Animated GIFs not animating in browser windows after iOS 26 update

After updating to iOS 26, animated GIFs no longer play or animate when viewed in any browser (tested in both Safari and Firefox) on my iPhone. This issue occurs across multiple popular GIF-hosting sites including Tenor and Giphy. Instead of animating, the GIFs display as static images only. If the same GIF is downloaded and opened using the Photos app or another viewer, it animates correctly. The same sites and GIFs load and animate as expected on other devices and earlier iOS versions.

I have tried disabling Low Power Mode, toggling the Reduce Motion/Accessibility settings, clearing browser caches, restarting the device, and disabling all browser extensions. None of these steps restore proper browser GIF animation. These settings have no direct technical connection to GIF playback in web browsers, so their effect (or lack thereof) should not impact animation functionality.

Given that this is a new cross-browser, cross-site bug introduced with iOS 26 and is not solved by changing user settings, it appears to be a regression or a new restriction in iOS itself. Please investigate and restore expected browser GIF animation.