8 ms·

This website is requesting that I download a file on mobile… Can anyone duplicate?

• thenthenthen 17d ago
  Nope (iOS Safari)
  • Simulacra 17d ago
    Thanks, I too am using iOS and Safari. Very strange.
    • goodmythical 17d ago
      Ho-ly. Curius, I searched: tomshardware requesting I download file and got: Recent reports from August 2026 indicate that users accessing Tom's Hardware on mobile browsers experienced unexpected file download requests (with a link to your comment) while viewing specific content. Similar issues occurred historically, where buggy ad servers or site scripts triggered empty "usnc" file downloads or 0-byte files on devices lacking adblockers. Current and Historical Context The unexpected prompt you are seeing is a known behavior that has resurfaced recently. On August 30, 2026, mobile users browsing via Safari on iOS reported that loading articles—specifically regarding a recent 12TB Steam leak—triggered an unsolicited prompt asking them to download a file. This matches historical patterns where technical glitches or external elements on the platform caused automated downloads... And then it lists a couple of times it happened in the past.
      • anigbrowl 17d ago
        Don't post LLM output to HN. Anyone here who wants to know what Gemini says has the capacity to look it up for themselves.
        • goodmythical 16d ago
          Sorry for sharing my interest that the search was providing results based on recent forum activity.