WASHINGTON — A text message that causes iPhone messaging apps to crash is the latest bug for users of Apple’s most popular mobile device.
The text message, which consists of a string of nontraditional characters, keeps the preview feature from working properly. After repeated attempts to load the preview, the app crashes and users can’t send or receive messages.
If the phone is locked, the phone will reboot.
According to CBS News and The Guardian, the bug was first reported on a Reddit thread.
An Apple spokesman tells The Guardian, “We are aware of an iMessage issue caused by a specific series of unicode characters and we will make a fix available in a software update.”
Until then, iPhone users can disable the alert banner to help protect themselves from someone, whether maliciously or as a prank, sending the text and crashing the phone.
To disable the banner, go to Settings > Notifications > Messages.
