There is a new character bug out there in the wild, at least based on folks who have discovered it so far, which could be bad news for those who fall victim to it.
Update: A new video posted on Twitter from EverythingApplePro shows that this particular character bug apparently doesn’t even need to include the Italian flag. You can see that new video just below.
The craziest iOS crash text bug 💀 pic.twitter.com/29LJPb67WP
— EverythingApplePro (@EveryApplePro) April 23, 2020
The original article continues below.
MacRumors was first to take note of it, based on information that was shared on Reddit recently. The character-linked bug is tied to a couple of different entries in a particular string of text. It includes the Italian flag emoji and then text from the Sindhi language. It appears that when an incoming notification with this particular string is received is activated, it can crash the entire system.
The character bug appears to have shown up first on the messaging service Telegram, but it apparently has surfaced on Twitter as well.
These types of bugs can be small in scale, or they can be remarkably disruptive. In 2018, for instance, the “Telugu” bug was prominent enough that Apple had to release a specific update for iOS, watchOS, macOS, and tvOS to fix the problem. These types of bugs don’t crop up all that frequently, but, when they do, it can be a major pain.
Especially since there is no way to prevent these specific character strings from negatively impacting the software on a device they are received on. The problem can be bad enough that a full restore through DFU mode might be required in some instances.
It’s good to be aware of these types of issues. Depending on how impactful it is for devices out in the wild, we could see a fix from Apple in the near future.