Apple’s Working on a Fix for the iOS 9.3 Link Bug You Might Be Dealing With

It’s always best to wait and let over-eager users and technophiles check out a new software upgrade first and see if they run into any issues before going through with it yourself. iOS 9.3 recently demonstrated the value of this principle when a simple feature allowing links to open in apps instead of Safari caused app crashes and an inability to click links. For those affected, Apple is working on a fix.

Seemingly, the problem arose when some apps tried to associate too many URLs with their app, which overloaded the new feature and caused it to break to varying degrees depending on what apps people have on their phones. Booking.com is cited as one of the worst offenders, because they added every URL on their site to the link association database for their app instead of the more streamlined approach of setting up a wildcard-based matching scheme. They’ve since fixed the problem with their app, and deleting and reinstalling the app should fix things for anyone having trouble (provided other apps aren’t causing issues), but the feature shouldn’t be so easy to ruin in general.

Apple has acknowledged this, and they’re now working on a bug fix to prevent this problem from continuing, according to 9to5 Mac. They report that Apple said in a statement, “We are aware of this issue, and we will release a fix in a software update soon.” While you wait, there’s not really a consistent workaround for the issue if a different app is the root of your problem, though some users have reported that convoluted restart processes to get your device to clear its cache of the offending files might work. Unfortunately, the issue will probably just pop up again, since you likely don’t know what app is doing the damage.

(via The Verge, image via Apple)

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Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

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