[Updated] New major iOS bug can crash most of your messaging apps

[Updated] While fixed in the upcoming iOS 11.3, Apple has confirmed that it will roll-out the fix in a minor iOS update coming soon.

A new iOS 11.2.5 bug has been discovered, which affects iPhones and can crash iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Gmail or Outlook. All it takes is a specific Telugu symbol and the app becomes nonresponsive.

Telugu is an Indian language spoken by some 72 million people and it's unclear why iOS 11.2.5 has trouble loading its symbols.

Once the symbol is received the only way to recover access to iMessage is if another person sends you a message and you delete the other thread, containing the troublesome symbol.

Another iOS bug is crashing iPhones and disabling access to iMessage https://t.co/9do0xyz7k4 pic.twitter.com/15Ripq7PP8

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) February 15, 2018

It appears that iOS 11.3 is unaffected but it's still in beta and not expected to be released until spring, unless Apple rushes it out, like it did with iOS 11.2.

This isn't the only issue to plague Apple's iOS 11 recently. Not long ago we learned of the chaiOS bug, which could freeze an iPhone with a single link. There was also a pretty nasty bug that allowed access to photos on a locked iPhone and a weird auto-correct bug.

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