Operating system updates are supposed to bring new features, but the latest version of iOS has brought nothing but hassle thanks to a bug that prevents users from opening hyperlinks.
Users who updated their devices to iOS 9.3 are experiencing an issue that has essentially made navigating the web next to impossible. Links within first-party apps including Safari, Messages, and Mail, as well as some third part apps, fail to open. Safari has also been reported to crash regularly since the update.
The bug has rendered Google useless, as users can’t click on a link in the search results and be taken to that site. Any site with menus that use hyperlinks also become unnavigable.
Apple’s support forums have been flooded with pleas from users asking for help. The issue has also provided the first major test for Apple’s new Support account on Twitter, which as been inundated with complaints.
@AppleSupport please address the Safari freeze and inability to open links. Started after update to iOS 9.3, iPhone 6+. I know I’m not alone
— Patrick Walker (@PatrickWalker) March 27, 2016
https://twitter.com/pluspool78/status/714480836482088960
@AppleSupport iOS 9.3 on iPhone 6s+ now unable to use google links on safari and chrome. Email links cause freeze. Unhappy user.
— Andrew Clowes (@AndrewClowes) March 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/ChartreusePHL/status/714430716566757376
While the issue is clearly effecting a significant portion of users, Apple did not respond for request for comment on the situation or an impending fix.
However, there does appear to be a temporary workaround that will at least restore basic functionality to Safari on the devices hampered by the bug.
Users will have to turn off Javascript support to make hyperlinks work again inside Apple’s browser. This can be done by going to Settings, finding Safari, choosing the Advanced menu, and toggling the Javascript switch off.
The quick fix will allow users to navigate the web through Safari again, though it will be a limited browsing experience without Javascript enabled. Apps that have been effected by the issue will remain handcuffed by hyperlink issues; there is no solution for that at the moment.
The problem marks another in what is becoming a long line of day-one bugs that have plagued iOS updates. Version 9.1 of the OS made hay for users with jailbroken devices, and faulty updates during the iOS 8 era became so commonplace that it began to slow the rate of users updating. And then there’s the completely device-breaking bugs that take months to fix, like Error 53.
It’s not clear just how long Apple will take to address the broken links issue in iOS 9.3, but the Apple Support Twitter account might amplify the voice of effected users and make the company more responsive to an issue that may otherwise be considered minor.
H/T ZDNet | Photo via Toshiyuki IMAI/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)
