Apple’s latest iPhone software iOS has been plagued with bugs since its launch last October. Now a new glitch has been discovered that locks users out of certain chat apps.
The only known way round the fault is to ask a friend to send you a text message, the website says, allowing you to “delete the thread that contained the bad character.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The bug isn’t exclusive to iPhones, says Alphr, as it can also cause desktop computers to continuously reboot. The problem also affects devices such as Apple TV, iPads and Apple Watches.
While you can avoid these symbols and wait for Apple to fix the bug, TechCrunch says there are a number of “ill-intentioned” people who are deliberately sending the bugged character to unsuspecting iPhone owners.
Some mean-spirited Twitter users have asked people to retweet a post featuring the Telugu symbol to catch out those with Apple devices, the tech site says. Thankfully, most of the pranksters “don’t have many followers.”
According to Alphr, Apple has already found a fix and is currently in the process of beta testing a software update to rectify the bug. The tech giant plans to issue the fix “as soon as possible”.
Until then, iPhone users are advised to be careful when receiving messages from unknown sources, the website says.
-
5 cinematic cartoons about Bezos betting big on 'Melania'Cartoons Artists take on a girlboss, a fetching newspaper, and more
-
The fall of the generals: China’s military purgeIn the Spotlight Xi Jinping’s extraordinary removal of senior general proves that no-one is safe from anti-corruption drive that has investigated millions
-
Why the Gorton and Denton by-election is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’Talking Point Reform and the Greens have the Labour seat in their sights, but the constituency’s complex demographics make messaging tricky
-
Will AI kill the smartphone?In The Spotlight OpenAI and Meta want to unseat the ‘Lennon and McCartney’ of the gadget era
-
Is Apple’s Tim Cook about to retire?Today's Big Question A departure could come early next year
-
iPhone Air: Thinness comes at a high priceFeature Apple’s new iPhone is its thinnest yet but is it worth the higher price and weaker battery life?
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
-
Why won't Apple make iPhones in America?Today's Big Question Trump offers a reprieve on tariffs, for now
-
Not there yet: The frustrations of the pocket AIFeature Apple rushes to roll out its ‘Apple Intelligence’ features but fails to deliver on promises
-
Space-age living: The race for robot servantsFeature Meta and Apple compete to bring humanoid robots to market
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 yearsSpeed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
