It appears that after installing the iOS 9.3 update, scores of iPhone and iPad users are experiencing an inexplicable bug in Safari‘s mobile web browser. Tapping a link in Safari freezes and crashed the browser, after which it must be force-closed.

Initially only thought to affect iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users, hundreds of users have taken to Apple’s Support Communities and the official Apple Support Twitter account to report the issue, including users with older models of iPhone and iPad.

The issue is not limited to Safari either. Opening links in apps like Messages, Mail, and Notes also seem to freeze and crash these apps, making it necessary to force-close affected apps from the app switcher.

You can see how the bug affects an iPhone running iOS 9.3 in the video below. Tapping the link does nothing while a long-press causes Safari to freeze and crash:

Apple has yet to issue a formal response to the issue, but will likely release a fix in the coming days.

In the meantime, the folk over at HowToiPh.one offers two possible workarounds while we wait for fix from Apple.

Install a free, 3rd-party web browser

The simplest way to avoid the issue is to install a 3rd-party web browser from the App Store and do not use Safari until Apple fixes the issue. Here are a few options:

• Chrome
• Opera mini
• Puffin Web Browser
• Unibox

Note: Since you cannot set a custom default browser across iOS, this will  not work for links opened in Messages, Mail, or Notes.

Turn off JavaScript

The second workaround you can try is to force links to work by disabling JavaScript in Settings. Go to Settings > Safari > scroll to and tap Advanced > turn off JavaScript.

Note: This may affect how websites load as some may not work without JavaScript enabled in Safari.

This is the second major iOS 9.3 issue reported by users since its release last week. Last week users of older iPad and iPhone models found their devices bricked following an update to iOS 9.3. Apple has released a new iOS 9.3 build to fix that issue and should do the same for the Safari bug in the coming days.

Image via Apple