Chances are you’ve heard about the iOS bug that lets users send a string of text to another iPhone owner that causes their Messages app to crash and their iPhone to reboot.
Although Apple has yet to fix the Messages bug with a software update, it has published an official support document containing a temporary workaround for solving the problem.
“Apple is aware of an iMessage issue caused by a specific series of unicode characters and we will make a fix available in a software update,” a company representative writes in the document. “Until the update is available, you can use these steps to re-open the Messages app.”
The steps Apple suggests are, firstly, asking Siri to read your unread messages. Second, use Siri to reply to the malicious message sent. Once this is done, you’ll be able to open Messages again. Finally, in Messages, swipe left to delete the entire thread. Or else users can tap and hold the malicious message, tap More, then delete the message from the thread.
We advised users about these steps earlier this week, but hopefully the fact that Apple has gotten around to publishing its official solution means a software fix isn’t too far away.
Source: Apple