iPhone users should be aware of a new bug in iOS that causes devices to crash when certain characters are entered. This latest glitch, while not harmful, is another in a series of strange bugs that have surfaced in Apple’s OS.
The bug, which was discovered by a security researcher and shared on Mastodon, can crash an iPhone by simply entering the string ““::” into the search bar of the Settings app or the App Library. The App Library can be accessed by swiping all the way to the right on your home screen. Once entered, this string triggers a crash of the iPhone’s Springboard, the app responsible for managing the home screen. As a result, the Settings menu closes abruptly, and the user is sent back to the lock screen.
TechCrunch has confirmed the existence of this bug, which appears to affect iPhones running the latest version of iOS 17 as well as the beta builds of iOS 18 and iOS 18.1. However, other versions of iOS may also be impacted by this issue.
Despite its disruptive nature, the bug is ultimately harmless. Ryan Stortz, an iOS security researcher, emphasized this point, telling TechCrunch, “It’s not a security bug.” Unlike previous “text bomb” bugs that could crash someone’s phone just by sending them a message with problematic characters, this particular glitch can only be triggered by the device’s user.
The cause of the crash seems to be that the specific characters are triggering a “Respring,” which essentially restarts the SpringBoard. This process is akin to refreshing the phone quickly without needing to do a full reboot.
Interestingly, one iOS developer responded to the original Mastodon post by suggesting that the bug could be seen as “actually a pretty useful feature,” though this remark was likely made in jest.
Nonetheless, unless you have adequate technical knowledge, just try and avoid experimenting with this glitch.
