There is a new character bug that can result in a respring on the iPhone or iPad, reports TechCrunch. Typing “”:: in the search field after swiping over to the App Library will cause the Springboard to reset, dropping you back at the iPhone’s Lock Screen. A respring is not a full reset, and it only takes a few seconds for the iPhone to be functional again.
Typing the same characters into the Settings app search interface will cause the Settings app to crash, but putting it in a Spotlight search doesn’t seem to impact anything. The respring seemed to only happen on devices running iOS 17 when we tested, but putting those characters into a search interface on a device running iOS 18 does result in some odd behavior, such as the characters disappearing and the Settings app crashing.
You can actually type in just “”: and any other character to cause the respring to happen, so it’s something related to the first three symbols in a four character sequence.
Character bugs have in the past spread though Messages and have allowed users to crash the iPhones of others, but this is a much more insignificant issue because the iPhone owner needs to manually type (or paste) the characters into a search interface. There does not appear to be a way to affect an iPhone through Messages or another texting platform.
It’s likely Apple will address the issue with an iOS update in the near future.
Popular Stories
Major ‘National Public Data’ Leak Worse Than Expected With Passwords Stored in Plain Text
Earlier this month, data broker National Public Data (NPD) announced that there had been a major data breach that saw hackers obtain millions of names, email addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, and mailing addresses stored in its database. NPD is a company that does employee background checks, aggregating public data from numerous sources and selling it. NPD’s security was…
All Four iPhone 16 Pro Colors Revealed in New Image
Leaker Sonny Dickson is back today with a new dummy unit image showing all four iPhone 16 Pro color variants, including the rose gold or “bronze” unit that replaces Blue Titanium in the existing iPhone 15 Pro models. The iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to come in black, white or silver, gray or “Natural Titanium,” and a rose or rose gold color replacing Blue Titanium, according to Apple…
iPhone 16 Launch Is Next Month – Here’s Everything We Know
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are less than a month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year’s lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of…
Bronze-Like iPhone 16 Pro Color Could Be Called ‘Desert Titanium’
The new bronze-like color rumored to be replacing Blue Titanium in Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16 Pro lineup may be called “Desert Titanium,” according to the leaker known as “Majin Bu.” Concept render of new iPhone 16 Pro color Bu referenced the name on Sunday in a post on X (Twitter) in which they shared an image of camera lens rings purportedly destined for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro…
Get Up to $600 Off Apple’s M2 iPad Pro With New Record Low Prices
Best Buy is back this week with big discounts on the M2 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, providing up to $600 off select models. A My Best Buy Plus/Total membership is not required to see these discounts. You’ll find both Wi-Fi and cellular tablets on sale at Best Buy, with a particular focus on the larger capacity 1TB and 2TB models. All deals listed below represent record low prices on each …
New iPhone 16 Thermal Design High on Buyers’ Wishlist, Survey Suggests
A recent survey conducted by SellCell suggests that a significant majority of iPhone users are planning to upgrade to the upcoming iPhone 16 series, with many expressing a preference for a better thermal design to prevent overheating issues. The survey, which polled over 2,000 US-based iPhone owners (1,000 males and 1,000 females), found that 61.9% of respondents plan to purchase an iPhone…
