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Apple Releases iOS 11.2.6 With Fix for Telugu Character Bug That Causes iOS Devices to Crash

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Apple today released iOS 11.2.6, the eleventh official update to the iOS 11 operating system. iOS 11.2.6 comes approximately one month after the launch of iOS 11.2.5, an update that introduced support for the HomePod, Control Center updates, Siri news, and a slew of bug fixes.

The iOS 11.2.6 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the update, go to Settings --> General --> Software Update.

telugu bug
Apple released iOS 11.2.6 to address a bug that causes apps like Messages to crash on the iPhone and iPad due to an inability to render a specific character in the Indian language Telugu. When sent, received, or input into Messages, Safari, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and more, the Telugu character can cause the app to freeze up and become unresponsive.

In Messages, for example, receiving the character can freeze up the entire Messages app on all of a person's Mac and iOS devices. The Messages app then refuses to function properly until the offending character is removed by deleting the conversation with the person who sent it. Apple's release notes are below:

iOS 11.2.6 includes bug fixes for your iPhone or iPad. This update:

Fixes an issue where using certain character sequences could cause apps to crash

Fixes an issue where some third-party apps could fail to connect to external accessories

Apple fixed the bug in iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4, but those updates are still in beta testing and won't be released until the spring. Apple last week promised a minor update to fix the bug in the meantime.

Related Forum: iOS 11

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Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
AngerDanger
109 months ago
Let me give this software update a whirl…


Attachment Image
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
K
kalakana
109 months ago
Why does this have to be an entire OS update? On Android this would be a quick Gboard and Messages update.
Because this was the system level unicode font character rendering problem, not just Messages.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I
ignatius345
109 months ago
Why does this have to be an entire OS update? On Android this would be a quick Gboard and Messages update.
I dunno, because that's how iOS is built? Nobody is making you update.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
timborama Avatar
timborama
109 months ago
I dunno, because that's how iOS is built? Nobody is making you update.
Yes, Apple is making me. Every night at 8pm it alerts (annoys) me to update. And consumes my bandwidth and storage downloading the update without my permission.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dmnc Avatar
dmnc
109 months ago
Why does this have to be an entire OS update? On Android this would be a quick Gboard and Messages update.
Because the issue is in how the system renders text and not in the keyboard or messages app.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
OldSchoolMacGuy
109 months ago
Apple turns around and fixes a bug in just a couple days and all Mac Rumors members can do is complain they didn't fix every other known and unknown bug too. :rolleyes:
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The trouble is that someone can send you a message with the characters in it (happened to someone I know). It could be mischievous or malicious. Either way, it will crash your app and, perhaps, your device! Better safe than sorry.
There have been a ton of Twitter accounts, social media posts, and others spamming this to crash phones. It's even appeared in Google search results and AdWords ads.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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