It’s a new day and a new bug – just type in four characters and you can make any iPhone and iPad crash instantly.
A Simple String of Characters will Instantly Crash an iPhone and iPad SpringBoard – But, it’s Not a Security Issue
Depending on which version of iOS and iPadOS you’re running, typing in just four characters will soft reset your iPhone and iPad. If you’re running the latest iOS 18 or 18.1 betas, the device will freeze for a while and then return to normal. But, on current publicly available software, the problem is severe.
All you have to type is “”: and any fourth character, as pointed out by TechCrunch. Just type it in the search in the Settings app or the search bar in App Library to see the magic happen. And thankfully, this isn’t a security bug either, so we don’t have to worry much about it.
However, given that this exists, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple ends up releasing iOS 17.6.2 to correct it. Rumors are already flying around that Apple is working on said software update, so expect it to be released this week or the next one. Whenever it arrives, just make sure you go ahead and install it onto your device.
Similar bugs have been around and we come across them time to time. Some are severe, some not so much. In the end, such things are used to poke fun at Apple users, and I don’t mind that at all, it’s always a good laugh.
