Apple's Safari browser suddenly crashed on iPhones, iPads and Macs worldwide on Wednesday.

Launching a new tab in the web browser then trying to type into the address bar crashed the built-in browser for some users, sending them back to the device's home screen.

People around the world have posted messages to Twitter, Reddit and Apple forums complaining about the problem.

The issue appeared to be related to the browser's search suggestions feature, and a temporary fix involved going into the settings menu to turn off Safari suggestions.

Not all phones and computers appear to have been affected by the bug. It is unclear whether the problem was related to an update for iOS which was released earlier this week.

Some users say they were forced to download the Chrome browser instead, which is made by Apple rival Google.

Apple have said that the problem has now been resolved.

It hasn't been a good 24 hours for Apple - overnight it warned iPhone sales are expected to fall for the first time since the smartphone's launch in 2007.