If you think a few simple characters on your brand-new iPhone won’t cause problems, think again. A newly discovered bug showed that typing just a few characters in certain iPhone fields can cause the device to crash temporarily.
It should be noted that we have not tried this and we do not recommend you to try it.
A peculiar iPhone bug emerges
Recently, a security researcher found a curious issue in iPhones that has sparked interest and concern. The bug involves typing four specific characters: a pair of quotation marks followed by two colons (“”::). When entered into particular text fields, such as the search bar in the Settings app or the App Library search bar, these characters can cause the iPhone’s interface, known as Springboard, to crash. TechCrunch confirmed the existence of this bug, noting that it only temporarily crashes the device, returning it to the lock screen without any lasting damage.
This bug might seem like a harmless quirk, and indeed, it doesn’t appear to pose any security threat. The issue doesn’t persist or cause any long-term problems, making it more of a curiosity than a genuine concern. However, it’s still a good idea not to test this yourself, as it could be inconvenient to deal with the sudden crash, especially if you’re in the middle of something important.
Why this bug is unusual
The bug became popular not because it was dangerous, but because it was weird. It’s nothing to be afraid of like other vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious people. There’s no indication that anyone could remotely trigger this bug, which sets it apart from more alarming vulnerabilities that have surfaced in the past. And please don’t play a bad prank on your friends.
Interestingly, the bug is not limited to the exact string (“”::). As some researchers pointed out, adding any character after the first colon (e.g., “”:B) can also trigger the crash. Despite its odd nature, this bug has not been identified as a security issue by experts. Researchers, including Ryan Stortz and Patrick Wardle, have both analyzed the bug and confirmed that it doesn’t pose a risk to users beyond the temporary inconvenience of a crash.
As of now, Apple has not commented on the issue, and it remains unclear whether the company plans to address this bug in future software updates. For now, the best course of action is to avoid typing these characters into your iPhone, as there’s no real benefit in doing so and it might just lead to an unnecessary headache.
Featured image credit: Tyler Lastovich / Unsplash
