Text message crashing Iphones!

[rockhillmanor]

Just a heads up.

Not only is this going around and crashing iPhones. People are then sending it to friends as a joke. :R

And if you have it set to preview that is as good as opening it.

So watch what you open and maybe change your preview settings for now.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/27/text-message-crash-iphone-_n_7452324.html

[pkunk]

My iPhone 4 is not upgradable to ios 8. Apps et all work just fine but I suppose it is becoming vulnerable to hackers. I'm ready for a new one anyways. My 1st gen iPad is way behind the times and it still works also.

[jorbill2or]

rockhillmanor wrote:
I also bought one of the first ones and even as I was buying it the guy warned me there was a new one coming out in a week.And I would not be able to upgrade it.

Within those first few months a total including mine numbered 4 new versions.

Could be because it was when they first came out WAY back. Might be different now.

Yes I'm totally confused as I also bought the first one in 2007 ! and have upgraded every two years passing my old phone on to another family member.
Apple has NEVER brought out a new phone other than annually. Are you sure you arent talking about Android ? Or maybe you've gotten a two year old phone as new somehow? Maybe from someone other than the apple store? If you bought the first Edge phone yes it wasnt Upgradeable to 3g ..It didnt have the hardware 3g radio.. that must be what your talking about but I never had trouble with it working or running newer software .at least for several years .in fact i still have it in a box!! and if i plug it in it still works as a iPod!
Apple has always upgraded/ supported at least the last 4 years phones .. to a newest operating system .and the apps work just fine!
.Android is the one that doesnt upgrade without a stuggle.as i said I have had these older phones in the family for years with no issues other than operating a little slower than the newest model. I will say after 4 years they are retired or broken or just too beat up.
Guess i will just have to continue to be confused

[rockhillmanor]

I bought one of the first ones and even as I was buying it the guy warned me there was a new one coming out in a week.And I would not be able to upgrade it.

Within those first few months a total including mine numbered 4 new versions.

Could be because it was when they first came out WAY back. Might be different now.

[mich800]

jorbill2or wrote:
Rockhillmanor;
I don't understand .as far as I know . Apple comes out with a "new"" phone ONLY every year , no sooner , how did you get 4 versions in 6 months ? I'm confused . Software "major" upgrades ( not just fixes and updates) are also annual to match the new phone Introduction and they generally work on phones back at least 4 years..
My kid has a iphone4 , about 5 years old that still runs apps and still works fine ( a bit slow but the processor can't keep up as well)

I have the same iphone 4 for 4-5 years with no issues with my current apps or obtaining new apps. I do not understand that comment also.

They must be referring to OS updates. But even with those I have not had any compatibility issues. The biggest thing that has impacted the value of iphones or mobile phones in general was the law passed where the providers cannot lock the phones to a specific carrier. So my phone is essentially worthless because it is locked. But beginning with I believe the 5 or maybe 4s they have chips that can be changed so they are no longer locked to a specific carrier. These phones have value on the open market as anyone can use them.

[jorbill2or]

Rockhillmanor;
I don't understand .as far as I know . Apple comes out with a "new"" phone ONLY every year , no sooner , how did you get 4 versions in 6 months ? I'm confused . Software "major" upgrades ( not just fixes and updates) are also annual to match the new phone Introduction and they generally work on phones back at least 4 years..
My kid has a iphone4 , about 5 years old that still runs apps and still works fine ( a bit slow but the processor can't keep up as well)

[rockhillmanor]

pkunk wrote:
I presume this applies to texts received on an iPad as well?
What about these devices that are old enough that can't get a software update anymore?

then you are screwed.

yes, it said it included their other products.

I am STILL ticked off about all the new iphone versions that come out what seems like monthly.

The first iPhone I bought? After they came out with 4 more new versions of them within 6 months my iPhone was rendered worthless. All $600.00 of it other than being able to make phone calls. :R

Everyone of my apps would not function unless the phone was updated. And after 4 more versions of the phone came out you could NOT update the older version. So they HAD to have an agreement with the apps to "force" people to buy a new phone.

I'm still surprised that no one sued them for that. I don't think you can sell a product and have it only be viable product for a limited time. AND have all the other products downloaded not function.

[pkunk]

I presume this applies to texts received on an iPad as well?
What about these devices that are old enough that can't get a software update anymore?

[pconroy328]

MrWizard wrote:
but this thread is not going to be allowed to degenerate into, a flame war, Comments on which OS is the best

Thank you!

Over the years, I've become adept at creating software bugs in a variety of operating systems using a wide variety of languages. 😉

[pconroy328]

Campfire Time wrote:

pconroy328 wrote:
It's not a virus, it's a code defect (a bug). The text contains Arabic and Chinese characters, if I recall correctly. And must contain a specific set of characters in a very specific order.

You can say it's not a virus or malware. And yet that's exactly what malware/viruses do. Take advantage of code defects.

My logic class (at UW-M) was too long ago, but I'm pretty sure there's a fallacy in there somewhere. 🙂

[Happytraveler]

If Messages quits unexpectedly after you get a text with a specific string of characters


If Messages quits unexpectedly after you get a text with a specific string of characters
Apple is aware of an iMessage issue caused by a specific series of unicode characters and we will make a fix available in a software update. Until the update is available, you can use these steps to re-open the Messages app.

Ask Siri to "read unread messages."
Use Siri to reply to the malicious message. After you reply, you'll be able to open Messages again.
In Messages, tap and hold the malicious message, tap More, and delete the message from the thread.
Last Modified: May 29, 2015

[MrWizard]

I don't have an iPhone, but this thread is not going to be allowed to degenerate into, a flame war
Comments on which OS is the best
Or derogatory comments not allowed
Keep the discussion to handling the current problem

[MrWizard]

a virus contains "active code" that will run after the defect allows it into the system

this is a bug, it causes a system crash and reset, with the consequence that things do not operate correctly

similar to what happens when you have a corrupted device driver file

[nomad297]

Campfire Time wrote:

pconroy328 wrote:
It's not a virus, it's a code defect (a bug). The text contains Arabic and Chinese characters, if I recall correctly. And must contain a specific set of characters in a very specific order.

You can say it's not a virus or malware. And yet that's exactly what malware/viruses do. Take advantage of code defects.

That's what I thought.

Bruce

[Campfire_Time]

pconroy328 wrote:
It's not a virus, it's a code defect (a bug). The text contains Arabic and Chinese characters, if I recall correctly. And must contain a specific set of characters in a very specific order.

You can say it's not a virus or malware. And yet that's exactly what malware/viruses do. Take advantage of code defects.