A bug was uncovered in iOS recently that crashed the Messages app when users received a message with a unique string of Unicode characters.
Apple’s working on a permanent solution, and has a fix you can try in the meantime.
Follow these steps to re-open Messages on your iPhone:
- 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.
Update: The Guardian pointed out that the issue also affects Twitter and Snapchat. If you’ve got notifications turned on, receiving the string via either app will crash your phone.
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You also won’t be able to open your chat history with the sender to delete the message, without crashing your device.
Until Apple issues a permanent fix, you can protect your device by turning notifications off for Messages, Twitter and Snapchat.
➤ If Messages quits unexpectedly after you get a text with a specific string of characters [Apple Support]
Read next: The bug that can crash iPhones with a single message is back
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