An Indian language character is reportedly crashing iPhones on a global scale. The bug is actually a Telugu language character, which if sent as an SMS or even typed in the text editor can cause a user’s iPhone to crash and make it unusable. The bug has also affected macOS, tvOS11, and watchOS along with the iPhones and iPads.
Apple has already taken note of it and has announced that it is presently working on a minor update to fix the problem. It would be rolled out shortly for all users. Apple has also revealed that all iPhones and iPads running on iOS 11.2.5 are vulnerable to the bug and any device running on older versions of the iOS are not affected.
This particular Telugu character crashes any app that tries to display it and make it unusable again. It has affected not just messaging apps like Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger but also other apps like Gmail, Twitter, and Youtube. The apps are reported to crash every time the users try to restart them and the problem continues even if the users restart their device.
The situation may be worse for those who receive this bug through an SMS or messenger service as it may crash the entire system of the iPhone and make it completely unusable. The app is affecting Apple’s own apps like iMessage along with other third-party apps.
This bug was first spotted by an Italian website Mobile World and they have also provided some suggestions to avoid the crash. According to them, if a user receives the bug through an SMS or messenger service, then he should never attempt to restart the device, as it would make the device to boot-loop and make it useless.
Apple has also revealed that it is also working on a fix for MacOS High Sierra, watchOS 4 and tvOS 11 versions alongside the iOS 11. It has already fixed the issue in a beta update and is likely to release the same in a day or two.