Google links don't work after iOS 9.3

I Have been having the same problems on my iPad Air since updated to ISO 9.3. I just got update notice on my iPad Air to update ISO 9.3 with bug fixes. The update was not available on my iPhone 5 or 6s so I thought if was a specific fix for the iPad Air. I just loaded it and the patch did not work! Still not opening links in emails. If anyone else tries the new updated patch and it works for them please post and let us know but Apple it didn't work.

I am so frustrated, since I uggraded my phone I cannot open ANY links....its very annoying and makes me rethink whether to reconsider this phone even! i wish i never updated it ....i wish Apple did better research before releasing a new update....

i have an iphone 6plus....i am so so upset....apps are now freezing and links do not open..anywhere..mail, safari inside the apps

I deleted the Booking.com app on my iPhone 6 then restarted the phone and the links in Chrome started working again. Bizarre. Switching off Javascript in the Safari settings did nothing and Chrome doesn't have that option anyway.

Hi Brian,

Thanks for this link. I am having the exact same problem with my links/ Safari which only started a few days ago (whilst I was on 9.2.1 - before any upgrade so its not necessarily related to 9.3 upgrade). Anyway, after reading the article on 9to5 mac - I realised that the time it stopped working properly is the exact time when I installed Booking.com app - it was only when I read this post that I made the connection to booking.com. So nothing to do with the 9.3 upgrade - I got my iPhone 6s in October and its been fine up until I downloaded the booking.com app

However, I have deleted the app, and its hasn't solved the problem. Have tried every time/tip possible. A trip to the Genius bar for me.... sigh.

I am having the same issue as everyone else. Upgraded to iOS 9.3 on my iPhone 6S Plus 128GB a couple of days ago, and just today noticed that I am unable to open any links from Safari browser or from Google Chrome. Also any link in my email client are unable to open. Whenever I try the browser just freezes up every time. Google chrome can (sometimes) open a link if I choose to open it in a new tab, but this is no fix and only works 50% of the time. We need a fix ASAP Apple, this is taking far too long to resolve!! PLEASE RELEASE A WORKING UPDATE ASAP!

UPDATE: I deleted booking.com app from my iPhone 6S Plus, cleared all browser history in both google chrome browser, and safari, re-started the iPhone (a few times) still did NOT fix the issue.

'FIX': I am using Atomic Web browser app and this is the only browser that opens all searches and links in google. Obviously links received in email still do not open unless I can figure out a way to instruct all links to use Atomic Web browser from now on.

Hope this helps some of you out; not a permanent fix by any means but it is of some help given the huge inconvenience we are obligated to live through until Apple fixes this with a working (bug free) update.

Our family has three Apple devices that have been affected. An iPhone 6 and two iPad Airs. The only fix is to wait for an update. Three additional bits of information. One is that all of the devices iOS 9.3 was installed on worked normally from when they were installed on the 22nd until the 28th. Then the links stopped functioning on all of them. Second, I've been checking for updates regularly in the past couple of days in the hope that the fix will be available. When I checked for an update on my iPad earlier today -- with 9.3 installed -- it indicated an update was available. I installed it. No change. Third, when I checked for an update today on my spouse's phone -- which was not updated, still running 9.2.1 -- Apple was still showing an update pending. I.e. despite the fact that 9.3 is clearly broken, they are still inviting users to install it. Not what I would have expected from Apple.

What I find very interesting is that my dad's iPhone 6 Plus which is also on iOS 9.3 does NOT have any of these issues, and we updated to iOS 9.3 the same time. My iPhone 6S Plus (which should be the better phone) is affected by this bug!! If that's not ironic I don't know what is? How do you explain that??? :/

What app is triggering it? I already deleted booking.com and that did nothing. What's the fix then if it's a third party app?! What a crappy OS if that is indeed true, an app can cause this much trouble! WoW. So much for Apple's "security" making us feel 'secure'. Can't help but wonder if all that's been happening with Apple and the FBI has anything to do with this bug. It is rather curious.

Deleting/Uninstalling the app doesn't remove the poisoned data because the part of iOS with the data is too busy crashing. For technical information, I recommend the comments on the Ars Technica article, http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/03/poorly-behaved-app-causing-crashes-and-link -problems-for-some-ios-9-x-users/?commen…

The easiest non-technical way to fix it is to do a restore. The comments in that thread have more technical, but less reliable fixes That don't involve erasing your iOS device.

Thanks, going to read through that.. Honestly I have been wanting to switch over to android the last couple of years; was obligated to stick with iPhone due to over $1,500.00 in apps that I own.. Didn't want to loose that app value especially some of the more expensive GPS apps. This is coming from someone who has literally owned every single iPhone ever released. As God is my witness, my next upgrade is going to be Android. Long overdue, I'll happily take my losses in app investments throughout the years. iOS is far too boring & limited compared to android. At this point this is truly a no brainer.

FACT: Your theory on booking.com being the culprit is wrong. My dads iPhone 6 Plus also has booking.com app and has always had it. Since we both updated to iOS 9.3 at the same time and my iPhone 6S Plus suffers from this new bug and my dads iPhone 6 Plus does not; evidently something else is at fault here.

Now I'm wishing I never upgraded to the 6S Plus, and gave my old 6 Plus to my dad.. Could've had a working iPhone LoL. Proof that newer isn't always better.

This is incorrect, it's been confirmed by multiple parties what the issue is.

It is triggered when iOS downloads the apple-app-site-association file. For about a week, the version of that file on the booking.com servers had bad data. So if anyone installed the app during that week or the iOS periodic server checks downloaded the file in that week, the issue appeared. If the file was downloaded outside of that week, the issue doesn't occur.

That is why you saw it on one device and not the other.

My dads iPhone 6 Plus has had booking.com app installed on it since the release of the iPhone 6S Plus. Neither one of us have ever deleted this app; granted I use it more often than my dad as I book reservations in Niagara Falls frequently. I also believe that any app updates are updated faster on my device than his..

So to further clarify; are you suggesting that the app in his iPhone did not have this buggy (app update) version installed; and mine did.?.

Does using the actual app have anything to do with it.?.

Honestly, I am not completely convinced that booking.com app is the only culprit here from my own investigation; although I hope that I am wrong. You don't hear me say that very often, but it is very true in this case. Just want a working fix asap (like everyone else).

Although the Booking.com app was updated last on March 17th, the association file isn't part of the update. iOS actually downloads it from http://booking.com/apple-app-site-association periodically. The actual update schedule is not documented by Apple.

On a related note, booking.com updated their app today, in case an update to the app can force an association file check sooner than normal.

Actually, the new update removes ALL associated domains from the app, does the update fix the issue on the iPhone 6s?