Apple rolls out fix for iOS 9.3 web links issue

Apple today issued a small patch for its iOS 9 mobile operating system that takes care of a problem that caused apps to hang after uses tapped on hyperlinks in web pages.

The bug appears to have been introduced in one of the first versions of Apple's iOS 9 last year. It affects the new Universal Links feature that allows developers to redirect users who click on hyperlinks pointing to websites to installed apps, bypassing the Safari web browser.

Users had suggested the bug was caused by specific apps that use the shared web credentials daemon and submit large amounts of database entries.

Today's bug fix is the second update for iOS 9.3: shortly after the new operating system version was released last week, upgraders with older devices found themselves unable to get past the iOS activation lock screen.

Apple introduced new builds of iOS 9.3 for over the air downloads to fix the activation problem, which forced some users to connect their devices via cables to Macs and use iTunes to continue the upgrade.