iOS Text Message Bug Causes Problems for Some iPhone Users

How a bizarre text message is wreaking havoc on some phones.

ByABC News
May 27, 2015, 4:16 PM

— -- A bug in Apple's iMessage app is wreaking havoc on some iPhones, causing them to reboot after receiving a specific string of characters via text.

Apple said the company 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," an Apple spokesperson told ABC News today.

The problem occurs when the text is truncated on the lock screen. Reddit users first pinpointed the bug and reported it would crash and restart iPhones running the latest iOS version (8.3) along with earlier versions of the operating system.

Getting the text can be a nuisance but there's one quick fix if you fall victim. Ask the person who sent you the text to send another, effectively nudging the malicious one out of its most recent spot.

9to5Mac reports sending yourself a text via Siri will also do the trick.