Bug makes Apple devices crash when Telugu character is entered
What's the story
Apple has confirmed that a bug in its operating systems is causing its devices to crash when a particular character in the South Indian language of Telugu is either received by the devices or typed in the text editor. An Apple spokesperson said the company is working on fixing the bug, which has affected some versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
Details
Affected Apple devices become unresponsive due to the bug
The bug has reportedly affected the iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4, and tvOS 11 versions of Apple's operating systems. This means that apps on Apple devices like iPhone, Apple Watch, and MacBook, which are running on these operating systems, get disabled and block user access when they come in contact with the said Telegu alphabet, trying to unsuccessfully load it.
Information
Apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, Messenger affected by the bug
The apps that become unresponsive and lead to the entire device crashing include Apple's iMessage and other third-party applications like WhatsApp, Gmail, Facebook Messenger, and Outlook. According to media reports, some apps like Telegram and Skype remain unaffected by the bug.
Patched
Apple has issued patches in beta versions of its OS
Apple said the older versions of its operating systems are not affected by the bug and that it has already issued a patch in the current beta versions of its operating systems, which are yet to be rolled out publicly. Notably, an Italian blog called 'Mobile World' not only first reported the bug, but also managed to successfully test it out before doing so.