A recently discovered bug is causing iPhones and iPads to crash momentarily with just four characters as the trigger.
On Wednesday, a security researcher discovered that typing “::” can crash the Apple mobile user interface, known as Springboard.
TechCrunch confirmed that these characters crash Springboard when entered into the Search bar in the Settings app or the App Library search bar on the home screen.
As mentioned by others, the bug can be triggered with “::” plus any other character, causing Springboard to crash briefly and then reload back to the lock screen or flash the screen black for a moment.
Apple has not provided any comments on this issue when reached for a statement.
According to researchers consulted by TechCrunch, the bug is not considered a security threat.
Ryan Stortz, an iOS security researcher, and Patrick Wardle, a security researcher specializing in iOS, both agree that it is not a security bug.
There is currently no evidence to suggest that anyone other than the owner of an iOS device manually entering these characters can trigger the bug, unlike a bug in 2020 that crashed the Twitter app for any user viewing a tweet containing a specific set of characters.
