Q: URLs not working in Safari or Mail after iOS 9.2.1

I have also received the same response over Twitter through DM:

I understand that we are all very anxious because more and more people are having this problem and we want a solution NOW.

But Apple replying with this ambiguity is really annoying...the biggest and most profitable company in the world replying like that to a real case affecting A LOT of people...it makes me worry a lot.

This partially worked for me as well.  Safari links began to work after Javascript was turned off but links in Mail causes my iPhone to freeze. 

I purchased my iPhone 6S Plus 128 GB in February and I started to have this problem about 4 days ago when still using 9.2.1 and I updated to 9.3 to see if it would fix the problem, but it didn't.  I can't click on any links to the internet when I am in Mail, any apps and Safari as my phone freezes up.  I backed my phone up and then did a restore but to no avail so I was told by Apple that they are working on it with a software fix!

EEmail links continue to be a problem. Anytime I attempt to click to link to url phone freezes for about 60 seconds, then unlocks and goes to home. Happens every time. Java disable worked fine for safari. Please resolve asap this is really becoming a problem for me and the other 50 users in our organization.

thanks

I, too, am having the same problem... links from all apps - email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. - freeze the app when clicked on. When opening up the browser directly - all browsers - I can type in the search bar, but cannot open any links from there either.

I have been having the same problem as everybody for last week. Tried to restore "as new" besides loosing lot of good stuff it did not work. Is Apple going to help???? I have been using Google App, which seems to work for some of the searching, but any link in mail, just forget it. So, I am keeping lots of kleenex handy and cry as the rest of the bunch.

I'm using GMAIL as a workaround for my non working Apple mail.

I'm using  GOOGLE app so I can search and open links as a workaround for my non functioning Safari.

I MIGHT AS WELL USE ANDROID THEN!!!

I have successfully recovered my phone making a custom backup image after removing Booking .com (app) from my iPhone.

I managed to use Decipher Tool's Decipher Phone Refresh to get rid of this bug by:

1. remove Bookings app from phone
2. create a backup on computer
3. use Decipher Tools to clean up my backup files, removing the corrupted data that crash com.apple.swdc
4. do a reset to clear all settings and content on my phone
5. restore from the custom backup file
6. let iOS download all of the apps from app store again that is used by the backup, all the settings / docs is already in the backup

I Agree. The safari in my iPhone 6 64gb stopped loading URLs, and from links in Mail and other apps even before I upgraded to IOS 9.3. Tried resetting network settings and upgraded to IOS 9.3, but still did not resolve the issue.

Thanks for sharing, Did  this and my safari can now load URLs but still can't access links from MAIL and other apps.

I hope Apple gets to the bottom of this and finds a solution to this problem.

_wli wrote:

 

I have successfully recovered my phone making a custom backup image after removing Booking .com (app) from my iPhone.

 

I managed to use Decipher Tool's Decipher Phone Refresh to get rid of this bug by:

1. remove Bookings app from phone
2. create a backup on computer
3. use Decipher Tools to clean up my backup files, removing the corrupted data that crash com.apple.swdc
4. do a reset to clear all settings and content on my phone
5. restore from the custom backup file
6. let iOS download all of the apps from app store again that is used by the backup, all the settings / docs is already in the backup

Is booking.com the culprit in this issue?

How do i know which data has to be removed from my backup with decipher tools ?

yes. and the cause of the problem is explained in this article.

I think it is ok to keep ALL data (check all the boxes)... you do not need "Contact/Address Book" if you use iCloud to store and sync it.

Also keep a good backup of your phone at its current stage in case the custom restore did not go well. I bet Apple will officially release a fix later this week but for me, I now have a functional phone and the refresh actually made my phone a bit faster as well.

here is a fix taken from the blogs for those that got affected after installing the prior version of bookings.com

1. If you still have it installed, delete the Booking.com app from your device
2. Turn on Airplane Mode
3. Plug your device into your computer and open iTunes
4. Turn your device off and on
5. Make sure you have the Booking.com app in iTunes on your computer - download link
6. Keep Airplane Mode on!
7. In iTunes, sync the Booking.com app to your device
   1. Select your iOS device in iTunes
   2. Change to the Apps tab
   3. Search for Booking.com and press install
      
   4. Press Sync
8. Wait for the sync to finish, then open the Booking.com app on your device
9. Force close the Booking.com app by double tapping the home button and swiping up
10. Force close Safari by double tapping the home button and swiping Safari up
11. Delete the Booking.com app
12. Turn off Airplane Mode
13. Open Safari - your links should work again! It'll also fix any problems with links from other apps like Mail or Messages.

You may need to try this a few times for it to work, it seems like a specific timing needs to occur for the correct caches to clear.

As for others "Venting" instead of reading and asking the same questions / comments over and aover...you should take the time "one page back" to read why this is happening