diff --git a/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/index.ts b/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/index.ts
index 0a0e19207..723945409 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/index.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/index.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export {
   AssistantMarkdownCodeLink,
   AssistantMarkdownLink,
 } from "./link";
+export { type AssistantLinkPress, useAssistantLinkPress } from "./link-press-context";
 export {
   classifyAssistantFileLink,
   normalizeInlinePathTarget,
diff --git a/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/link-press-context.ts b/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/link-press-context.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d6ae1963
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/link-press-context.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { createContext, useContext } from "react";
+import type { TextProps } from "react-native";
+
+// Carries a link's press handler down to the leaf text spans that render its
+// label. On iOS an assistant link is a nested UITextView span, and
+// react-native-uitextview only attaches onPress to the *string* children it
+// converts into RNUITextViewChild nodes (src/Text.tsx) — element children (the
+// MarkdownInheritedText spans markdown produces for link text) pass through
+// untouched, so an onPress placed on the wrapping span never reaches a tappable
+// native node. Threading the handler through context lets each leaf span hand
+// onPress to its own string children, where the native tap recognizer can find
+// it. Provided only on iOS (Android/web links tap fine via their own paths).
+export interface AssistantLinkPress {
+  onPress: () => void;
+  accessibilityRole?: TextProps["accessibilityRole"];
+}
+
+const AssistantLinkPressContext = createContext<AssistantLinkPress | null>(null);
+
+export const AssistantLinkPressProvider = AssistantLinkPressContext.Provider;
+
+export function useAssistantLinkPress(): AssistantLinkPress | null {
+  return useContext(AssistantLinkPressContext);
+}
diff --git a/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/link.tsx b/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/link.tsx
index 4c19322a6..d209411ac 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/link.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/assistant-file-links/link.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { useMemo, useState, type CSSProperties, type MouseEvent, type ReactNode } from "react";
 import {
+  Platform,
   Pressable,
   Text,
   View,
@@ -10,6 +11,7 @@ import {
 import { StyleSheet } from "react-native-unistyles";
 import { isNative, isWeb } from "@/constants/platform";
 import { MarkdownTextSpan } from "@/components/markdown-text";
+import { AssistantLinkPressProvider, type AssistantLinkPress } from "./link-press-context";
 import { Shortcut } from "@/components/ui/shortcut";
 import { Tooltip, TooltipContent, TooltipTrigger } from "@/components/ui/tooltip";
 import { useStableEvent } from "@/hooks/use-stable-event";
@@ -56,23 +58,42 @@ export function AssistantMarkdownLink({
     () => [style, hovered && { textDecorationLine: "underline" as const }],
     [style, hovered],
   );
+  const linkPress = useMemo<AssistantLinkPress>(
+    () => ({ onPress, accessibilityRole: "link" }),
+    [onPress],
+  );
 
   if (isNative) {
     // Must be a MarkdownTextSpan, not a plain <Text>: on iOS the link renders
     // inside the paragraph's native UITextView, and a plain <Text> nested there
     // is not hoisted into a UITextViewChild, so its text is silently dropped
-    // (the link disappears). The span composes correctly and stays selectable;
-    // onPress is forwarded (reliable tap-to-open on iOS is tracked by #21).
+    // (the link disappears). The span composes correctly and stays selectable.
+    //
+    // Tap-to-open: react-native-uitextview only wires onPress onto the *string*
+    // children it turns into RNUITextViewChild nodes — the element children that
+    // markdown emits for link text pass through untouched, so an onPress placed
+    // here never reaches a tappable native node. We thread it down through
+    // AssistantLinkPressProvider so each leaf text span re-attaches it to its
+    // own string children, where the native tap recognizer can find it. iOS
+    // only: Android forwards onPress through nested <Text> already, and web uses
+    // the <a> path below.
+    const span = (
+      <MarkdownTextSpan
+        accessibilityRole="link"
+        monoSurface={monoSurface}
+        onPress={onPress}
+        style={style}
+      >
+        {children}
+      </MarkdownTextSpan>
+    );
     return (
       <FileLinkHoverTooltip filePath={tooltipPath}>
-        <MarkdownTextSpan
-          accessibilityRole="link"
-          monoSurface={monoSurface}
-          onPress={onPress}
-          style={style}
-        >
-          {children}
-        </MarkdownTextSpan>
+        {Platform.OS === "ios" ? (
+          <AssistantLinkPressProvider value={linkPress}>{span}</AssistantLinkPressProvider>
+        ) : (
+          span
+        )}
       </FileLinkHoverTooltip>
     );
   }
diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/markdown-text.ios.tsx b/packages/app/src/components/markdown-text.ios.tsx
index 8b925cebd..b280240ee 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/components/markdown-text.ios.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/markdown-text.ios.tsx
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ interface MarkdownTextSpanProps {
   children: ReactNode;
   // Links route through this span too (see assistant-file-links/link.tsx). A
   // plain <Text> nested in the paragraph UITextView is dropped, so the link
-  // must be a UITextView span to be visible. onPress is forwarded best-effort:
-  // react-native-uitextview nulls onPress on the root native view, so reliable
-  // tap-to-open is still tracked by #21 — but visible+selectable text beats an
-  // invisible link.
+  // must be a UITextView span to be visible. onPress is wired onto the leaf
+  // string children here: react-native-uitextview attaches it to the
+  // RNUITextViewChild nodes it builds from string content, which the native tap
+  // recognizer dispatches to. The link's handler reaches these leaf spans via
+  // AssistantLinkPressProvider (see assistant-file-links/link-press-context).
   onPress?: TextProps["onPress"];
   accessibilityRole?: TextProps["accessibilityRole"];
 }
diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/message.tsx b/packages/app/src/components/message.tsx
index ce2c738f2..4d986a41d 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/components/message.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/message.tsx
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ import {
   AssistantMarkdownLink,
   type InlinePathTarget,
   useAssistantFileLinkActions,
+  useAssistantLinkPress,
 } from "@/assistant-file-links";
 import { getCompactionMarkerLabel } from "./message-compaction-label";
 import { useAttachmentPreviewUrl } from "@/attachments/use-attachment-preview-url";
@@ -1532,8 +1533,19 @@ function MarkdownInheritedText({
     () => [inheritedStyles, textStyle, overrideStyle],
     [inheritedStyles, textStyle, overrideStyle],
   );
+  // When this span renders link label text on iOS, pick up the link's press
+  // handler from context and hand it to MarkdownTextSpan, which forwards it to
+  // the leaf string children react-native-uitextview makes tappable. Null
+  // outside a link (and on every other platform, where no provider mounts), so
+  // ordinary text is unaffected. See assistant-file-links/link-press-context.
+  const linkPress = useAssistantLinkPress();
   return (
-    <MarkdownTextSpan monoSurface={monoSurface} style={style}>
+    <MarkdownTextSpan
+      monoSurface={monoSurface}
+      style={style}
+      onPress={linkPress?.onPress}
+      accessibilityRole={linkPress?.accessibilityRole}
+    >
       {children}
     </MarkdownTextSpan>
   );