Security experts are warning iPhone users about a new black dot of death bug that could crash iMessages completely.
According to reports, the bug known as the black dot of death is more harmful than the nefarious WhatsApp text bomb as it can entirely wipe out iPhone’s built-in messaging application, iMessages.
The virus reportedly works similarly to the WhatsApp bug which overloads a mobile device with thousands of Unicode text pieces. To make matters worse, it appears that there is no easy way to remove the message once received.
Once the user opens the message, the screen of the phone will go blank and stay that way unless Apple resolves the issue. Users are also not advised to restart their phone as it will only reload the text and crash the mobile device.
The best option is to force-close the iMessage app. This can be done by using the 3D Touch to press and hold the iMessage icon before tapping on “New Message” to access the application. After that, users can just cancel the new message so they can go back to the list of their iMessage conversations.
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From the iMessage list, users can now press the Edit button and delete the compromised message. However, this way may not work with older iPhone models. Instead, users of old iPhone mobile devices may ask Siri to start a new conversation so they can gain access to the messages list.
The bug was reportedly called black dot of death as all that can be seen in the message is a black dot emoji surrounded by thousands of invisible characters. These characters overload the phone’s CPU, crashing the mobile device in the process.
The new bug was discovered a week after the WhatsApp “text bomb” made headlines. This bug affects both iOS and Android phones and is considered more dangerous than the Telugu alphabet text which spread last February.
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