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Apple offers fix for bug that causes iPhone to shut off if certain message received

Apple says it will soon offer a software update for its latest operating system after reports that iPhones would spontaneously turn themselves off if they receive a text message with a certain string of words and symbols.

This week, social media erupted with reports from iPhone users that their phones would turn off after receiving a text, which has two English words followed by a string of characters.

The bug doesn't appear to do any long-term damage, but rather causes the phone to turn itself off. Media reports suggest it is caused by a glitch in the way iOS interprets certain types of text. The problem does not appear to be Apple-specific — after multiple attempts, CBC managed to successfully shut down an Apple device by sending the text from an Android phone.

Nor does the user have to receive and formally read the message for it to work; the phone will reset itself and turn off even if it is in sleep mode, and the user doesn't know they received a text.

A statement from Apple on Wednesday confirms that the company is working on a software update to fix an unnamed vulnerability in its messaging app.

"We are aware of an iMessage issue caused by a specific series of unicode characters and we will make a fix available in a software update," Apple said.

Affected phones will restart automatically. Owners can prevent the problem by using phone settings to turn off message previews in their phone settings.