Apple uses Siri as a workaround for iPhone text message bug

TORONTO – Apple has released a workaround for those affected by the iOS bug that causes iPhones to crash after receiving a specific text or iOS message.

The bug, reported by several Reddit users earlier this week, crashes the phone’s Messages app after receiving a very specific message containing the words “effective,” “power,” and a series of Chinese and Arabic letters.

Apple confirmed that it was aware of the issue Wednesday and said it would make a fix available in the next software update for its mobile operating system.

But, on Thursday the company posted a temporary workaround for the bug involving its voice assistant tool Siri.

According to the support page, users affected by the bug can ask Siri to “read unread messages” and then use the voice assistant tool to reply to the malicious message. Once you reply, you should be able to open your Messages app again without it crashing. Then in the Messages app, swipe left to delete the entire thread.

To activate Siri, simply press and hold the home button on your iPhone. Siri should be enabled by default, but if you have turned it off you can reactivate it by tapping on Settings > General >Siri and sliding the button into the green position.

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The bug occurs when an iOS device receives a message containing certain unicode Arabic characters. Because the software doesn’t know how to handle the character sequence, it results in a string of errors, which crashes the Messages app.

According to user reports, the device shuts off and when it reboots they are unable to access their Messages app.

You can also avoid the bug by simply turning off the notification banners function on your iPhone. Here’s how:

Settings > Notifications > Messages

From inside the “Messages” menu, select “None” under “Alert style when unlocked.”