Apple Working Out Fix For iPhone Text Message Glitch

Apple on Wednesday addressed a glitch in the iOS Messages app that causes iPhones to reboot after the user receives a particular string of text.

Apple asserted that a fix would be available for the glitch in a future software update, but did not specify what caused the crash, whether the glitch was a major security concern or when the fix would be available.

’We are aware of an iMessage issue caused by a specific series of unicode characters and we will make a fix available in a software update,’ said the Cupertino, Calif.-based company in a statement to CRN.

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The flawed text message, which according to the Wall Street Journal was first noticed by users on the social media site Reddit, is a string of code made up of Latin and Arabic characters. This message trips up the notification banner on the user's iPhone, causing the phone to reboot after receiving the message.

According to The Guardian, some users who received the code said they can no longer access their messages. Other users said sending a photo to the contact through the iPhone Photos app allows them to access their message history and delete the conversation with the glitch-related text.

Partners that CRN interviewed said they have not heard specific concerns or complaints from customers about Apple's recent text message glitch, but stressed the significance of mobile security measures with iPhone products, particularly among enterprise clients.

"Security among our enterprise customers is a top priority, which is why many clients stay with BlackBerry for so long," said Steven Kantorowitz, president of CelPro Associates, an Apple partner based in New York. "Many of our clients have mobile device management solutions, through vendors like Good Technology or MobileIron. Every vendor has had these types of bugs. ... These are major problems, especially for the enterprise customers."

According to the Wall Street Journal, the phones that crashed were running the latest version of Apple's operating system, iOS 8.3, as well as older versions.

"We haven't heard any concern from customers about this bug," said Stephen Monteros, vice president of business development and strategic initiatives at Sigmanet, an Ontario, Calif.-based Apple partner. "This is very obscure and Apple will send a fix for it. Bugs happen regularly and Apple does a good job fixing their bugs fairly quickly. They're pretty good about this -- they know what their users want."

Raul De Arriz, national government sales manager for Small Dog Electronics, a Waitsfield, Vt., Apple partner, stated that the bug may be annoying, but he is not worried about security implications for customers. "I have no concerns about this. … It goes to demonstrate the security of Apple's software if the best that hackers can do is to send a glitch through a text message," he said.

PUBLISHED MAY 27, 2015