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

At this point, though, I still suspected the clash of iCloud userIDs was part of my issue. I switched to my "trusted" laptop, logged onto iCloud. First I tried to use the old ID that the phone wanted used. That didn't work, but my current Apple ID and related password did. I clicked the iCloud Help button, and looked at the information on "change your password."

That info didn't help, but I gave this feedback to Apple:

"Coming here (http://help.apple.com/icloud/#/mmd601ff0d ) didn't answer my question. The question related to a disagreement between devices about what my iCloud ID and password are on my iPhone versus on web access to iCloud.

I got my IPhone when I had one email address. I now have another. I updated my appleID to the new primary email address - but my iPhone didn't get the message. I don't use iCloud - or any cloud platform - except for the bare minimum needed. (I don't have an IT department to keep up with the ecosystems and threats/vectors.)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203828 could use a link to the suggested diagram as well"

So...iCloud and 9.3 upgrade? I had searched for issues related to iOS 9.3 and gotten that hit on https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203828

That page is very confusing...and it seems to be about a case where people found they could not sign out of iCloud, rather than being a issue with Safari. An Apple ecosystem diagram would help. Apparently, though, there is a * three-way * correspondence that iOS assumes: Apple ID, iCloud ID, and Apple email address. (I did NOT need another email address, so I never use the Apple email address.)

The page, if I understand it correctly, implies that upgrading to 9.3 should get everything in sync re: IDs. If it doesn't , the advice is to use the main online Apple account page to change the Apple email address (the email account that iCloud wants) temporarily back to the old one. I am not sure whether this means coming up with the old password for that email/AppleID or a new one or whether you can change just the ID without changing the password.

Then sign out of the online Apple page.

Then sign out of iCloud on each of the various i devices that use the old ID (e.g., iPhone, iWhatever): Settings>iCloud>Sign Out>confirm sign out>Keep on My (iWhatever)>enter password for Apple ID (which ID is temporarily the old email address and I'm not clear on which password you would use).

Then go back to the main online Apple ID page, sign in, change the Apple ID to the email address you want to use for all devices. You have to verify this new email address (presumably that is via a test email that you respond to). Once the response is in, it doesn't say whether you have to log out of the online page or not.

But it then says to take an iWhateverDevice and go to Settings>iCloud, where you should be able to sign in with the new Apple ID and password.

If that doesn't work, the advice is to do the temporary change again, sign off, and try signing back in to the online page to make sure it registered the change....

Hmm. Seems like double-checking the password change had "taken" might be wise to do up front (right after you confirmed by responding to the old email address, I presume...and what if you do not have access to that old account?) rather than wasting the time tweaking all the iWhatevers when you aren't sure you succeeded in changing the main online ID, but well...maybe there was a rush to get something "out there" on 3/21 in advance of the 9.3 update right about then, and the editor didn't get a chance to look at it with a fresh set of eyes. Stuff happens.

I didn't have any more thoughts. Having made thees notes-to-self and Apple, I resumed scanning the "discussions" on the IPhone and 9.3 (specifically the one at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7505840?tstart=0 ...there seemed to be a lot of discussion posts on this! ) for clues...

at that writing, 60594 views, 664 replies...and I was only on about page 10.

Humble note to Apple: The discussions UI doesn't say page 10 of x (and x, by the time I had finished, was equal to 47 pages). It would be nice to know that x number.

So I started categorizing and quoting the ideas people offered up.

Starting about page 10, I saw mention of inert links in general. "While iMessage, Notes, Mail, Chrome, Safari and others experience link freeze Facebook links seem to be working for now.."

Webkit?

Proposed as a possible source of a conflict.

3/27 "I suspect links work in Chrome because it doesn't use the same WebKit engine that Apple's apps are built on."

UIWebView, WKWebView, and possibly SFSafariViewController?

3/27 "iPhone 6 (not S, nor Plus) -- Disabling JavaScript had no effect. No custom keyboards or ad blockers. Interestingly it affects Mobile Safari, News, Mail, Messages, Calendars, Notes, and every single installed app that uses a UIWebView, WKWebView and presumably SFSafariViewController too.

I'm guessing something disastrous went wrong in WebKit or maybe just openURL:"

Link handling?

"Just another example of the bug: got to the Maps app >> click on button in the lower right corner >> click on "Data from Tomtom..." and see what happens! The app freezes!

This is a system-wide issue related to links processing."

Shared libraries?

"Apple sandboxing (protection against "inter-app" side effects) seems to be largely without effect on apps (some survive, but are affected), it is reasonable to suspect, that it is shared code, that is at issue (shared Apple code aka libraries ;-)"

My phone is pretty much useless. I never had booking.com.

Using my work Galaxy s7 edge now.

Then there was a note on being able to revert successfully:

"make sure you have a back-up of your data made on a 9.2.1 system. Do not back-up after having updated to 9.3 (like I did!) you won't be able to recover any data to a fresh install of 9.2.1."

That's great, I thought to myself: I backed up at least twice on 9.2.1 via iTunes. Then I backed up again once I had apparently successfully upgraded to 9.3...to the same "trusted" laptop. if backups overwrite each other, I will have no way of restoring to 9.2.1. (Never had to use a restore...just don't know if backups are timestamped in iOS and kept separate.)

Related post: "...reverted to 9.2.1 using this process ***** be aware, you have to press the option/Alt button to get to where you have downloaded the ipsw."

And a reaffirmation 3/27: "Google the Ipsw link for 9.2.1 and restore from the zip file. That's what I did. Problem solved"

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Someone noted that Push notifications when there is a known issue are probably not the best idea. I surely agree that keeping the little update notification in force, if that constitutes a "push," is not productive.

I can verify that doing a factory restore through iTunes (set up as a new iPad) solved all the freezing links problems on my iPad Air 2. Everything works just exactly as we expect it to. I have not tried it with my iPhone 6+. I know this is not a great solution for many but my Ipad is only about a month old so it wasn't really fully loaded.

For me, the issue had nothing to do with 9.3. On my phone, I updated to 9.3 - no problems. AND THEN I made the mistake of downloading booking.com.

On my IPad, I downloaded booking.com BEFORE updating to 9.3 and wham, bam - all the links were freezing.

Deleting booking.com app and restarting did not fix it for me. The factory restore with clean install of 9.3 was my miracle cure. Still, I hope that Apple comes up with a fix before I have to resort to that solution with my iPhone.

Elevation status? (Apple, this is how you looked to us. Unfortunately it seems that the only way to be heard is to be persistent, pile on in numbers with "me, too, gosh darn it, and it's costing me..." and brainstorm workarounds.)

This is a collection of comments by many different participants here (much appreciated ones 🙂) --

3/26: Apple Support seems to be a first level; then there is a Senior Advisor

...re: Apple Support - " I just had a phone call from apple support and I do have say I didn't expect much but still they seem to be unfamiliar with the problem. Although the guys was quite nice he didn't have any knowledge of the iOS system. at the point where he was asking me if I already tried to uninstall Safari the conversation was done for."

...re: Senior advisor: "contacted apple via twitter and exchanged direct message with them for last couple of hours. I received this message 20 minutes ago:

'Thank you for providing us with those details. We’ve heard reports of the issue and it’s currently under review. We don’t have a solution at this time, but we’d like to get your case to a Senior Advisor so they can collect some data to assist with the investigation.'"

"What is worse: the problem exists and is known since January.

People have been complaining about this for a long time. And still they decided to role out the 9.3 update, even when they obviously didn't fix it for 9.2.1 users having this problem already."

3/26 "Had an Apple Store appt. today, they had NO fix. Advised apple working on update for Monday/Tuesday."

3/27 "answer from Apple right now: "We know how important it is to have your links working. We’ve heard reports of the issue and it’s currently under review. In the meantime, we have two workaround options. Restarting the phone may allow links to work, but only temporarily. You can also go into Settings > Safari > Advanced and turn off "Javascript.” That should allow links to work, but some websites may not function properly without Javascript.""

3/28 "Spoke with Apple Support from Australia a few hours ago - they advised the problem is server-related, not specific to the iOS 9.3 update, though it seems to be mostly affecting devices that have upgraded. They are working on a fix, but there is no specific timeframe . They tried to walk me through all the various options people have been suggesting as temporary measures (disabling Javascript, turning off Safari options, hard resets etc etc), all to no avail. Like others, I am able to web browse with Mozilla Firefox by opening a new tab, but all Messenger, Mail etc hyperlinks are inoperable and will remain so until they get the Safari issue sorted."

"It has NOTHING to do with iOS9.3! This problem existed on my iphone 6s 128gb first starting on Saturday 26th in the morning under 9.2.1. This is an Apple safari server problem and nothing to do with our iOS. Also happened briefly on my iPad Air with 9.2.1 and now i simply use Chrome and Gmail apps to replace Safari and Apple Mail. So far no problems with them. So there is some incompatibility between Safari and Apple Mail and the Apple Server."

Reply: "IDK who you spoke with, BUT it is not a server related. DOT.

If they told you that is for 2 possible reasons:

1) they told you that just as saying, its a problem that must be fixed by us, not on your phone, so be patient.

2) they don't know yet whats the problem

Look at my previous post. The more I follow the situation online, the more I am sure about what I said."

"a server-related would affect everybody."

3/28 "At 3:29 am on march 28 I did check for update again in settings. Settings is now hung with 'checking for update'

UPDATEL After about a minute I received the "your software is up to date" message and the app became responsive."

3/28 ""We do not have a fix in the moment. We know about the problem and are working on a fix. It will not take very long. In the meantime installing Chrome, Opera, Firefox... will solve the Safari Issue, but not the Mail issue. Thank you for your patients, we are working on it."

3/28: "Just come off a chat with apple support, after being talked through the java script and clear web site date and hard reboot. Was told to try firefox and hold down links to open in new tab that does work.. This doesn't fix the mail or notes and any other issues i've yet to find. The person did acknowledge that they are aware of the issue and that engineering are working on a fix 'We have had several reports of this issue coming in. I was told this morning that the engineering team is working on a fix to get this resolved for cx.'. When pressed for an ETA I was told "I am told it is expected by the end of this week how ever that is an estimated time frame."

Good for you ! You might take a look at the method (update #5 as of my last visit) and explanation at

https://bencollier.net/2016/03/how-to-fix-ios-9-3s-broken-safari-links/

and see what you think. :-) Or run it by your favorite Apple dev and see what they think.

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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!!!"

There were a couple faint hints of an iCloud relationship, but not much meat as far as I could tell:

iCloud related?

"since Apple did not stop signing the old version, I tried reverting to iOS 9.2.1 (without restoring backup). The problem has gone but a new problem came: Safari was not syncing iCloud bookmarks anymore. It just downloaded all the folders without the webpages inside.

Then I went back once more to iOS 9.3 (still without restoring backup) and surprisingly, the problem did not occur anymore."

3/27 "I did a factory reset with my 6S,128GB, IOS9.3 and configured it as a new phone, not from a iCloud backup. The phone worked fine for maybe an hour but then Safari or Mail app started to freeze like before depending situation."

Then Panda1988 started looking at documentation. I put these comments under the heading, "Incorrect implementation of the openURL method?"

Pande1988, quoted the docs for the canOpenURL: method -

"Returns a Boolean value indicating whether or not the URL’s scheme can be handled by some app installed on the device.

Declaration

SWIFT

func canOpenURL(_ url: NSURL) -> Bool

OBJECTIVE-C

- (BOOL)canOpenURL:(NSURL *)url

Parameters

url

A URL (Universal Resource Locator). At runtime, the system tests the URL’s scheme to determine if there is an installed app that is registered to handle the scheme. More than one app can be registered to handle a scheme.

The URL you pass to this method can have a common scheme or a custom scheme.

Return Value

NO if there is no app installed on the device that is registered to handle the URL’s scheme, or if you have not declared the URL’s scheme in your Info.plist file; otherwise, YES.

Read the Discussion section for more information on conditions that affect the return value.

Discussion

If this method returns YES for a given URL, iOS guarantees that that if the openURL: method is subsequently called using the same URL, an app registered to handle the URL’s scheme will launch to handle it. This method’s return value does not indicate whether or not the full URL is valid or if the specified resource exists.

If your app is linked against an earlier version of iOS but is running in iOS 9.0 or later, you can call this method on 50 distinct URL schemes. After hitting this limit, subsequent calls to this method return NO. If a user reinstalls or upgrades the app, iOS resets the limit.

Unlike this method, the openURL: method is not constrained by the LSApplicationQueriesSchemesrequirement: If an app that handles a scheme is installed on the device, the openURL: method works, whether or not you have declared the scheme."

A reply: "PANDA1988 has a point. To me it appears as if the makers of "canOpenURL" have made a huge mistake in hardcoding the number of times the function can be used system wide. Obviously this has been implemented/changed starting from IOS 9.0 so there must exist a working solution that the developers can revert back to.

Dear developers, trust me, the whole community will give you a cheer once this is fixed.

Dear application developers, please follow the instructions and link your application against the latest version of IOS if you use this function."

Another comment: "It seems to allow you to open links within the same domain, but not across domains.

Go to a website, open an internal page, it works from safari.

Try to open external links, it crashes."

More thought: " I did a check with my old 3GS with IOS 6.1.6. Working perfectly, "

Then someone had been looking and offered this: "apparently it has to do with Universal links and the way apps like Booking register them in iOS: http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/28/its-not-just-you-clicking-on-links-in-ios-9-3-c an-crash-your-iphone/"

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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