A new iMessage bug has been discovered that when sent to a target iPhone will cause its springboard to crash and block access to the Messages app. The bug that involves sending a particular character from Indian language Telugu to devices also affects third-party messaging apps on the platform including WhatsApp, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook Messenger etc.
The bug affects iOS 11.2.5, which is the latest available version of iOS. It is also affecting devices running iOS 11.3 beta. Once a device has been sent the character belonging to Telugu language, user will not be able to launch the Messages app since the app will repeatedly crash, as it tries to load the said character. Users can regain access to the Messages app by receiving another message from a different user and then deleting the thread that contained the problematic character.
This Telugu character bug follows last month’s chaiOS bug, which caused the iPhone to crash when a particular link was sent to the device. Apple was able to fix this issue with iOS 11.2.5’s release, however the emergence of a similar bug just a month later doesn’t look good for Apple that is trying to change its software strategy to avoid embarrassing bugs like these. (MobileWorld via TheVerge)
