iOS update fixes Telugu character bug

A worker checks an iPhone in a repair store in New York, February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Apple has released a patch for iOS to address a bug where an Indian language character, in Telugu, would crash iPhones and render messaging apps displaying said character inaccessible.

The bug discovered last week allowed trolls to send a specific character that will crash Apple’s iOS Springboard (the application that manages the home screen on iOS devices).

This in turn caused the message app to no longer open as the app would try and fail to load the character.

In addition to iPhones, the bug also affected Safari and the built-in Messages app on macOS and the Apple Watch.

The Verge tested the bug on third-party apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Gmail, and Outlook for iOS and found these apps were affected too. Telegram and Skype appear to be unaffected.

Those running the public beta version of iOS 11.3 were also unaffected.

To address this before rolling out iOS 11.3, Apple introduced iOS 11.2.6, the eleventh update to the iOS 11 operating system to come out, just a month after the prior iOS 11.2.5 update.

Apple's release notes state: "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 also released updates for watchOS, tvOS, and macOS to stop the crash on those platforms.

The iOS 11.2.6 update could 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.