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

I dowloaded iOs 9.2.1 through

Installed this .ipsw file in iTunes

Hold the Alt key (on Mac OS X) / the Shift key (on Windows) and hit “restore” in iTunes

iOs Restore went ok but all data is gone from the iPhone 😟 😟

Restore from backup does not work because the latest backup was with iOs 9.3 😟 😟

On my iMac I restored the MobileSync backup folder (1 day before upgraging to 9.3) via Time Machine (~\library\Application Support\MobileSync\Backup\)

Long live Time Machine!!!

Now I could restore my iPhone from backup 🙂 🙂

Everything works fine again 🙂 🙂 🙂

Waiting for the upgrade

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Try this workaround:

1- restore the phone to an earlier back up

2- on the first start after restoration, it will start downloading all the apps that you had previously

3- find Booking app and remove it before it starts downloading

this is based on the assumption that Booking is the rogue app that breaks the system. Works for me.

Good luck 🙂

While Apple worked on it, various intrepid posters here were offering workarounds, meanwhile:

Google App versus Safari?

"I found that the "Google" app could do web search and browsing just fine, and here all inks work fine - its a workaround until apple fixes the overall problem"

Bing versus Google search engine:?

"If you change search provider to Bing at least search links work In Safari. Maybe Bing doesn't use JavaScript."

Yahoo versus Safari?

"Set safari search engine to Bing or Yahoo. - " some others report this does not work for them.

Firefox versus Safari?

"My only work around so far is using Firefox, click and hold a link opens a drop down menu that allows opening the link in a new tab"

iCabMobile versus Safari?

"I now use iCabMobile for browsing. Tapping and holding a link opens a contextual menu that contains several options for opening the link (same tab, new tab, background tab). As this seems to bypass the now buggy Apple API for following links, it works."

Google via http rather than https?

"Since disabling JavaScript is stopping a lot of websites to function I've done something else:

go to http://google.com/webhp?nord=1

save this page to your homescreen for simple access

You're now using google via http (instead of https) and links are working.

Just returning to results doesn't function. You have to go back to blank search page, but at least you can search and go to a search result again."

But a response: "I tried this but it doesn't work for me: No links are supported."

And a counter: "BTW I wasn't logged into Google with an account. Perhaps that makes a difference?"

And a correction 3/27:"I can confirm that the solution described above works with JavaScript turned on.

I must have made an error trying it out earlier today.

So the good news is that Safari can handle links produced by Google searches."

Outlook as a workaround?

"Here is what i tried and can somewhat can survive with, but this is not a fix !:

1. Installed Microsoft Outlook.

2. In the settings:

Open links with: Select Google Chrome or Firefox (Not Safari)

(Could not find these settings in the rotten Apple mail)

3. Linking in a browser:

(Googel Chome and Firefox) use Bing as search engine and evt. select/hold links until Pop-up and select "Open in a new fan"

go to the new fan."

Gmail as a workaround?

"A TEMPORARY SOLUTION TO THE iOS 9.3 EMAIL AND SEARCH LINK ISSUES:

MAIL ISSUES

IF you use Gmail exclusively, download the Gmail app and access you mail through it. Links work.

IF you dont use Gmail, set up a Gmail account, then route your other mail through it as explained here: http://www.radiantd.com/how-to-route-domain-email-through-gmail/. Then download the Gmail app and access email and links through it.

SEARCH/SAFARI ISSUES

DOwnload the Google Search app, do your searching through this portal. Links work.

NEither of these is perfect but it gets around the current paralysis. Issues:

There are no Search Tools in the Google search app, so you cannot filter by date, etc.

I haven't figured out how to access recently deleted trash in the Gmail app"

Opera mini to "kick" Safari?

"I was able to get Safari working again, at least for now, by installing Opera Mini. I was trying to connect to my work Wifi and the process includes clicking on a button/link in the Wifi login page. When i did it before I installed Opera the screen would switch and then freeze. I had the same problem using Chrome and Firefox. So I thought what the heck let's give Opera a go and it worked in Opera and when I opened Safari I am now able to click on links and have them work.

I still have the problem with links in email and notepad. Haven't had a chance to check Messages yet but I am guessing that they won't work there either. I will probably just stick with Opera until they release the patched firmware."

Outlook and Opera Coast, Chrome as a replacement for Mail, Safari?

"I found the solution (until 8.3.1 is released):

Use Outlook

Use Opera Coast

Setup Outlook to open links in Opera Coast

And then say bye to Mail and Safari, I'm testing Outlook and Coast and they are great!!!"

Then someone else found the Ben Collier link that I had been unable to look at in Safari.

"Here's an explanation what's going on: https://bencollier.net/2016/03/unable-to-open-links-in-safari-mail-or-messages-o n-ios-9-3/"

So I finally went to the link, and I am no Apple app guru, but It sounds plausible as a root cause. Per Ben Collier at that link:

"Update One 13:00 March 28/03/2016: Booking.com have updated their association file - it's now only 4KB - this hasn't fixed the issue but should prevent new users that install from hitting the same problem. Even reinstalling the app and rebooting doesn't fix it - the swcd (shared web credentials daemon) crashes once it's got corrupt data in it.

Short version:

there is currently no fix for this - we're waiting on Apple to resolve. A reboot sometimes temporarily fixes the issue, and turning off JavaScript gets Google search results working again. If you haven't got the problem - don't install the Booking.com app (read on for more info).

A lot of users (including myself and a few friends) are experiencing links in Mail and Messages not working, and some links in Safari, like Google Search results, not opening. A long press on a broken link causes the app you're in to crash, otherwise a standard tap highlights the link but nothing happens.

This issue was reported by some users on 9.2.1 but has only become widespread since 9.3 was released on 21st March 2016."

People here seem to be not following that link, and not energetic enough to try it out...or maybe it escaped notice because it was not quoted at length...

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...so, to cut to the chase, here at length is version 5 of Ben's workaround. Caveat: I have not tried his method yet. I thought it through and decided that it was worth posting in detail in case it helped Apple thinks and users work....As I understand it, the steps are designed to isolate the device and control which version of Booking.com the device takes in and uses, unconfuse the daemon that got overloaded, and force Safari to approach links in the way that the iOS developers had in mind. --

Update five:

"If you've been hit by the iOS 9.3 broken links you can follow these steps to fix the issue whilst we wait for a full update from Apple. Unfortunately you'll need to hook your iPhone or iPad up to your computer and sync with iTunes.

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 [If you access the original post, there is an active link - presumably to the version with the squished-down manifest of valid links.]

6. Keep Airplane Mode on!

7. In iTunes, sync the Booking.com app to your device

A. Select your iOS device in iTunes

B. Change to the Apps tab

C. Search for Booking.com and press install

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. Turn off Airplane Mode

12. 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.

Thanks to Booking.com quickly fixing their side! You should be able to safely reinstall their app again after confirming these steps worked.

(Thanks to Wojtek Pietrusiewicz who's guide led me in this direction.) See

Now you're back in action - here are some tips for using Universal Links."

...and he links to another post with those tips on Universal Links.

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Ben does explain the background, as well. In brief, it seems to have started with a simple coding practice of just adding valid web links for apps that aggregate...like Booking .com, or my Newsify app example. That worked up to a point, but when the list got huge it then overloaded an iOS routine and either crashed things as he says so that the daemon couldn't disgorge the huge lump of info. Or maybe it was an unintentional loop, or an off-by-one, or a memory allocation glitch. So the effect spread beyond the app and affected Safari, and other things that the iOS touched for web links. If people did a clean install that really cleaned things up for the daemon, and avoided reintroducing the link-happy apps' oversized lists-o-links, it might work out. Whatever the case, here is Ben's explanation:

"What's Going On

In iOS 9 Apple introduced Universal Links, these allow app developers to associate their website and app, so links to the website can open the app up automatically if installed. For example, following a link to a Guardian article opens up the Guardian app to that specific article instead of their website.

App developers put an app association file on their website which lists which types of URLs the app can open. When you install an app, iOS downloads this associated file and updates your own database of what URLs your installed apps can open. The website and app listing in iTunes are linked by the developer - so it prevents anyone from hijacking your website with their app.

When you tap a link in iOS, the system looks through the database of installed apps supported URLs to see if it matches a pattern an installed app can handle. If nothing matches it opens it up as a standard app.

Why's It Broken

It looks like there's a bug in iOS that completely breaks the Universal Links if it gets served an app association file that's too large.

Benjamin Mayo of 9to5mac.com reported installing the Booking.com app consistently broke their test devices - which led Steve Troughton-Smith (who else...) to take a peep at their association file: [screenshot of the file, and screenshot of Twitter where Steve T-S states that the file was a 2.3MB download].

It seems that the large size of their file, due to it having every URL from their website inside it breaks the iOS database on the device. Apple allows you to have pattern based matching, so instead of having to include every hotel's URL in the association file, Booking.com could just put /hotel/* to match all the hotels on their site.

Whilst Booking.com aren't following the recommended approach, it's not their fault that a third-party can break a fundamental system feature like web browsing. Apple should be handling these edges graciously.

The worst part - deleting the app doesn't clear the Universal Link association. Because the OS process that handles the Universal Links has crashed, it appears unable to remove the corrupt database.

The Workarounds

Unfortunately there's no fix for this at the moment although a restart of the OS can temporarily restore links, and turning off JavaScript (Settings -> Safari -> Advanced) allows certain websites, such as Google search results to work again. Apple confirmed these workarounds to me, and hinted there may be a software update to resolve this;

'Be sure to keep your software up to date in case a future release addresses this issue.

We do have two workaround options. Restarting the phone may allow links to work, but the issue can come back. The other workaround would be [to] turn off JavaScript.'

Some users have been able to fix with an elaborate reboot cycle

Update One 13:00 March 28/03/2016: Booking.com have updated their association file - it's now only 4KB - this hasn't fixed the issue but should prevent new users that install from hitting the same problem. Even reinstalling the app and rebooting doesn't fix it - the swcd (shared web credentials daemon) crashes once it's got corrupt data in it."

And a couple used similar methods, or Ben's. One used a method from a source that inspired Ben's:

"I have been following this whole thread and I am happy to report that Inhave fixed the issue. I waited for 24h before posting to make sure this still works.

You do not need to revert to a previous version or lose any backups. I have 300 apps on my phone and I kept all of them (except 3), including my full backup.

No iTunes.

The process I followed:

1. Create an iCloud backup.

2. Erase all content and settings.

3. Follow the process to restore from the iCloud backup once the phone has been wiped.

4. As soon as your applications show up greyed out (which means they are queued to be downloaded), click and hold any app so you can delete the offending applications BEFORE they install. In my case, and I suspect for many other people, the offending apps I deleted were:

- Booking.com

- Triparvisor

- Yelp

The rest of my apps downloaded and the issue did not return."

3/29 "I followed exactly the steps from here; and the problem went away. There are a good description of the problem here;

If you don't want to use iTunes for syncing the booking.app, you can use xcode. Open xcode and choose window->devices. Then choose your i-device and press the '+' button under installed apps."

Note: if you look through the versions that Ben lists, you should get to the version where someone was inspired to experiment with xcode.

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This has worked for me. I have other Apple devices and thus my data is stored and can be accessed using them, if you have one device only this may not be a solution for you as you will lose some of your data.

I have had the same problem with my iPhone 6S since installing IOS 9.3 as thousands of others: Safari freezes and Mail freezes when clicking on links. I tried many of the workarounds suggested on this thread including wiping, restoring from both iTunes and iCloud, removing booking disabling Safari suggestions, javascript etc. I also tried the “How to fix iOS 9.x Safari/Mail link Bug (Updated)’ on Infinitediaries.net, but nothing worked for me.

I have three other Apple devices:

MacBook Pro running El Capitan 10.11.4

Ipad 4 IOS 9.2.1 (13D15)

iPhone 4s IOS 9.2.1 (13D15)

These are unaffected although my Macbook did have the Safari freeze problem when I first updated to El Capitan. The workaround that time was to disable Safari suggestions. This glitch was sorted in subsequent updates.

In desperation I finally decided to wipe my iPhone 6s and set it up as a new phone using my original Apple ID and password. It is relatively simple process though time consuming but afterwards I could search on Safari and links in Mail worked. Once my phone was verified I re-downloaded my apps from the App store one by one, checking after each download that everything was working. On some of the Apps I have lost data but the level of frustration that has caused me is nothing compared to how I have been feeling for the last five days.

I have now synced my phone with iTunes on my MacBook and also iCloud and everything seems to be working ok. I have not re-download booking yet but many others have suggested that this glitch has now been sorted by the booking developers. I will wait for Apple to acknowledge there is a problem with 9.3 and issue an update before I install anything else.

For the last 24 hours this has worked for me. Hope it helps somebody out there.

But Apple, this is just not good enough.

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Tried the booking.com removal and switch off etc on two devices. No avail. Noted wife's phone didn't have it but has trip advisor and works ok. Twitter exchange with Apple confirmed they are working on it...no timetable. But I guess it takes tile to debug and then work out fix.

APple store rep thought I overstated that it was a worldwide problem. I rephrased to a worldwide problem that has affected more users than Apple should be comfortable with and yes I can see his phone works but he must have 30 apps tops installed including thoose part of os. I have about 250 which is I guess more than average but I'd say 30 is much less. He then noted that they were aware and fix in hand and suggested dfu and start fresh if couldn't wait. Not a restore but a 'dfu and clean restore'. Searched web for instructions and followed a youtube video instruction. It's a pain, timing the steps then whole reinstall. Took a while But iPhone 6s 128gb up and running and all links working via mail, safari, etc. and Java is back on and using Google to search. At moment. Apps wise over 150 from 250 went back on but booking.com stayed off ( yes I have a lot but I'd say I sweat the asset and make it work hard). I figure for those with a half decent website then that will do in future rather than app.

Lost some data as didn't restore a backup and not all apps backup separate. Accessed some of old backup files via pc using iMazing for app data but not messages, photos, contacts etc as behind encryption...dam...where is fbi when you need them! Most stuff caught via outlook sync so only messages lost.

Shame iTunes for pc doesn't use time machine approach as only backup was most recent and after bug in system so I couldn't roll back to say three weeks ago. Anyone know how to force pc to change backup folder location so I can change periodically? I used to just change name of phone but I guess it now uses serial number and not clear if there is an option to change backup file location.

ipad could take longer due to volume of data so I'm leaving that for a little longer and managing with dolphin browser.

IN summary a dfu and start as new device appeared to have worked for now...lets see if it stays that way. Trust this helps

It is not an 9.3 update issue but a 9.0 issue so that is why you are seeing it. An app you have - it could be one or more - updated. In simplified terms an app has links embedded in it that associate to the hyperlink you click on. The way to do this in the app is to use "wildcards" but some developers simply entered every link. For some reason Apple put a limit to the number of links that could be called and so when the maximum is hit it puts the phone into an endless loop. 9.3.1 will fix this limitation. If you will upgrade it will solve tthis issue. Do not click on the hyperlink on the upgrade screen that explains what the update will do as this will freeze your phone. Only use the update & install button.

GUYS... 9.3.1 (BUG FIX ON THE FREEZING) IS HERE.. GO DOWNLOAD NOW..

Use the Settings app to download and Install iOS 9.3.1 which was just released.

Apple addressed this issue in iOS 9.3.1. Please see Apple fixes web link bug in iOS 9

9.3.1 is now available. Go to settings / General / Software Update

I chatted with Apple Support last night and was told that they're aware of the problem and that their engineers are working on an update (presumably, iOS 9.3.1), and that the update should arrive within the next two days. Fingers crossed.