Advertisement

Apple Solution To Arabic iMessage Crash Glitch

Apple Solution To Arabic iMessage Crash Glitch

Apple has been forced to publish a temporary workaround for a bug which lets people crash iPhones using a text message.

A bug in Apple's operating system causes the device to crash if a certain string of Arabic characters is received in a message.

The problem arises due to a glitch in the way Arabic text is rendered in banner notifications.

Apple's software attempts to abbreviate the text with an ellipsis, which causes the system to crash and the phone to reboot.

Users then find they can no longer open the Messages app.

On Friday, Apple published a new page on its support website offering a way to deal with the glitch while it tries to update its software to fix it.

The glitch was first reported on Reddit, causing some to start sending the message to contacts as a prank.

An Apple spokesman said: "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."

Apple's solution

:: Ask Siri to "read unread messages"

:: Use Siri to reply to the malicious message. After you reply, you'll be able to open Messages again

:: In Messages, swipe left to delete the entire thread. Or tap and hold the malicious message, tap More, and delete the message from the thread