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Apple says iPhone crash bug will be fixed before iOS 11.3

Apple says iPhone crash bug will be fixed before iOS 11.3

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Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Apple is planning to address a new iPhone and macOS crash bug that can be used to disable apps and iMessage before the release of iOS 11.3 this spring. The bug was discovered earlier this week, and involves sending an Indian language (Telugu) character to devices that crashes an iPhone and makes apps like Messages, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp inaccessible. The bug also affects Safari and the built-in Messages app on macOS, and the Apple Watch.

While iOS 11.3 fixes the problems, Apple tells The Verge that it’s planning to release an iOS 11 update soon that will address the crashes before the iOS 11.3 release in the spring. That means we’ll see iOS 11.2.6 or something similar be made available soon, rather than waiting for iOS 11.3. All current betas of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS also fix the problem.

Apple also experienced issues with an iOS 11 bug in December that crashed iPhones, and the company took the unusual step of issuing a significant iOS update just hours after the bug started occurring. Last month a single link could freeze an iPhone, but Apple was able to resolve it with the release of iOS 11.2.5. Back in 2015 a tiny string of text disabled iMessage, and a year later in 2016 a 5-second video crashed iPhones. Apple is reportedly focusing on reliability and performance in iOS 12 over new features, so we should hopefully see less of these issues in the future.