Critical Error on iOS: Device Crashes

Critical Bug Found in iOS: Device Crashes

Apple has a generally successful history of improving user experience and eliminating significant software bugs. However, some issues can occasionally slip through the cracks. Recently, security researchers discovered a bug in the iOS operating system that causes devices to crash when a specific character string is typed.

The researcher explaining how this bug occurs noted that when you swipe your Home Screen pages towards the App Library, there is a search bar at the top of the screen. If you type the characters :: into this search bar, you are causing your device to crash. Additionally, according to a comment, the last character does not necessarily have to be a second “colon.” That is, simply typing “”: is enough; then, when you type any fourth character, your phone will unfortunately crash.

Banned Characters and Their Effects

Moreover, another user comment states that a similar bug is present in the Settings app when you swipe up and type these characters into the search bar. In short, try to avoid typing these two quotation marks and the colon character ( “”: ) anywhere on your iPhone. This issue currently does not create a security vulnerability. However, as long as hackers do not find an exploit using this bug, the situation remains as such.

It is still unknown when Apple will fix this bug. If you are using older iOS versions that do not receive updates, we recommend being cautious.