I filed FB14456585 to report a similar issue, and included explanation of how I'm using it in my app (for an internal-only floating/draggable debug button). "Regression: Secondary UIWindow hitTest(_:with:) behavior changed in iOS 18, making it hard to interact with contained elements"

The Times iOS app team is aware of the issue. I can’t comment on when a fix might be available. If you have any other issues and can’t open the app, you can email ios at nytimes.com.