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Malicious iMessage bug causes iPhones to flake out

A new bug in iOS is causing people’s iPhones to crash every time they receive a message containing a certain combination of unusual characters.

The message, printed at the bottom of this page, is made up of a combination of English and Arabic characters – so it’s not likely to be something you’ll accidentally tap out over the course of the average workday.

When sent from one iPhone to another via iMessage, the message can cause the recipient’s phone to reboot unexpectedly if it happens to be sat on its lockscreen at the time.

There’s no indication of any long-term damage from being hit by the bizarre flaw, but Apple is said to be aware of the issue and working towards a fix nonetheless, to prevent pranksters from screwing up their mates’ mobiles.

While you’re waiting for Apple’s software techs to get their fingers out and plug the hole, you can protect your device by going into Settings > Notifications > Messages and toggling the ‘Show on Lock Screen’ button off and changing the Alert Style When Unlocked option to “None”.

Of course, only those with ‘hilarious’ joker friends need worry, and if you’ve already been hit by the bug you can basically guarantee that the sender did it on purpose and respond accordingly. We recommend an old classic like clingfilm over the toilet or habanero sauce in their underpants (actually, don’t do that in case your great mate then sues us or something).

Message:

effective. 

Power

لُلُصّبُلُلصّبُررً ॣ ॣh ॣ ॣ

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