Google links don't work after iOS 9.3

hey guys i have same problem as you all do . im using iphone 6s plus ios 9.3 . when i get link on whatsapp this is how i open the link . by force touch the link and pull it up after that you will get option to open it by chrome . hope this will help for temp . im not sure if its will work through the email coz u cannot use force touch . by im sure if any apps has force touch it will help .

hey guys i have same problem as you all do . im using iphone 6s plus ios 9.3 . when i get link on whatsapp this is how i open the link . by force touch the link and pull it up after that you will get option to open it by chrome . hope this will help for temp . im not sure if its will work through the email coz u cannot use force touch . by im sure if any apps has force touch it will help . also in twitter i use force touch on any link then option will pop up down bellow you will find option called open in chrome . hope thats works too . so for whatsapp and twitter this is the temp solution

I have the same issue with my iPhone 6. Ever since upgrading to iOS 9.3 Safari links in Google searches don't work and my application frequently freezes or crashes. Mail links seem also to affected and the application hangs, requiring restart. Please Apple, fix this quickly! it's very frustrating.

Is it possible that this whole issue has to do with the latest privacy policy of google? Perhaps the genuises of apple would like to take a look at that direction too? Did anyone of you accept the terms and conditions about privacy policy of google latetly?

There is a rumour that is happens because Booking.com App. There is a table listing all the websites in order to check to associate with the opened link. But Booking.Com App puts lots of websites of hotel into this table and make this table non-usable. Sorry for my novice English.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/28/its-not-just-you-clicking-on-links-in-ios-9-3-c an-crash-your-iphone/

Statement from Booking.com

"We’ve uncovered some issues with the universal linking framework, which appear to be an issue specific to Apple iOS 9.3. We understand they are in the process of correcting, and we’re offering any help we can to help them expedite a resolution."

This is correct .... Booking.com is the actual culprit but it's possible (I think) that Apple can still issue a fix. Note that just deleting booking.com will NOT fix the issue. Once you have the corrupted data on your phone you cannot delete that app and fix it. I was able to fix my phone my restoring from an iTunes backup that was about 10 days old (before my data was corrupted) and also deleting booking.com. Other have had similar success by restoring an old backup from iTunes. No other patch of fix worked for me. Hope this helps someone. All the best, Daryle

How can you possibly ignore the numerous reports of people experiencing this issue who have NEVER had booking.com app installed or any of its affiliates?! It is abundantly clear that this app or its affiliates do NOT need to be installed in your device for you to be affected; making it even more clear that Apple is to blame not an app developer. Please do not dismiss facts and spread unproven theories as a single cause. There is more to what's happenlong than booking.com or its affiliates.

And yes, restoring to an earlier date can help fix the bug, but there are also reports the bug comes back on its own for some people, so that's not a permanent fix For everyone. It only works for a few. Apple needs to release an update to hopefully remedy the problem, since it is taking them this long to release one this issue must be very complicated.

i have installed the google search app ( not chrome) and this has allowed me to continue browsing..

but hasnt got rid of the problem on chrome/firefox/safari/

it is a temporary get around for me.. worth a shot

Just because you are with 3 people who don't have the app and don't have the issues doesn't mean the app is the issue. Look at many other forums (just use google). Also, my dad on his iPhone 6 Plus has had the app installed since the release of the iPhone 6S Plus. My 6S Plus had the bug, his still does not and never got it despite both of us upgrading to iOS 9.3 at the same time. You'd have to be very foolish to ignore all the other facts (no offense).

No offense but I didn't intend to provide any proof either way about the app. Just that it it a complex situation and the app may be involved in some cases or may not. The more information Apple can pick up from users with issues the faster they can come up with a sound approach.

it is possible that if you have a very large number of installed apps that this can cause the swcd to crash in a loop as well due to resource size limits. Booking.com just happened to have a single association file that brought swcd past the limit, killing the ability to pass links between apps.

I will agree with the large number of apps theory, but cannot accept your explanation for why my dads 6 Plus never got the bug while my 6S plus got it yet both of us had the booking.com app installed & used the same iOS versions. I believe to be techhnically inclined enough to discern accurately what else may be clauding this issue. That being said, I work with developers and test apps on my iPhone 6S Plus and my Apple Watch while providing feedback on bugs. Personally I have over 400 apps installed, while my dad had about 50 on his iPhone, so for that reason your statement makes sense. Although I repaired my 6S Plus, I'm still very inquisitive and would like to follow the trail to the end to see exactly what created this mess to begin with. Knowledge is power.

As I mentioned previously, the bad file was only on Booking.com's server for about a week. iOS does not immediately update association files. If iOS did not download the updated file during that week, you would never see the problem.

This is also why testing updates to the association file is nigh impossible, there's no way to force iOS to download the update.

Shouldn't Apple have separate serves for beta testing current and future iOS versions as well as association files before pushing them through to a 'stable' platform? If you are correct, seems they have some time consuming improvements to make.

Association files are not submitted to Apple. They're stored on the web server of the domains declared in the app. Developers can change them at any time. Useful for when you completely redesign your website structure. They are first downloaded when you install an app, if it doesn't already exist in swcd.