Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube’s web player apparently has a rendering bug that sends browsers into an infinite loop of visual changes.
- The constant page rendering loop is causing processor and RAM usage to skyrocket, with users reporting memory consumption in the gigabytes.
- Users with browsers experiencing the bug are noticing extreme lag, stuttering, and frame drops during video playback.
YouTube users are reporting problems with the platform’s web playerand the site causes unexplained browser lag and extreme memory usage. Stuttering, frame drops, and RAM consumption are affecting users of multiple browsers, including Firefox and Brave, according to posts (1, 2) on Reddit.
Developers on the Mozilla forum say that the “ytd-menu-renderer” tag, which houses the Like, Dislike, and Share buttons, is causing the visual errors. This is a flexible menu that dynamically shows and hides buttons based on the available screen width. The developers explain that “ytd-menu-renderer” works by automatically removing a button if it overflows onto the screen and replacing buttons when the menu item is enlarged. The code is intended to ensure that only buttons that fit comfortably on your screen are displayed.
However, developer comments point out that “hostElement.clientWidth” grows when “ytd-menu-renderer” automatically hides a button. This makes the YouTube code think that the menu area is wide enough to fit the button, so it adds the button again. Of course, since there really isn’t enough visual space, “ytd-menu-renderer” removes the button again. The menu container expands once again and you probably get the idea. It’s an endless loop that forces your browser and PC to keep calculating, resizing, and rendering YouTube’s flexible menu.
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This error puts additional pressure on the user’s system resources. Users noticed an increase in their browser’s RAM usage, from a few hundred megabytes to consuming several gigabytes after trying to play a YouTube video. Others noticed their CPU core usage skyrocket while using YouTube’s web player, as documented by another Redditor. mail.
The YouTube web player rendering error affects users of several browsers, including Brave, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Mozilla is investigating the infinite loop issue in relation to its Firefox browser, but it’s unclear when a fix might be available on YouTube’s side.
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