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Apple releases iOS 9.3.1 with fix for bug that causes tapping links to crash iPhones
TechCrunch ^ | March 31, 2016 | by Romain Dillet

Posted on 03/31/2016 10:53:08 PM PDT by Swordmaker

Well that was quick. A couple of days after a bug affecting iOS started making the news, Apple has released a fix. iOS 9.3.1, now available on the iPhone and iPad, fixes this bug. The changelog is quite short as there’s only one item. “Fixes an issue that caused apps to be unresponsive after tapping on links in Safari and other apps,” it says.

As a reminder, many users reported on Apple’s forums that Safari or any other app would crash if they tapped on a link. It turns out some third-party app developers started abusing an iOS 9 feature, universal links. The bug wasn’t just affecting iOS 9.3, it was also affecting users on older versions of iOS 9.

With iOS 9, Apple introduced Universal Links, a brand new way to handle links with native apps. App developers, such as YouTube, can register domain names to open web links directly into an app, bypassing Safari.

That’s why when you click on a youtube.com/somethingsomething link, iOS opens the YouTube app instead of loading a web page in Safari. This is a nifty feature, except when app developers abuse it.

But some developers, such as Booking.com, associated their apps with all sorts of domains — too many domains to be precise. With 2.4MB worth of domain-name-to-deep-link entries in the Booking.com app, the swcd process that checks universal links was overflown. In other words, Apple didn’t put a limit on universal links and some app developers abused it.

It’s good to see Apple reacting so quickly. But this bug also shows that universal links are still a young technology and Apple still has some work to do to optimize them. If you encountered this bug, head over to the Settings app on your iOS device. Then go to General > Software Update and update your device.

File Mar 31, 7 02 18 PM


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: applepinglist; ios931update; iosupdate

1 posted on 03/31/2016 10:53:09 PM PDT by Swordmaker
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To: dayglored; ShadowAce; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; Abundy; Action-America; acoulterfan; AFreeBird; ...
Apple releases iOS 9.3.1 with fix for bug that causes tapping links to crash iPhones. Update is available in Settings/General/Software update. It's not very big. — PING!


Apple iOS9.3.1 Update available
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2 posted on 03/31/2016 11:04:45 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue..)
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To: Swordmaker

My new iPad Pro should arrive later this morning. Nice that there’s a new update I can go straight to :)


3 posted on 03/31/2016 11:05:17 PM PDT by Samwell Tarly
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To: Swordmaker

Part of the fix should involve blocking the app developers who abused the flaw.


4 posted on 04/01/2016 12:51:50 AM PDT by BykrBayb (Lung cancer free since 11/9/07. Colon cancer free since 7/7/15. ~ Þ)
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To: Swordmaker

I ran into this using Mercury browser in the iPad. Glad they caught it.


5 posted on 04/01/2016 3:49:05 AM PDT by glock rocks (TTTT !)
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To: Swordmaker

I have experienced this intermittently of late on my iPad Air 2.
Google search->tap link->nothing.
Never associated it with 9.3. I would either refresh the page or close Safari and begin again.
LOL, I thought my screen was dirty or my finger was not hitting the right spot. Updating now. :)


6 posted on 04/01/2016 3:59:16 AM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
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To: Swordmaker

We had a few calls here at the Help Desk about the last update when it did not work.


7 posted on 04/01/2016 12:04:22 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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