Apple recently released a temporary fix for the text message bug that causes iPhones to crash and reboot. The text message bug contains a specific string of characters that when opened crashes iPhone Springboard and the Messages app.
According to 9 to 5 Mac, Apple released these workarounds in order to temporarily remedy the issue while the company is working on a permanent fix.
In order to prevent iPhone's from crashing upon receiving the malicious text message, users can ask Siri to "read unread message." Another workaround is to ask Siri to reply to the malicious message, once the reply is sent the Messages app will be accessible again. Lastly, the bug is only activated once the text message is opened so users are advised to delete the text message as soon as they receive it.
Some Apple users claim that sharing a photo with the sender of the malicious text message can offset the effect of the bug.
The text message bug starts with the words "effective Power," according to Dallas News. A string of Unicode character which looks like Arabic letters and a character that closely resembles the mathematical symbol for Pi soon follows.
Apple has released a statement acknowledging the existence of the bug and says that the company is working hard in order to release a software update in order to permanently fix the issue.
Apple statement reads, "Apple 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."