally pinned, but not always. I've not YET noticed a difference in behaviour * The login page remembers my account, I seem to only have to click my id (remembered by the google accounts site) to use. * Today I logged completely out, and back in again. Right now the site is behaving ok. I suspect it will return, but I will monitor and update here. * I've not seen any such odd behaviour on other browsers (inc. safari) so far.
Thanks for the details! This sounds flaky and Gmail-specific to me rather than a solid repro case for Google login. Especially the fact that the login flow remembers you means website data is still there. My guess is that either something changed in WebKit which is confusing Gmail servers or Google has a bug in Gmail that only manifests occasionally. For us to be able to investigate without a repro case, we’d need a sysdiagnose. If you see any errors or warnings in Web Inspector, that would be helpful too.
Thanks. I haven't had a recurrance. I'm wondering if doing an explicit logout/in has cleared something. In any case I think we should close this for now, and I will re-open if the problem re-occurs.