Risky bug in Whatsapp crashes phone - Fusion - WeRIndia

Currently, there are a couple of “message bombs” being circulated on the WhatsApp Android app.

Of course, message bombs are not a new occurrence, nor are they limited to Android phones. Message bombs can even be found in iMessage.

These message bombs can cause an app to freeze or crash. Sometimes, a message bomb can even cause the whole phone to crash.

Message bombs involve sending and receiving a specifically crafted message that has hidden symbols between spaces.

If a person taps on a portion of the text, the app will “expand” the hidden symbols. This can potentially overload the app and even overload the OS.

Two WhatsApp message bombs are currently being forwarded on the app. The first message bomb involves an ominous black dot.

It comes with a warning that tapping on the black dot will cause the app to crash. Of course, many curious people tap on the black dot anyway, only to find that the warning was correct.

The second message bomb is more nefarious.

It looks innocent, and it does not come with a warning. It includes special characters that are not displayed visibly.

The characters are used to change the behavior of the text. A superfluous amount of these invisible symbols will cause the WhatsApp app to freeze.

WhatsApp has not yet commented on this potentially disruptive bug. However, it is necessary that all WhatsApp users know of this bug so they can avoid these message bombs.

This can keep users’ applications and their phones safe from freezing and crashing.

Hopefully, WhatsApp will soon comment on the disruption caused by these message bombs and work to fix this bug.

For now, however, all that WhatsApp users can do is be aware of these message bombs and do their best to avoid them, in order to protect the safety of their device.

Image Reference: NDTV