Subject:
iOS 26 WKWebView: Remote Pages Become Unresponsive After Loading Local HTML Files
Description
We're experiencing a critical issue with WKWebView in a React Native 0.64.3 application where remote web pages become completely unresponsive after loading local HTML files in iOS 26. It works well before iOS26.
Environment:
React Native 0.64.3
iOS 26.0
Xcode 26.0.1
Using custom WKWebView implementations in Native modules
Problem Details
App loads local HTML files using loadFileURL:allowingReadAccessToURL:
Later, when loading remote pages via loadRequest:, the remote pages load successfully but become unresponsive to user interactions
This occurs even when using different WKWebView instances
The issue is reproducible 100% of the time once a local file has been loaded
Restarting the app and loading remote pages directly works fine
Code Example:
// Loading local file (works fine)
[self.webView loadFileURL:localFileURL allowingReadAccessToURL:accessURL];
// Later, loading remote page (loads but becomes unresponsive)
NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:remoteURL];
[self.webView loadRequest:request];
What We've Tried:
- Using different WKWebView instances for local vs remote content
- Comprehensive cleanup in dealloc (removing all user scripts and message handlers)
- Loading blank HTML before switching to remote content
- Using shared WKProcessPool (understanding its limitations in iOS 15+)
- Ensuring proper decisionHandler management in navigation delegates
- Resetting WKWebView configuration settings
- Clearing cookies and cache between loads
- Using loadFileRequest:allowingReadAccessToURL: instead of loadFileURL:
Key Observations:
- The remote page renders correctly and network requests complete
- No JavaScript errors in console
- The view hierarchy appears normal in Debug View Hierarchy
- Touch events seem to be delivered but not processed by the web content
Questions:
- Has Apple introduced new security restrictions in iOS 26 that affect the transition from file:// URLs to http:// URLs?
- Are there specific WKWebView configuration changes required for React Native applications in iOS 26?
- Could this be related to the React Native bridge or JavaScript context persistence?
Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated, as this is blocking our iOS 26 compatibility.