Do you want to let ESPN.com use up to 1.2 GB on your Mac

[mk313]

I just got a popup on my Mac. I was reading ESPN.com (on Safari) and the alert said 'Do you want to let ESPN.com use up to 1.2 GB on your Mac.

Has anyone seen a similar message before and/or know what this means? I've used Macs for a long time & he never seen that before. Not sure if it's a new feature or if I've just been lucky. I wasn't doing anything special or trying to load anything onto my Mac, just reading an article

Thanks in advance,

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Have never heard or seen that. If you have a photo of the prompt that would be great.

 

[mk313]

wish I would have thought to screenshot it. If I see the message again, I'll be sure to post that.

 

[Boyd01]

Never saw anything like that either. I wonder if it was a real alert from Safari/MacOS or one of those fake popups that look like alerts but are actually ads for questionable software/websites?

 

[chown33]

It might be related to the browser's use of local storage.

You should be able to see how much local storage a website is using, by viewing it under the Preferences pane.

Manage cookies and website data in Safari on Mac

In Safari on your Mac, clear cookies and website data for some or all websites. Control which cookies and website data you allow.

support.apple.com

I once wrote a small web app that uses local storage (accessed with JavaScript) to store some data. To me, 1.2GB seems extraordinarily large.

Here's a basic explanation of what it is, written for JavaScript programming:

Web Storage API - Web APIs | MDN

The Web Storage API provides mechanisms by which browsers can store key/value pairs, in a much more intuitive fashion than using cookies.

developer.mozilla.org

 

[Boyd01]

I once wrote a small web app that uses local storage (accessed with JavaScript) to store some data. To me, 1.2GB seems extraordinarily large.

I've been developing a complex web app for awhile. I have never seen a suggestion that you could have anywhere near 1.2gb with localStorage, IMO that number is off by an order of magnitude. localStorage limits are a bit mysterious and opaque, and varies a lot by platform/browser. But everything I've read suggests a limit of around 5mb. There are ways around this by using caches and databases (which is something I need to learn more about) but that's not localStorage and from what I've read, on Safari the upper limit is still well below 1gb.

Next time you see that message, note which ads are on the page. I'm still thinking it's some sort of bogus alert coming from an ad and if you click it will try to get you to purchase some software to clean up all that wasted space.

 

[chown33]

The support.apple.com page I linked seems to say that you can view what websites are storing what data using the appropriate sub-view of the Preferences pane. The last time I saw something like this, Safari at least showed my sizes and domains. Unfortunately, I don't have a recent Safari version to check this on.

The OP should be able to at least look in Preferences pane sub-views and see what's there. One of those sub-views should lead to a list of how much storage is currently used. No Safari or OS version was posted, so the support.apple.com link may or may not describe exactly what will appear.

 

[Boyd01]

When I go to Safari Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data, it shows me which sites store data but doesn't show the amount of storage they are using. I am still running Catalina however.

But you can see exactly what's in localStorage by going here (where "you" is your username). This is inside the hidden Library folder which can be accessed via Go > Go To Folder in the Finder

/Users/you/Library/Safari/LocalStorage

On my Mac, the biggest file is 4.4MB, which is consistent with the idea of a 5MB maximum.

You can also inspect exactly what is being stored by going into Developer Mode in Safari. Enable it in Safari Preferences > Advanced > Show Develop menu in menu bar

Now choose Develop > Show Web Inspector in the Safari menu bar and click the Storage tab. Choose Local Storage from the dropdown menu and you will see it all. You can copy/paste values from that table into a text editor if you want to have a closer look.

 

[chown33]

I just checked my Safari, and don't see any sizes in its Manage Website Data list. I could easily be misremembering, including which browser it was.

After looking under the Web Inspector, it looks somewhat familiar, so that could have been where I saw it.

 

[B.Ellis]

Started showing up every time I visit on iPad ???

 

[Boyd01]

That is interesting, have never seen it. But I think it is related to this:

There are ways around this by using caches and databases but that's not localStorage and from what I've read, on Safari the upper limit is still well below 1gb.

It is probably asking if you want to allow IndexedDB to use a larger than normal amount of storage space. Unfortunately, on iOS you don't have access to things like web inspector and can't look in your Library folder to see what's going on (AFAIK).

 

[mk313]

Thank you @Boyd01 & @chown33 for the possible explanations. That makes sense.

Thank you @B.Ellis for catching that screen shot.

I'm glad that it's not just me & that it does seem to be legit. I still won't allow it, but thanks all for the help with figuring this one out.

 

[chown33]

It is probably asking if you want to allow IndexedDB to use a larger than normal amount of storage space. Unfortunately, on iOS you don't have access to things like web inspector and can't look in your Library folder to see what's going on (AFAIK).

On iPadOS 13.2: Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data > Shows a list

The list is strikingly like what I was imagining above, when I mentioned a list showing websites (domains) and storage sizes. There's a good chance I was thinking of this, not something on macOS Safari at all. It was at least 2 years ago, maybe more, and I haven't done much web dev since, so given my hazy recall, I think it's time for me to let this lie and go have a nap.

 

[bluecoast]

Maybe ESPN.com is now mining crypto? 🤷‍♂️

 

[marktrafton]

So, is there a way to stop these annoying popups from appearing?

 

[bizzy045]

anyone find a solution for this? It keeps happening to me.