Apple release notes not appearing consistently across browsers

TidBITS Talk
1

Really, really strange. That “About visionOS 26 Updates” page:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/123024 and the Japanese version https://support.apple.com/ja-jp/123024

both do display the “visionOS 26.0.1” section (so the online release notes are updated) if opened by Safari, (says “publish_date: “09302025””)

but do not display that (and only displays the “visionOS 26” section) if opened by Google Chrome. (says “publish_date: “09152025””)

So, the visionOS release notes is already updated with Safari, but not yet updated with Google Chrome. (Both Safari and Google Chrome are the newest, current version. Running macOS Tahoe 26.0.1.) Reloading the page in Google Chrome does not resolve this strangeness, and stubbornly reloads the 09152025 page.

OS 26.0.1 Updates Fix Early Bugs
2

but do not display that (and only displays the “visionOS 26” section) if opened by Google Chrome. (says “publish_date: “09152025””)

Perhaps something changed overnight, but Chrome is not doing that on my system.

3

OK, there is something going on here. I tried loading https://support.apple.com/en-us/123024 in Arc, which is my main browser, and no matter how many times I press Command-R, I can’t get it to show the visionOS 26.0.1 release notes.

I switched to Safari 18.6 (also on my MacBook Pro), and it too didn’t show the 26.0.1 release notes until I reloaded the page manually (the first load was still a new tab).

I tried Brave, and I think it was wrong on the first load but correct on reloads. Chrome was correct from the first try, as was Firefox.

Switching to my MacBook Air, Safari 26.0 loaded the newest version of the page on the first try, but Arc on that Mac also won’t load the new version of the page, no matter what I do. On a hunch, I tried Dia on both machines and it won’t display the 26.0.1 release notes either.

So my guess is that there’s something with Chromium that’s not quite getting along with Apple’s page but that both Arc and Dia fail to fix the way other Chromium browsers do.

Interestingly, to report the bug to The Browser Company, I had to work with a chatbot. It was shockingly good—it made good suggestions (turn off ad blockers, try a private window) and asked reasonable questions, and even pointed me toward the solution, which was to clear caches. It’s still a bug, but I’m much less grumpy about it after getting good chatbot support.

4

I’ve noticed from time to time that Chromium-based browsers, especially Chrome itself, aggressively cache data, and it can take a little extra work to get past it.

For example, command-shift-R is sometimes required to force reloading without cache, rather than the more common command-R key combo.

In more extreme cases, look for “Delete Browsing Data” in the “…” menu on most Chromium-based browsers.

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5

I cleared caches (“Whole period of time” – View history, Download history, Cookies and other site data, Cached images and files, and Site settings) in Chrome, but it didn’t solve the problem. The page < About visionOS 26 Updates - Apple Support > still opens the older release notes (publish_date: “09152025”). Command-Shift-R didn’t make any change. (I don’t use any Chrome Extensions at all.) The problem still remains.

Safari (and iCab) doesn’t have any problem. The newer release notes (publish_date: “09302025”) opens smoothly. M4 Mac mini (2024), macOS Tahoe 26.0.1. Current versions of Safari, iCab, and Chrome.

6

Sorry for the basic question: did you quit the app and restart?

7

Of course I did. I even restarted the Mac (restarted macOS), too. No change.

8

Hey, it’s the Internet. You never know! :grin:

1 Like
9

Getting weirder. When I click your link above in Arc (Chromium), I get only the 26.0 release notes. If I copy the URL behind your link (which is identical) and open it in a new tab, I get the 26.0.1 notes. And if I click your link to get the old page and press Command-R, nothing changes, but Command-Shift-R loads the 26.0.1 release notes.

And now that I’ve done that a few times, clicking your link gives me the 26.0.1 notes reliably.

I’m at a loss to explain this at the moment.

10

I’m speculating, but there also is the complicating factor of content distribution networks. I think the issue most likely is with odd browser cache behavior, but with a CDN, it is rare but possible for any number of things to go wrong, including individual servers on the CDN to getting out of sync with each other. I’d guess that Apple uses a CDN for this content.

11

This morning, I tried Google Chrome once again.

I clicked the links https://support.apple.com/en-us/123024 and https://support.apple.com/ja-jp/123024 in Google Chrome, and, at first, both of them still opened the old page “publish_date: “09152025”. I tried pressing command-R for each of them, but that did not fix it.

However, next I pressed command-shift-R (for each of them) and the two pages each magically changed to the new page “publish_date: “09302025”, and showed the visionOS 26.0.1 section.

Problem fixed. Now all of my browsers (Safari, iCab, and Google Chrome) open the current visionOS release notes correctly. Strangely, command-shift-R did not fix it a few days ago, but did fix it today.