iOS26 WKWebView：Remote page becomes unresponsive after loading local file

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.