Nation & World News
This text message can crash your iPhone - without you even opening it
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This may be a good reason not to give out your phone number.
A certain string of characters – including Arabic characters – sent through a text message can crash your iPhone’s messaging app or even shut down your phone, CBS News reports.
If you text the code to another iPhone, it can block the user from sending or receiving any text messages. If the text message is received while the person’s phone is on the lock screen, the phone will reboot.
Reddit users have reported that this text can also affect the messaging app WhatsApp and Apple Watches, according to CBS News.
Jeff Bakalar, senior editor of CNET, told CBS News that only someone who has your phone number can perform this "popular prank." There is also a way to undo the damage.
“If you have a Mac, you can log into your computer and have Siri send you a text message to wake it up,” Bakalar said to CBS News.
Some Reddit users posted that the prank can also be avoided by disabling notification alerts. Apple said it is working on a solution to the problem.
