iOS 26 update causing app crashes and freezes on iPhone

Re: iOS 26 update causing app crashes and freezes on iPhone

Wondering if your iPhone is short of memory / storage space after the update.

(An iPhone generally needs at least 8 Gb free in order to work smoothly.)

Check in Settings > General > iPhone Storage: More info: Manage storage on iPhone - Apple Support

There is often a lot still happening, indexing etc., going on in the background to complete the update process and to have everything working smoothly ... often seems best to keep iPhone well-charged and give things time to complete.

Check Iwhether you have low-power mode on or not.

Same issue: iMessages, Mail, and Phone would all lock up upon opening on iPhone after upgrade to iOS26. iPad (iOS26) or Mac has no issues. A restart would temporarily resolve the issue but it would return quickly. What has worked for me, at least for now, was the tip about blocked contacts. I had over 6,000 blocked contacts, mostly due to the number neighbor spam, and I unblocked enough to get me under 5,500. (Why is there not a mass edit button @Apple? You have to individually click each!) Also, blocked contacts seem to be device specific so I couldn’t adjust them on my iPad. Additionally, I deleted some malformed numbers that didn’t have all the digits in the contact. For now, seems to have worked and my expensive paper weight is mostly usable again.

[Edited by Moderator]

I used another iPhone/iPad with the same Apple ID and iCloud to delete a large block list of “junk call” contacts.

After waiting for iCloud to sync and then restarting the iPhone, my emails, phone calls, calendar, messages, and other data were all restored.

I was successful. “I hope to solve everyone’s problems

Thank you for your replies, for the info. on storage, and about other issues.

Apologies for the delay in replying.

Seems not everyone has these issues ... our particular hardware, software, set-up and settings combinations are as unique as their owners.

✽ If you have installed any unnecessary third-party (non-Apple) apps like virus-checkers, ad-blockers, cleaners or the like (even VPN) try turning them off (or use uninstallers from their developers) and see if there's any difference.

✽ Any third-party apps that you find necessary, need to be kept up-to-date with the newest version, so they don't cause incompatibility issues.

✽ Any browser extensions can also cause issues: if installed, try turning them off.

Messaging back and forth is not the most direct method to trouble-shoot.

You may want to reach out to Apple Support to tap into their expertise (eg: online chat / phone etc,) Eg: There is a link to "support" at top-most right, and bottom left on this discussion page, or you can try downloading the support app: Download.

Reset all settings worked for me

The issue with the native apps freezing is they all have one common connection, blocked contacts. If you’re like me and have years worth of blocked contacts your list could be thousands. In my case 16k. Those apps check the blocked list while opening and something is iOS 26 freezes them. The solution? Delete or unblock which has to be done one at a time, which is terrible enough without not being able to get into blocked contacts because it FREEZES too. Apple fix this! This was not an issue in iOS 18 and earlier and my iPhone 17 can’t run iOS 18

I seem to have achieved moderate stability with an iPhone 11 Pro Max by deleting the Mail app from my phone. I've made Outlook the default mail app in its place for the time being. But I'm now able to use Messages and Calendar apps more consistently without regular crashes. But I want to emphasize "moderate stability". This is still a very delicate situation.

After a major upgrade, like iOS26, there is often a lot still happening, re-indexing etc., going on in the background to complete the update process and to have everything working smoothly ... often seems best to keep iPhone well-charged and give things time to complete.

You may want to check whether you have low-power mode on or not.

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If you still have issues two or three days after installing iOS 26:

First, if you haven't already: try re-starting your iPhone

If you still need help:

Check for interference issues with your Apple communication apps.

Eg: If you use third-party (non-Apple) apps on your iPhone:

Unnecessary apps like ad-blockers, virus checkers, cleaners and the like (even VPN) often cause issues.

If installed, you can try turning them off (or use uninstallers from their developers) to see if that helps.

Any apps you find necessary may need updating in order to remain compatible, and not cause issues:

Out-of-date browser extensions can also cause issues ... turn off / uninstall / or update if possible.

Try restarting your iPad and clearing out unwanted storage, and/or apps you dont use anymore. If this continues to be an ongoing problem, look into some files you don't need. I know this isn't so much help, but you can try out these simple steps.

What worked around this issue for me was: go into Accessibility, Display & Text Size and turn ON both "Reduce Transparency"

If you want: You can send feedback to reach those who work behind-the-scenes at Apple. They will likely not reply, yet your feedback will be carefully read and logged.

The more feedback they receive on a particular issue, the more they know about which hardware models and software versions have a similar issue, and the more likely an update, if needed, will be released.

Apple's feedback webpage: Product Feedback - Apple

See whether Apple support's online articles can help you:

Check whether there are restrictions in place:

Change settings and restrictions in the App Store on iPhone - Apple Support

Else: what to do:

If you can’t download or update apps on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

or

How to manually update apps from the App Store - Apple Support

I only updated on my iPad and have had issues with Mail, Messages, Phone, Contacts, and Calendar apps. Chatted with customer support and they said this was not a known issue. They had me reset the network settings, which did get the apps to stop freezing on opening. So the chat was ended and then they started freezing again. Why are my non apple apps working fine but apples own apps are so affected.