Q: iOS 9.3 - Safari/Mail freezes after clicking links on iPhone 6S

Restoring to an older* backup via iTunes (Mac) AND disabling auto-update for Apps (iTunes & App store settings) appears - at present - to resolve this issue for iPad Air.

*1/20/16

The first restoration attempt was initially successful - but then Safari/Email URLs again stopped working after about 30 minutes (I'm assuming this occurred once the offending app(s) auto-updated in the background.) 

Auto downloads/updates HAVE BEEN DISABLED for the second restoration attempt - and at 1.5 hrs, Safari/email remain functional. (JS and iCloud enabled.)

Same problem here. I did a restore from backup and it temporarily fixed the problem (for about half a day). Now the problem is back. Can't open links in Safari. Safari links in 3rd party apps freeze the phone. Waiting patiently for a fix from Apple...

Disable JS did not help me. Neither did learning cache etc. or force reboots. It appears in chrome if i open a link in a new window i can at least browse a little...

(iPhone 6)

Don't think its 6 or 6S related. I have an 5S which is crashing in several apps, mainly Safari and other 3rd party browsers. This issue started right after updating to 93. Curious thing is that my GF has an 6 and i suggested her updating to 9.3 because hers iphone was locking even before 9.3 installation.

Did/do you have auto-update enabled? Settings--iTunes & App Store--Updates

I'm still on 9.0.2 on my 6s and I am also having issues with links in all of my apps.

I,ve deleted booking.com app and tried every trick listed in this thread but with no luck

Are you referring to the iTunes & App stores under Setting on iPhone or iPad? The option says Automatic Downloads (not updates). The descriptions says automatically download purchases made on other devices. That is if I bought an app on my iPad, it automatically downloads the same app to my iPhone. I'm not sure it refers to automatically updating an app in the background. Even Apple's own support page described as automatically download new purchases to all devices. Turn on Automatic Downloads - Apple Support  No mention about app updates.

iPad. Yes, you are correct, automatic downloads, then deselect both updates and apps.

It's been 6 hrs and both safari and email are still working.

Note that the age of the restore point (backup) may matter if the issue does indeed turn out to be app-related...

(Restoring to to a backup with the offending app/version intact likely won't resolve the conflict.)

Well since we don't know what is(are) the offending apps, it's hard to know if the backups are good or not. I tried deleting booking.com as suggested in this thread, performed a backup without it and then restored it again. As soon as the restore was done, without say booking.com, the same problem occurred. I have done a few fresh restorse to 9.3 and it worked just fine as a new phone. The problem is I cannot afford to start from scratch and lose thousands of iMessages in my iTunes backup. There is a post in this thread saying it has to do with a corrupted DB caused by an overize app-site association file. If you don't have a corrupted DB in your backup, I supposed it'll work as long as you don't download another app that can cause the same problem. I guess if you have a clean backup and not losing that much by going back, it's good to go.

Yes exactly the same issue here - just adding to the thread in the hope that Apple gets off their butts and does something fast - its extremely frustrating not being able to use my phone properly!!! They're not exactly cheap!!!

It's intermittent for me when using Chrome. It won't work if I tap on the link. I'd need to tap+hold to open the link in new tab.

I disabled JavaScript and it's not working.

Just adding one more. Links don't work, not in native apps like Mail and Safari nor 3rd party such as Outlook or Chrome. I have set my iPhone aside and use my Lumia 950 now. It works like a charm. A smartphone without links working is close to useless.

Email and browser completely useless.  Great QA job by Apple.

Fortune telling here:

either someone was fired just before Easter long weekend

or

someone will be fired after the Easter long weekend

Outlook works fine if you change the settings so it does not link to Safari as default. Select Chrome or Firefox instead and links works in outlook.